Five-Fold Today - The Fear of The Lord - The Eternal Son(s) Part 2 - Living Water - Do Not Lean On Your Own Understanding - The Kingdom's Desire - A Cry For Pastors
The Fear of The Lord
Marc Brisebois
Imagine a man traveling to a far country looking for a place to build himself a home. He finds what appears to be a suitable piece of land and begins to build. After 6 long months of building, and just as he is about to finish his work, he discovers he has built his house on land belonging to a local potentate. As it so happens, the king in question had already planned to put a vineyard in that very spot. What are the chances the manšs labor will endure? Would we perceive his approach to building as wise? No doubt we would determine him to have acted foolishly and out of presumption.
His mistake was in failing to honor, albeit through ignorance, the will and desire of the king. Certainly, the citizens of this kingdom who were familiar with the king and his desires, would never have made such a critical error. His mistake could be said to be a lack of "fear" and a lack of understanding, resulting in a lack of wisdom. Likewise, our participation in the ministry of the Kingdom, must include a "fear of God", which will enable us to build with knowledge, wisdom and understanding. Crucial elements, if we hope our deeds will function as something more than kindling for the fire of the Lord.
What is it?
Unfortunately, in this day of unbridled license (which we often mistake for grace), the "fear of the Lord" is an unknown and misunderstood commodity. So what then is the "fear of the Lord"? Proverbs 9:10 reads:
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding".
The fear of the Lord is the genesis of wisdom. As such they are closely connected. One who walks in wisdom also possesses the fear of the Lord. Inversely, if we have the fear of the Lord, it leads us to wisdom. But when we speak of the fear the Lord, are we talking about "terror"? Is it something which will lead us to hide, or is it, as some have suggested, just respect? Truthfully it has something to do with both "terror" and "respect". It is a knowledge of the "terror of the Lord" which makes us careful to avoid arousing it. If we have the fear of the Lord we will not have to experience the full measure of His terror.
Paul said, "knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men". The terror of the Lord and the knowledge of it, makes us never want to experience it. Apparently, it brought Paul to a point where he did not want anyone else to have to experience it either. Clearly, there is probably much more to this than we can presently know. But perhaps the best way to understand the "fear of the Lord" is through its connection to wisdom.
Wisdom and the Fear
Consider this: If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, then to fear Him means to walk wisely and with respect toward His authority. It means to embrace and walk in what pleases Him knowing there is unpleasantness in doing the opposite. Since He holds the reigns of power, it is only wisdom to honor that authority! Those who know this also know there is terror awaiting those who refuse to fear him.
If we build our lives without the fear of the Lord we do so in vain. For if He truly is the King, only what pleases Him can remain, as He will inevitably do away with everything else. It is like a parent who instructs their children on how to clean their rooms. If a certain standard is established the child who is wise will be careful to meet that standard, knowing failure to do so will only mean he has to start over. In other words his previous work was a waste of time. Doing it right the first time means he saves in time, energy and the displeasure of his parents. Unfortunately, the stakes are significantly higher relative to the Lord.
The wise spiritual son is also careful to carry out the precise will of his Father. Since only those things He has sanctioned will endure, the fear of Him calls one to live within the scope of that knowledge to live while continuously measuring what one is doing against the express will (standard) of the King. Our traveler's presumption came directly from the fact that he did not know the king or the extent of his kingdom. Thus, wisdom cannot be found outside of a knowledge of the ways of the Lord. To fear the Lord means to exercise wisdom, which requires a "knowledge of the Holy". If one longs to be productive, wisdom dictates that he work in a manner which pleases the One who has the last word. Knowing what that last word will be is an
undisposable treasure.
Foolishness is the absence of the fear of the Lord, since it leads men to work as though there is no King. Their labor is an exercise in pleasing themselves. Sadly, what is achieved will not endure... no matter how good it looks. This is true not only in the world but among believers. It exists in the Church because believers have a superficial understanding of the Lord. Fruitless labor goes on because we lack a knowledge of the "Holy One". However for two reasons this will not continue for much longer. The first is He will not permit it. The second is because the knowledge of the Lord is going to be unveiled and cover the earth.
We are approaching moments of divine destiny wherein the Lord of Hosts will bring an expression of His reign which will shake everything which can be shaken. The unshakable kingdom will displace all else and the fruitless labor of vain men will become dust. Then we will truly understand the intent of the Psalmist Solomon who wrote, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain."(Psalm 127:1) We are approaching a season, especially regarding the Church, wherein those things which are not born of the Lord, will have a very short lifespan. It is wisdom to distance ourselves from them.
As in the anecdote in the opening paragraph, there comes a time when everything not built in the fear of the Lord is removed. It is not removed for spite or as an arbitrary exercise of power. It is removed to make room for something higher and better; something planned by God and foreseen by prophets. The significance of John the Baptist's message was that He was announcing the coming reign of God the Kingdom which would replace everything currently occupying space. It meant the annihilation of all current status and distinctions to be replaced by another system of government. Having labored and sacrificed for position and honor in a "false hierarchy", the rulers of the day could not entertain the idea of another system. The Pharisee's resisted because they did not want to lose their place. But there is no stopping the advancing Kingdom of Christ, and all who would not come under that word and humble themselves were doomed to humiliation.
This was the first expression of the reign of the Christ which is now closer than ever. Today the Lord is warning us that yet again another wave of His government is being implemented. The advance warnings are to get on side and lay our glory down. There is coming a sword of the Lord to judge and remove everything high and lifted up. Those who fear the Lord and are wise will hear and take heed.
watchman@istar.ca
The Eternal Son(s) Part 2
John R. Gavazzoni
The gospel of Jesus Christ is magnificently inclusive at its very core. It permits no elitism or exclusivity; that is, its embrace is universal and absolute. Mere religiosity is obsessive-compulsive in its determination to limit the scope of who is "accepted in the beloved" (Eph.1:6 KJ). The divine good news of Christ's saving accomplishment in death and resurrection is the happy tidings that the Father's will has been done in Christ and so when we speak of the gospel we speak of that which issues forth from a Father's heart infused with the nature of His Fatherhood. If His family is smaller in number than the human family, then we have a not-so-good good news. This truth is veiled both because of the veil over our hearts and the veil that lies upon the text of Holy Writ. Without the ministry of the great Teacher, the Spirit of truth, the parabolic principle rules; that is, the truth is there in the text but its meaning is locked away from the mind of the one to whom the Father has not YET chosen to reveal either any or all of the meaning of that which characterizes the Person of God---Fatherhood. A principle that helps unlock the mystery of the gospel, as God sovereignly orders, is the principle that I shall call "The Law of Particularity" or "The Law of Especiality". The word "particular" can be used to refer to something in a way that sets it completely apart from the "general" or it can be used to speak of something distinct within a greater whole without it being of an absolutely different genre. It is in the latter sense that I use the word "particularity". Less explanation is needed for "especiality" for something may be specially so without being exclusively so. What I am saying is that scripture speaks of things being particularly and specially true for an elect company who are representive of all.
It may be said, and scripture does say, that those who believe in Christ are the children of God and members of His family but that does not mean necessarily that they are so exclusively and in fact it does not say that. Some may enjoy sonship with particularity and in a special sense without depriving others of legitimate claim to the same relationship. For those who are with me or even ahead of me at this point you probably are thinking of the scriptures that express this so beautifully, namely; 1Tim. 4: 10 where we read, "For it is for this we labor and strive because we have fixed our hope on the living God who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers" (NAS). And 1Jn. 2:2, "and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and NOT for our sins ONLY, but also for those of the whole world" (NAS)(Emphasis added). Here we have stated what IS God's relationship with ALL, not merely what might be if all respond correctly. As impressive as these verses are someone might say, "But they only refer to Saviorhood, not Fatherhood". Well then I shall call upon whatever expository skills our Lord has graced me with, though my ministry is more in the vein of the prophetic in the sense of insight into the purpose of God. Go with me to Acts 17:26-29a where we find Paul in the Mars Hill auditorium instructing the intellectuals who gathered there daily for philosophical discussion and debate. Picking up the thread of his presentation before these learned men, we hear him saying in regard to all men and their relationship to God, "And He made from one [common origin, one source, one blood] all nations of men to settle on the face of the earth, having definitely determined [their] allotted periods of time and the fixed boundaries of the habitation (their settlements, lands, and abodes), So that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after Him and find Him, although He is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being; as even some of your [own] poets have said, For we are also His offspring. Since then we are God's offspring,.........."(AMP).
Follow Paul's argument before these pagan worshippers as he drives home his point in the time they allow him. He wants to lay a foundation upon which he might preach to them about the resurrection of Christ and lead them to repentance. Having asserted that "we" (that is they and himself with all of humanity) have their being in God, he explains the nature of our being by quoting one of their own poets who had said of God "For we are also His offspring". Then to further establish the thought he himself affirms the same by saying, "Since then we are God's offspring......". It must be noted that the Greek word "Genos" is used here which clearly refers to a race or family denoting offspring, coming from a root which means the offspring of men or animals. If Paul had wanted to merely convince them that they were created by God he would have said so, but he specifically uses a word having to do with birth and applies it to their and his and all men's relationship with God. I find it appalling that the study notes in one of my bibles explains this as meaning that God is the creator of all when the apostle has clearly preached that God is the Father of all. In the exposition of that passage it is clear that He MADE all men of one blood in their physical, earthly existence having BIRTHED them in their spiritual existence by His one Seed, Christ. Now this sonship was ESPECIALLY true of Paul because he, as all believers in this age, had experienced regeneration, had been called out of this world's system and brought to faith in Christ and made an emissary of God's grace, which by the way is another example of the Law of Especiality in that Paul was chosen from his mother's womb as a testimony to God's grace, not to the exclusion of other believers, but as an example of what is true of all who believe. The evangelical, conservative and fundamental church has so reacted to the humanistic spin put on the
universality of God's Fatherhood that they have abandoned the truth and turned sonship into an elitist club composed of those who can boast that they did what was necessary in obedience to the gospel in order to become children of God. Now that statement calls for explanation since the gospel, as it has been preached to us, has been more man-centered than God-centered.
We are children of God firstly, not because we have acquired a spiritual experience but firstly because God, within Himself, has an eternal loving, self-knowing intercourse that birthed His Son and his many sons in Him. That eternal, primal origin becomes experiential to us who are dead in trespasses and sins in the flesh when we are reborn by His Spirit, but please dear brother and sister, note that it is a rebirth, a resurrection from the grave of our alienation from our Father who first birthed us in Christ before we ever needed regeneration and before the created and physical dimension was added to our being. It is a renewal in time of that relationship which is eternal and it is that identity and relationship that the Father holds to His bosom in His foreknowledge and predestination of us.
WE ARE TO BE--- AS TRANSFIGURED, CREATED AND EARTH-FORMED ONES--- WHAT WE ARE, HAVE
ALWAYS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE IN THE LOINS OF OUR FATHER.
Spiritual death has not essentially altered that relationship but it has alienated us from the Father who refuses to be alienated from us. More explanation is needed now for those whose minds have been corrupted by a misunderstanding of Jesus words, "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies" Jn 8:44 (NAS). This verse has been used to bludgeon sinners in an attempt to make them see their need of salvation and in God's sovereignty even the element of misinterpretation could not hinder the grace of God in turning them to Christ. But, in all the years I spent as an evangelist and pastor, I never heard anyone explain Jesus' balancing statement found in Matt. and Luke and here I will quote Matthew's version in Chapter 7 verse 11 (NAS) and I point out to the reader that He is speaking to yet unregenerate men, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him". It is an evangelical dictum that one cannot claim God as Father without the experience of the new birth but here Jesus tells them God is their Father and in Luke's version they are encouraged to ask for the good gift of the Holy Spirit. They are encouraged to look to Him, who is their eternal Father to confirm that relationship by the gift of the Holy Spirit. I call your attention also to the fact that Jesus never, in all of his severity with the religious leaders, ever predicted that they would be finally and forever barred from His kingdom but rather says in Matt. 2l:31b, "Truly I say to you that the tax-gatherers and harlots will get into the kingdom of God BEFORE you" (NAS)(Emphasis added).
We must take note that when Jesus said to the Pharisees "You are of your father, the devil", he was dealing with them according to how he had essentially described them on other occasions, as hypocrites, which simply means, "play-actors". These were men who were so devoid of any awareness of true spiritual relationship with God as Father that they had spent their lives building facades of self-righteous personas so that their whole lives lacked any reality at all and simply were lives lived out on a religious stage with a carefully written script. It was these "characters", birthed by the lie of satan that Jesus attacked so vehemently planting a seed that would eventually cause the true person in Christ to burst forth cracking and destroying the false persona of religious imagination. Have you noticed that that "your father, the devil" passage was aimed at
upright, religious men and yet we usually aim that barrage at poor helpless out and out sinners, totally missing where Jesus was coming from.
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God. even to those who believe in His name"(Jn 1:12 NAS). The wording of that verse puzzled me for many years even after I had come to understand sonship with some degree of maturity. I couldn't understand why in that Gospel, which clearly sets forth our sonship as a matter of being born of God, that here John would speak of God giving the right to become God's children. Was not sonship a matter of spiritual begettal and not a right to be legally bestowed? It was more obscure to me since the Greek word used is for children instead of full-grown sons. There the KJ version has it wrong. Then one day while reading E. Stanley Jones' book, "They Unshakeable Kingdom and the Unchanging Person", I happened upon a definition of authority by that dear, now departed brother. Keep in mind that John 1: 12 if translated more fully would read "He gave them the right and/or authority to become children of God". Jones, in tracing the essential meaning of authority said that, at its heart it means "according to the nature of". Ah, there it was. By the nature of, first, my Father's relationship with me and out of that my relationship with Him I may become a child of God.
This brings us to another principle. It is that we can only become what we are. We become children of God because we are His children. For a season, we may be children of wrath and children of disobedience but we are His children waiting to be manifested. Those who have read or heard much of what this disciple has written and preached know the prized relationship I have with my dear spiritual Papa, Harry Robert Fox. I know, I only have one Father in heaven, but Harry's relationship with me has been one where THE Father has caused Harry to participate in that Fatherhood and incarnate it in our friendship and fellowship. One time as we discussed something of the order of what I am writing about, He, very unassumingly pointed out this truth of the economy of God: All the imperatives of scripture are based upon the indicatives. Case in point; (this is my case in point) the apostle Paul prays, as recorded in Ephesians, for the Church that we will be filled with all the fullness of God. But he has already declared the Church previously in the same book to be "the fulness of Him that filleth all in all". The imperative based upon, and proceeding from the indicative. So likewise, men must be born of God in order to see and enter the kingdom of God (Jn. Chapter 3). We must be born from above because we are born from above. The indicative issuing forth in the imperative. Dear child of God, if sometimes the imperatives of your relationship with Christ are about to drive you to despair, remember---- that which you must be, God has made you to be in His Son.
I have been a Christian for over 47 years now since He stormed into my life and commanded me, with a word that could not return Him void, to follow him and I am just beginning to realize the wonder, the glory, the inexpressible truth that I am a child of God, the fruit of His loins. The great Father of glory the creator and sustainer of all things is my Dad. It's finally getting hold of me and I know that nothing else has any real value compared to that and that anything that has real value, even the dearest of relationships, finds it content and worth in Him. Look out world, one of God's kids is about to burst on the scene, one just like
His first-begotten Son and there are millions more just like Him/me.
God bless all of you who consider these things.
John R. Gavazzoni
john-gavazzoni@webtv.net
Living Water
Lynda Bowers
As I am in the midst of trials, pain and waiting upon the Lord to show me
His will I hear....Living Water in my spirit and remember a love letter the
Lord gave me many years ago. It was about a pool that others would be
able to draw from that contained His living water. I saw a fast moving water
fall that was His spirit moving in the hearts of His children and then a
pool
of calm fresh water that would be used to draw the lost and thirsty to
Himself. In order to have this type of pool in each of our lives we would as
Christ have suffering that would produce the Christlikness in our hearts
that
would draw the lost.
I share a word the Lord just gave me as I sought him for understanding
and direction. I believe I am not alone in the trials and testing that keep
one wondering, What Lord are you trying to teach me?
My Dear one,
Yes I hear your deep cry from the broken places of your heart. I do not
delight in seeing my very own hurt as some of you do. I am not the mean
man up stairs waiting to tromp on you because you missed the mark. No, I
see the issues of the heart, I judge the love for me that resonates there.
Let your heart be a peace, I am not mean, I do not work to cause you harm.
I desire to set you free to bless you with life and life more abundantly.
Not
stuff, as some would say, but LOVE, a love for me first and them a love for
others. Look up, do you not see in the clouds my face. I am watching as
you go step by step through the maze and journey into my throne room,
looking for my face and my arm to help in your time of need. I love you, I
admonish you , stop believing the lie and the liar. I do not come to kill,
steal,
and destroy. That my child is not my desire for you. As you seek me with a
pure heart ready to surrender all, you will find my smiling face waiting to
embrace you, comfort you and lead you. Won't you come this very hour and
begin to drink out of my pool of Living Water?" for in it alone do you find
the
strength to endure the many hard trial, and test you will endure as I
prepare
my bride for my return.
I love you,
class@cncnet.com
Do Not Lean On Your Own Understanding
Bill Hardaway
There is a way that seems right to man, but leads to spiritual death.
Narrow is the path and very few are willing to be lead by it. Lean not on
your own wisdom or understanding, but come to Me. I will provide you with
all that is necessary, to walk to wherever I desire to lead you.
It is not according to your efforts or desire, but according to My mercy.
Pray that I increase My grace and mercy in your life! Then you can rest
assured what comes forth for your life, will be of My choosing. Do not
underestimate the powers of the evil against you.
They delight in watching you become puffed with pride. Know this.....your
enemy is out to destroy you because you belong to Me. Rest in My hand and
allow me to guide all that you do. After all...........if you are going
out in My name, you are responsible to be directed by Me!
If you take glory in the things I am doing in and through you...... then
know you will suffer the consequences. The enemy of your soul is desiring
that you trust in your own strength and take the credit for My works. If
you allow yourself to swell with pride, you will fall. Humble yourself
before Me and I will give you the grace and mercy you desire.
WHard1954@aol.com
The Kingdom's Desire
Undrai Fizer
Paul wanted Christ to be glorified by his life or his death. He wanted
the Kingdom's cause to be advanced at all cost. Whether by the
effectiveness of his life and his anointing, or, by the rejection,
slanders, or even the taking away of his life. If others could come to
know Christ, he found it to be a gain. *see Phil.1:12-20
He discovered the full reality of the kingdom of God and the love of
Christ. We must not allow the purpose of God to be slowed by the
rejection or misunderstanding of others toward us.
We must not allow God's hand to be slowed within us, even if others have
no desire to hear or believe what He has given you. His kingdom must yet
advance at the expense of your success or rejection.
We can subconsciously take His Glory when we allow His destiny
to be slowed or stopped at the pain of our emotions and unbelief by
others. * (when we allow His desire in us and for us to be stopped by the
voice and opinion of another).
We must discover the love of the Kingdom's causes. His Kingdom must be
more than the way we feel or think. It must high and lifted up. It must
be the sole reality of life. His destiny must not be slowed by others.
God's apostolic announcement must be proven within us, *see 2 Cor.11:16-33.
Paul boasted in Christ at the process it took to get him where he was. He
had a constant thorn in his flesh. He was beaten, and left for dead. He
was in danger of his life. He was slandered. He was distrusted by the
brethren. He went through his kingdom process.
This is the season of the process. This is the season of the sword in the
family. This is the season of being left alone to "die" for His vision in
you, *see 2 Cor.12: 7-10.
God is not desiring His vision to be compromised or for us to make
unrighteous alliances. But do not let His destiny in you be slowed or
controlled by the unbelief of others. If His ministry is slowed by
others' voices, it will show that it was all about you and not Him. We
must love the cause of Christ above the pedestal or valley others may have
put us on or in!
We should allow the Spirit to produce a hunger within us to desire His
word to be imparted into the hearts of men..at any cost. We should live
for the purpose of the advancement of the kingdom of God, not the
traditions and dogmas of men. (This is also why things are going "dry"
around us. He is producing a thirst for Him, in us!)
God will trust His secrets to those who have given their lives away, *Luke
9:24. We must be able to feel the passion of Christ' causes to be able to
withstand the pain of embracing them, in family and in ministry, *see
Matt.10:34-39.
This is the season or era of a new, spiritual climate in the earth. This
is the climate wherein God will perform and speak into the hearts of those
who will hear Him. His voice transcends our programs and customs. His
voice will introduce the perfect sanction of His will.
He is preparing our lives to be able to handle the "acquired taste" of the
bread of His table. We are being conditioned by Him and "indirectly" by
others to love the will of His kingdom. This is the climate where the
testing will begin.
This is the reason for our "thorns" in the flesh. This is the reason we
must learn to go on, even when others have stopped talking to us without
reason. This is the reason we must move on, even when families are
disturbed and marriages seem to have hit the "crunch" because of God's
will. There is still a sword that's drawn.
There is a climate of God's purpose. There is an environment that opens
the door to the present truth of God, and those who are interested and
have the ear to hear and the eye to see, will walk into it. (even though
it is freely given, there will still be those who will not enter in)
Do you love the laws of His kingdom? Do you desire that men receive the
will of the kingdom at all cost? Do you "ache" for this?
If not, that is the reason for this process...
Isn't God good?
Undrai Fizer
Kingpriest@aol.com
Dare to Dream. Dare to Believe. Dare to Be......All You were Designed to Be.
Visit us online@ www.exploringthevision.org
I Corinthians 2:10
A Cry For Pastors...
John L. Moore
Shortly after coming to the Lord I got a puppy, a German
Shepherd-Doberman cross. I named him Barabbas. One day my father noticed
Barabbas running the highway. "Those well-bred dogs need something to do,"
my father warned. "If you don't work 'em, they'll get in trouble." I
heeded the warning and kept Barabbas busy with obedience training.
Barabbas was not a lap dog. He was a powerful but well-behaved watchdog
that probably saved Debra's life one night in Albuquerque when a crazed
heroin-dealer tried to break into our home while I was gone.
Barabbas interceded.
Now, imagine giving a dog like Barabbas to someone used to lap dogs.
He would probably be tethered on a short leash and beaten when he barked.
After weeks of abuse the animal would either become vicious or die of a
broken spirit.
THE WATCHDOGS OF THE LORD
Prophets are the watchdogs of the Lord. They guard, intercede, and
warn. They are highly sensitive. As Ras Robinson pointed out in a recent
teaching, the Old Testament prophet was a "foreteller, inspired speaker,
and poet."
A poetic watchman. That is our modern prophet.
But, poetry is largely dead in our culture -- a symbol of our famine
for hearing the Word of the Lord. The closest we have to popular poetic
expression in America is rap. Lord help us!
Poets, by gifting, are expressive people. This is true whether they
are as introverted as an Emily Dickinson, or as extroverted as cowboy poet
Baxter Black who performs with pratfalls and histrionics.
But no matter their personality, the poet must express him or herself.
The same is true for prophets. They must be given a forum. Even in infancy
they must be allowed the opportunity to learn through practice.
In many churches today prophetic people do not have that opportunity.
They are watchdogs on a short leashes, provoked by insecure masters. The
snubs, harsh looks, and tight-fisted controls are like the blows of a
stick. Most prophets endure quietly, but eventually they either lie down
and whimper or snarl and leave.
The ones that leave are dogs running loose in the night.
THE ABUSED RUNNING WILD
Those who moderate or oversee prophetic lists -- Meri Burlingame,
Steve Shultz, Bill Somers, Pam Clark, and others -- often hear the
howlings and whinings of abused watchdogs.
In just the past few weeks I have had correspondences with several
people who are outraged about traditional church authority. They've
obviously suffered greatly at the hands of leadership. Having broken their
chains they now howl or growl from a distance. If you approach them they
turn and run.
Discipline, to their reasoning, is simply another beating. They trust
no one and are content to howl alone in the dark.
Neighbors throw verbal shoes at them. "Dang, independent prophets!
Won't submit to authority!"
A dog in the wild will not survive long. They starve, get shot, hit by
cars, or are killed by the very wolves that some have mistaken them to be.
Somehow the abused watchdog must find it in himself to trust again. He
must scout the settlements until he finds a friendly home, one where he
can submit but also serve. One where he can be what he was created to be:
a watchdog, not a lap dog.
Some, unfortunately, will not come in from the cold. They become feral.
Ultimately they will only produce the fruit of their own deception.
THE DANGER OF A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE
I was recently told by one of my spiritual mentors that "...the
problem is not that pastors don't know about five-fold ministry. The
problem is that many know but they don't care."
I think many do care but are intimidated by the challenge of
implementation. "I have to bring my people along slowly," pastors often
tell me. "They can only take baby steps."
Well, how much freedom is too much freedom? How much truth is too
much truth? How much life is too much life? How much growth is there
without the proper church government of five-fold ministry?
Growth is progressive, but the rate must be determined by the Holy
Spirit, not the fear of man. Did Jesus lead the disciples in baby steps?
"Oh ye of little faith," he often said, continuing to challenge and incite.
If we treat people like babies they learn to act like babies. "But I
don't know how to do it," they exclaim.
None of us do. He is a light onto our feet. We will learn by taking a
step at a time in mutual submission.
Do as He shows, not as you have seen others do.
In the past seven years leaders throughout the Body have been impacted
by outpourings in Toronto, Pensacola, Smithton, and other wellsprings.
And, thousands have been inspired and activated by conferences in Colorado
Springs, Dallas, and countless other cities.
Multitudes of pastors have heard the call for apostolic reformation,
five-fold ministry, and a Third Day church and have returned to their home
churches with new zeal, ambition, and hope.
They've organized powerful prayer concerts, hosted seminars, and had
mini-revivals.
But structure has not changed. People who claim to be apostles
administer churches in the same style they speak against. The prophetic
is often relegated to a sideshow for appeasing personal fears or giving a
semblance of progressiveness.
Where is bold new direction? What about actual changes of government?
It takes more than the latest worship C.D., hot guest speaker, or the
waving of banners to revolutionize an encrypted system.
Directional revelation must follow visionary revelation. The prophets
are the seers. They are the visionaries.
Yes, apostolic leadership is necessary, but many pastors are in
systems that do not believe in the modern prophetic office, let alone
apostles!
If these pastors and systems can't handle prophetic anointing, they
probably aren't ready for the apostolic. Who's right is it to put
stumbling blocks in their way?
Reformation cannot be programmed into an old system. Forget the old
wives' tales about making old wineskins new by turning them inside out and
soaking them with oil.
Any system that is flexible enough to be turned inside out is not the
old system to begin with.
Faith means risk. If leaders of local churches believe in present
truth they must pay the price for their beliefs. Until they do they will
simply cheerlead the latest fad, copy other churches, and wreak havoc with
the hopes and desires of their people.
And if a watchdog howls during this process, beat it or neglect it!
TEACHERS AND PASTORS MUST PROCLAIM THE TRUTH
It is time for pastors to be responsible for what they know. Delaying
a decision is a decision in itself. Delay produces decay.
In researching an article for a national magazine I've talked to
church leaders in fellowships where five-fold government and church growth
is a reality. They all say the same thing: It comes at a price. The
violent take it by force. And they aren't eager to tell you their system
because their system might not work for others.
"Seek God," they simply say. "He will show you what to do and how and
when to do it."
In the past couple years many challenges have been issued to the
prophets. I have issued a few myself and some have been issued to me.
I have heard words of challenges for the apostles.
How often does anyone hear strong words challenging pastors? They are
still handled like NFL quarterbacks during scrimmages. They wear a special
red jersey that means "no-contact." You can hit everyone else, but don't
hit him! Touch not God's anointed! Don't throw
spears at Saul! And don't tell the emperor he has no clothes on!
I am not suggesting rebellion, disrespect, insults or violence to
anyone, but pastors who believe in church reformation must announce it and
then stand in the face of opposition.
Stand! And if you are forced to go, then leave. Somewhere in the dark
night a prophet is waiting. Find him. Seek God together. Pray for
apostolic relationship.
If this is too costly then abandon the vision. Don't play with
five-fold ministry. It is more dangerous than dynamite. Seek God for
confirmation of your calling and role. Don't appoint yourself as an
apostle in an effort to maintain control. You have no idea what
you are doing.
If you are apostolic then begin a new work on a sure new
foundation. But do the work. Just hanging the title on a shingle means
nothing. Find men you know by their fruits and signs as five-fold
officers. Get close to them. Relate to them.
Pursue truth and direction by pursuing Him. Should you lose
everything but gain Christ you've won.
Five-fold ministry will never be four adornments around the center of
one main office. And church reformation is not a program. It is a
revolution.
Pastors can no longer sit in the security of their offices imagining
ways to remodel their churches while cussing the noises they hear outside
in the dark.
The man outside might be a master architect with the plans of God.
Walking at his side is the watchman, the prophet. They roam the night
looking for a shepherd.
Listen, they may be knocking at your door.
PASTORS MUST JUDGE EACH OTHER OR BE JUDGED BY OTHERS
I can already hear some pastors saying: "John, you don't know the
abuses I've taken, you don't know the nights I've cried to God, or the
demanding prophetic people who have camped on my step or upset my church.
You don't know what it is like!"
I have seen many aspects of the church political system. It emits a
foul odor. I am not talking about congregational control or a presbyterian
system. I am not so naive as to suggest that anything will happen
overnight or that feelings won't be hurt and livelihoods threatened.
But I know each camp must judge its own before we can truly submit one
to another. True shepherds must rebuke the hirelings that sit around
their own campfires.
We are in a time of identificational repentance. Even the Vatican has
officially repented for its treatment of Protestants during the
reformation. Who is repenting for those who are howling in the night?
There is a shaking coming to the misconception of pastoral authority.
I see a door that opens to new realms of heavenly authority. Standing
beside the door is a small company of broken pastors. They have given up
titles, positions, and politics. They only want to serve.
They can prepare the way for the next wave of blessings.
In their hands is the key.
John L. Moore
February 18, 2001
FatherFathers, do not exasperate your children, that they may not lose
heart. Col. 3:21
PROVOKED TO WRATH
jlmoore@mcn.net
Website: www.johnlmoore.com Five-Fold Today Archives
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