Dr John Yates
Australians we live in a time of unprecedented material affluence and deep spiritual poverty. There is no reason to suppose that we are any more devout than New Zealanders, where only a quarter of professing believers read the Bible regularly. Similarly, large numbers of Australian Christians struggle with prayer and even some of the largest churches cannot maintain regular prayer meetings. Sexual sins, the breakdown of Christian marriages and the pursuit of wealth in the church have become commonplace. These are however mere symptoms of a failure to know God intimately.
Our prevailing spiritual culture is suffering from a famine of the hearing of the words of the Lord (Amos 8:11) through a fundamentally mistaken notion of how God grows his children.. Many Christians expect that God will change their lives in the midst of a church meeting or conference where an anointed speaker who will somehow have a word for their lives. Whilst the scripture encourages believers to meet together4, our emphasis on meetings reveals a basic misunderstanding of the character of God. Jesus grew in the favour of his Father5 from finding the presence of God in his daily living, so the focal point of divine revelation will always be our vocation as human beings who eat, sleep, work, marry, have families, suffer, age and die.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about grace is that it keeps on breaking into the ordinary situations of life. It is a truly remarkable thing to find God in your daily life, sense him in your thoughts, become aware of his presence in daily conversations and encounter him in the watches of the night (Pss 63:6; 119:48). This mode of the presence of God is not like any natural image of a deity preoccupied with power, status, privilege and comfort. The Lord whom we adore through Jesus Christ is uniquely a God of grace who reveals himself in a unique shape and form. This is the form of the cross applied to daily life and explains why my theme for today is the hiddenness of grace.
Eternal Grace
The first thing we must say about grace is that it has no beginning. Paul particularly affirms this to strengthen believers under trial, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, vs9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Tim 1:8-9). In opening up this theme of the eternity of grace Thomas Torrance said, “Grace is ...identical with Jesus Christ”. Grace never had a starting point because Jesus has forever been one with the Father (John 17:5). This has several enormous implications.
The first of these is that God’s gracious work is always at his initiative, he is the one who moves us to pray, confess, repent, love him and so on6. Secondly, there is nothing I can do to get “into” grace. Selwyn Hughes represents a popular but unbiblical way of thinking when he says, “How do you get “in grace”? It is by a new birth, a conversion, a changing of the centre of your life from self –interest to self surrender.” If I was chosen “in him (Christ) before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4) there has never been a time when I was outside of the grace of God. My conversion, however tortuous that experience may have been – and mine certainly was, was the result of rather than the beginning of God’s gracious work in me. It was the time I began to first experience “the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things” (Eph 3:9). A final implication flows from this, Peter exhorts us, “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 3:18). We can only grow in grace not into grace. I am constantly within the limitless circle of the grace of God in Christ.
The Beginning and Loss of Grace
The pre-eminence of the grace of God is hidden deep within the human history of the world from its very beginning.
Eden, which means “delight”, would seem to be a place where grace abounds. The undeserved divine generosity was available to Adam and Eve through food, shelter, work and fellowship with God and each other. Free access was available to any tree, but “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” was barred under threat of death (Gen 2:16-17). . God’s Word was the only basis the first couple had for believing that eating from this tree would be fatal, for to outward appearances the tree of knowledge was identical any other tree (Gen 2:9)7. God had arranged the circumstances of Eden in such a way that grace could flow through faith in his Word in the midst of the human awareness of mortality8. The possibility of dying was a powerful revelation to Adam and Eve and the concentration point for the Word of God The fuller expression of grace God desired to impart required a fuller expression of faith in the Word, this was the purpose of temptation.
When Satan entered on the scene with the proposal, ““You will not surely die”” (Gen 3:4) Eve was faced with an acute dilemma, to trust God solely on the basis of his Word or trust in her own senses. The inducement to become like God and live forever free from the fear of death (Gen 3:4-5) caused Eve’s imagination to envisage the fruit of this tree as tastier and more delightful than anything she had ever experienced – including the Word of God9. Eve failed to believe that the uncomfortable “fear of the Lord” imparted by his Word of warning was the key to a higher wisdom (Prov 9:10). She and Adam and Eve could not accept that the unsettling fear of God was something to be delighted in (Isa 11:2-3; 33:6) as the secret to maintaining the experience of grace.
If Adam and Eve had feared God more than the threat of suffering death and so refused to eat of the tree, they would have been immediately been glorified by an overwhelming divine presence. Instead, they became subject to Satan’s power and in lifelong slavery through fear of death (Heb 2:15). Such fear plagues all human life, for every experience of weakness and suffering is a reminder to a guilty conscience that the divine judgment which ends earthly life is inescapable.
Having lost the glory of God (Rom 3:23) human beings became intoxicated with idolatrous substitutes: material wealth, sexual and sporting prowess, intellectual and artistic self-achievement, physical attractiveness or military strength. Christians are not immune from such temptations. We imagine ourselves as mature spiritual people, as great teachers and preachers of the Word of God, as wonderful counsellors or powerful evangelists. Churches set forth splendid visions, websites extol their networks, ministries profile their achievements; but none of this has anything to do with the way God’s surprising grace actually works.
Surprising Grace
The Old Testament is full of struggles with God. Abraham must have been completely perplexed when the LORD commanded him to sacrifice Isaac who was the child of promise (Gen 22). This led however to a new intimacy with God which was otherwise impossible. When the angel of the LORD says to Abraham, “now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son” (Gen 22:12), we understand that the patriarch has demonstrated by faith (Heb 11:17-19) that he feared God more than he feared the death of his son.
The whole book of Job represents an ordeal to find the ways of God when there are no signs of his favour. The righteous psalmists struggle with the hiddenness of the face of God in the presence of apparently triumphant evil (Pss 13:1; 27:9; 30:7; 44:24; 69:17; 88:14; 102:2; 143:7 cf. Isa 8:17). Under the weight of divine discipline the nation of Israel feels forgotten by God and cries out, ““My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”?” (Isa 40:27). It is not however that God has forgotten his people10, but that in his unfathomable wisdom the Lord had withdrawn himself from open view because of their insatiable idolatries (Isa 30:19-22). Thus the prophet Isaiah declares, “Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.” (Isa 45:15). Nevertheless, by revelation it is possible to discern deep inside the hiddenness of God a plan for the perfection of his people.
We are so thoroughly egocentric, especially about our own spirituality. When things are going well we quickly attribute this to our obedience. If things are not going well we will try to find out what we have done wrong that has caused us to lose God’s favour11. If we can’t find a reason for God’s discipline we feel he has abandoned us in some way. This leaves us with an unavoidable choice, to trust the power of our reasoning about the ways of God, or to trust he is being gracious to us in an unseen manner in the midst of difficulties. To choose the latter is to choose grace through faith and this alone is the pathway of spiritual growth. This is the way of Christ.
Jesus is the Hidden Grace of God
Only Jesus exhaustively reveals to us the ways of God (John 14:6), for it is Jesus who provides us with an inexhaustible supply of grace; “from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:16).
Traditionally, grace has been defined as “unmerited favour”. Today it is more popular to expound the provision of grace by focussing on Jesus’ signs and wonders. Neither of these emphases12is adequate. Grace is more than an action of God; grace is God himself acting to reconstitute the very life of humanity through becoming one of us. In humbling himself and entering into the form of fallen human flesh (Phil 2:6-813; John 1:14) Jesus ceased to be equal with God in any measureable sense. There is a profound hiddenness about the depths of grace in Christ, for his humanity was like ours – weak, subject to temptation and mortal 14. In speaking of, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 13:14) Paul provides content for his words, “that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Cor 8:9). The grace of Christ is identical with his life, a life which is the polar opposite of striving for equality with God, as Adam and Eve did. This is a life which climaxes in the unsurpassable weakness and despair of the cross.
As Jesus approaches his passion in the Garden of Gethsemane he sweats great drops and blood and repeatedly petitions his Father for a way forward other than the way of the cross (Luke 22:39-46). Luther was quite right to say of this episode, “no man ever feared like this man”15. Here in Gethsemane the Son of God is almost paralysingly afraid. For every other believer there is the promise of being able to approach the “the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16). For Christ however there would be no mercy and grace, the Father has wilfully led Jesus into a situation where he must die the death of sinners, a death without the presence of God.
Jesus’ terrible cry,““My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”” (Mark 15:34) is an appeal for help which God does not answer. The sensation of the absence of the presence of God is overwhelming. If ever there was an occasion “deserving” of grace this would seem to be it. Instead, Jesus appears as a pitiful object of mockery, with no visible witness that he is Christ the King (Mark 15:32) and Son of God (Matt 27:40). His enemies gloated over his obvious humiliation and the disciples abandoned him because they could no longer discern the favour of God on his life. Every element of human experience testified to the absence of God and the victory of evil powers.
Thanks be to God, the resurrection reinterprets for us the manner of God’s working in Christ. Human reason concluded that God had said “No” to Jesus pleas on the cross, but the “No” was in fact a verdict upon our sin taken by Christ in our place (2 Cor 5:21). All human reasoning concerning the ways of God with man is condemned in the death of Christ, for not for a moment did the everlasting Father abandon his beloved Son. Despite all appearances, Paul can confidently say, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself” (2 Cor 5:19). The death-and-resurrection of Jesus, which is the content of the gospel, forces us to conclude against the total weight of human experience that God was fully present in the death of Jesus for the purpose of our salvation yet in a hidden and concealed way. In the thinking of the New Testament writers, grace is now tied to the work of the cross in a pre-eminent manner (Rom 3:24; 5:9-10; Eph 1:7).
There is a sense that God is most deeply at work when he is most intangible – as in Paul’s traumatic experience of suffering in Asia where he, in his own words, “despaired of life itself” (2 Cor 1:8); or consider the afflictions of the persecuted church described in the book of Revelation when the beast is “allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them” (13:7). Under such overwhelming pressures the whole realm of ordinary human reasoning and evidence must be abandoned, faith is trusting in the promises of God that he is being gracious whatever our experience may seem to be saying.
This is not however the blind and irrational commitment of religious fanaticism, it is a faith grounded in the knowledge that all of God’s acts of grace must take the shape of the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is the final knowledge of good and evil. Divine revelation can never teach us anything deeper than what it first taught our Lord himself, grace is first hidden before it is disclosed.
Grace Revealed
This is a lesson that every generation of believers must learn afresh, and which sadly most of this generation is not learning. We throng to conferences on power and influence, but turn away from the plain words of the Lord to Paul, ““My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”” (2 Cor 12:9). His opponents said, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.”” (2 Cor 10:10), yet there was a presence working in the apostle’s life that few can understand. Paul confidently claims, “we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.” (2 Cor 4:11-12).
Paul teaches that grace has no beginning and sets in process a dynamic spiritual movement. This is what he describes in Galatians, 1.God “set me apart before I was born”, 2. He “called me by his grace” 3. and “was pleased to reveal his Son in me, 4. in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles” (Gal 1:15-16) Such an impetus to proclaim Christ arises from the privilege of being conformed to the humble shape of his life.
Christians love the spectacular, but the staple diet Jesus left us was bread, wine, water and the word16. Folk love quoting texts like this one, “the people that do know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits” (Dan 11:32 NKJV), but Jesus stressed that we would find him in exercising grace to the hungry, thirsty, strangers, unclothed, sick and prisoners (Matt 25:31-46). This is why George Whitfield and John Wesley found such a presence of Christ with them as they ministered in the open air to illiterate coal miners, why William Wilberforce experienced the strength of the Lord in his service to slaves, why William Booth saw the hand of God in reaching out to drunks and derelicts, for George Mueller it was the kingdom of God with orphans, Mother Teresa found the Lord amongst the dying, Jacqui Pullinger with drug addicts, Heidi Baker amongst the impoverished of Mozambique. This is also why the indigenous people are the key to sustainable revival in Australia. Grace is found where you would humanly least expect it, hidden in the lives of those no-one wants to know about, discovered where the suffering of humanity is most like the brokenness of the cross.
A famous spiritual writer explains the wisdom of the way of God, “If the Christian really has a heart for the Lord then he may find himself in a space where everything seems to have lost meaning17” ...with experience... “The Christian begins to see ...the Lord is working death into his being... those periods of death are working for him... it is a thing that is good. The Christian is beginning to learn to let the Lord come and go as he will; that it is not necessary to be possessed by the Lord’s presence.” (Mme Guyon, Spiritual Torrents, pp.27-28).
Many sincere believers struggle to understand that grace is most intensely working in their suffering, because it just does not feel like it. We fail to understand that when we came to the Lord the shape and meaning of his life became the meaning of our lives18. For our lives to be conformed to the shape of the life of Christ means death and resurrection, wounding and healing at the hands of God19. All this is grace, hidden and manifest.
Such a mysterious operation of grace is working at all levels. The church in China only began to explode after the rise of communism, the expulsion of foreign missionaries and the Cultural Revolution, the revival in Argentina followed the loss of face endured through defeat in the war with Britain over the Falkland Islands. Today the Spirit is moving amazingly in South Africa, at Angus Buchan’s Mighty Men’s Conference this year over 350,000 men gathered, there are more than 7,000 24 hour prayer watches happening in that nation. Much of this involves the Afrikaners who are seeking a new identity in the post-apartheid era. We are not however in any of these places, what does the hidden nature of grace mean for us Australians, who are surely amongst the most psychologically and relationally dysfunctional people on the planet, ever seeking some new sensuous, sexual or spiritual experience.
Luther famously said, “Grace is the experience of being delivered from experience.” Jesus Christ is not some experience; he is a person whom you come to love whatever you experience in the trials and tribulations of daily life, of which there are many. The absence of the meat of the Word of God and the prayerlessness in our churches (Heb 5:12-14) is a tragedy, but in its very absence and the weakened spiritual climate it induces we can press into God (Phil 3:14) and find his hidden grace. Likewise, the spiritual apathy of our culture is appalling, yet by faith it can become a medium of grace for enduring spiritual growth.
When we learn to find God as the hidden God in all the troubles and disappointments of life we discover his sheer goodness. Grace teaches us that the divine purpose in ordaining “the many tribulations by which we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22) is never to impart to us evil, but only good, a good that will finally be our sole experience. This is what makes the loss of reputation, position, promotion or relationships through following Jesus all worthwhile20.
Conclusion
Love and fear dominate human existence, and they are mutually excluding. Love causes us to look out from ourselves in terms of what we may give to others; fear causes us to arrange our lives for self-protection. Fear overwhelmingly rules both this nation and its church. Only the revelation of grace can abolish fear and release love. John says, “By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” (1 John 4:17-18).
Central to this text is the expression, “as he (Jesus) is so also are we in this world”. To realise that the shape of the life of Christ is the shape of our lives in this world is the insight that liberates us from thinking that God has ever had a will to do ill to his children. Inside this understanding is the recognition that no matter how difficult life becomes he is always there for us, grace is always present in every situation, no matter how invisible or impossible this may appear. To “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 3:18) is in fact to grow in the knowledge of good and evil in the way God always intended, it is to come to the heart understanding that God is sheer goodness and in him is no evil at all. With such a revelation of surprising grace in all the unexpected places of life we are spontaneously moved to proclaim Jesus to those who still living in fear of “the shadow of death” (Luke 1:79), the truth about grace teaches us to renounce every distraction21 and to seek Jesus, who is the real content of grace and all that we will ever need for our spiritual formation.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Praise Is God's ‘Reset' Button
By Lee Grady
Are you trapped in a prison of despair, doubt or anxiety? Learn to release the power of praise.
The apostle Paul's letter to the Philippians is one of the Bible's most unique books. Some scholars call it "the epistle of joy" because the word "joy" or "rejoice" appear in it 16 times. Yet what is amazing is that this letter about Christian joy was written from a prison cell!
While Paul was under the watchful eye of Roman guards, bound in chains, he wrote some of the most uplifting spiritual words ever penned. In the letter's four short chapters the author continually exhorts us to praise God no matter how dark our circumstances are. He writes: "I will rejoice" (1:18, NASB), "I rejoice and share my joy with you all" (2:17), "I urge you, rejoice in the same way" (2:18), "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord" (3:1) and "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" (4:4).
"Paul always looked for the hidden blessing in every trial. Have you been complaining about your situation? Grumbling short-circuits faith, but joy revives it."
Like a broken record, Paul hammers the same theme over and over and over. REJOICE! The word "rejoice" actually means "to re-joy." It's like a reset button on a computer. When any type of electronic equipment goes out of whack, a reset button will get it back online. That is what happens when we rejoice: The joy we've lost is restored and our feeble faith rises again.
Perhaps Paul wrote this message to the Philippians because he remembered his first visit there. It was in Philippi that Paul and Silas were arrested and thrown into jail by the city's magistrates. Yet while the two men sat with their feet fastened in stocks, they began to pray and sing hymns. Long before the invention of subwoofers, this Holy Ghost jam session triggered an earthquake that shook the foundations of the prison and shattered everyone's chains (see Acts 16:25-26).
Do you feel bound by your circumstances? I know I do. Sometimes I feel literally trapped in a tiny prison of limitation and delay. And because of today's weak economy, many people who have enjoyed a carefree life in the past are facing job loss, financial uncertainty, debt and a dismal lack of opportunity. Yet when I pray about my own situation I always am led back to the ancient words of Paul to the Philippians: "Rejoice in the Lord!"
Perhaps right now, in this difficult season, you need to put Paul's message on your iPod and play it over and over. The supernatural joy that is released in praise will do many things:
Praise shatters despair. You think your situation is hopeless? Paul was under house arrest, and he couldn't leave his cell to preach the gospel. Yet he wrote: "Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that [my imprisonment] will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:18b-19). Know that God is working behind the scenes. The clouds over your head may be dark, but praise will lift you above them so you can see the sun again.
Praise shatters negativity. Have you been complaining about your situation? Stop talking trash. Remember that Paul was in chains when he wrote: "Do all things without grumbling or disputing" (Phil. 2:14). He knew the children of Israel were barred from the Promised Land because they grumbled against the Lord (1 Cor. 10:10). Grumbling short-circuits faith, but joy revives it. Paul always looked for the hidden blessing in every trial, to the point that he thanked God even in the midst of shipwrecks, beatings, riots, death threats and starvation.
Praise shatters doubt. When you stop praising, you get stuck in the muck and mire of your own problems. All you can see is the here and now. But something supernatural happens when you rejoice in the Lord. You are lifted out of the prison of impossibility and translated into a realm where you can do "all things through Him who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:13). When you praise, you go into a phone booth looking like Clark Kent and you come out looking like Superman!
Praise shatters anxiety. Paul said that when we hit the "rejoice" button and replace worry with joy-filled prayer, "the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:7). Joy will calm your anxious heart and allow you to receive the promises of God.
Way back in 1970 a military chaplain named Merlin Carothers wrote a small book called Prison to Praise. Today it has sold more than 17 million copies in 53 languages. It challenges readers to thank and praise God in the midst of difficulties—and it's full of testimonies of everyday people who experienced miraculous breakthroughs when they obeyed this simple principle.
What Carothers wrote 40 years ago is still relevant today: "The very act of praise releases the power of God into a set of circumstances and enables God to change them. Miracles, power and victory will all be a part of what God does in our lives when we learn to rejoice in all things."
Are you trapped in a prison of despair, doubt or anxiety? Learn to release the power of praise.
The apostle Paul's letter to the Philippians is one of the Bible's most unique books. Some scholars call it "the epistle of joy" because the word "joy" or "rejoice" appear in it 16 times. Yet what is amazing is that this letter about Christian joy was written from a prison cell!
While Paul was under the watchful eye of Roman guards, bound in chains, he wrote some of the most uplifting spiritual words ever penned. In the letter's four short chapters the author continually exhorts us to praise God no matter how dark our circumstances are. He writes: "I will rejoice" (1:18, NASB), "I rejoice and share my joy with you all" (2:17), "I urge you, rejoice in the same way" (2:18), "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord" (3:1) and "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" (4:4).
"Paul always looked for the hidden blessing in every trial. Have you been complaining about your situation? Grumbling short-circuits faith, but joy revives it."
Like a broken record, Paul hammers the same theme over and over and over. REJOICE! The word "rejoice" actually means "to re-joy." It's like a reset button on a computer. When any type of electronic equipment goes out of whack, a reset button will get it back online. That is what happens when we rejoice: The joy we've lost is restored and our feeble faith rises again.
Perhaps Paul wrote this message to the Philippians because he remembered his first visit there. It was in Philippi that Paul and Silas were arrested and thrown into jail by the city's magistrates. Yet while the two men sat with their feet fastened in stocks, they began to pray and sing hymns. Long before the invention of subwoofers, this Holy Ghost jam session triggered an earthquake that shook the foundations of the prison and shattered everyone's chains (see Acts 16:25-26).
Do you feel bound by your circumstances? I know I do. Sometimes I feel literally trapped in a tiny prison of limitation and delay. And because of today's weak economy, many people who have enjoyed a carefree life in the past are facing job loss, financial uncertainty, debt and a dismal lack of opportunity. Yet when I pray about my own situation I always am led back to the ancient words of Paul to the Philippians: "Rejoice in the Lord!"
Perhaps right now, in this difficult season, you need to put Paul's message on your iPod and play it over and over. The supernatural joy that is released in praise will do many things:
Praise shatters despair. You think your situation is hopeless? Paul was under house arrest, and he couldn't leave his cell to preach the gospel. Yet he wrote: "Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that [my imprisonment] will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:18b-19). Know that God is working behind the scenes. The clouds over your head may be dark, but praise will lift you above them so you can see the sun again.
Praise shatters negativity. Have you been complaining about your situation? Stop talking trash. Remember that Paul was in chains when he wrote: "Do all things without grumbling or disputing" (Phil. 2:14). He knew the children of Israel were barred from the Promised Land because they grumbled against the Lord (1 Cor. 10:10). Grumbling short-circuits faith, but joy revives it. Paul always looked for the hidden blessing in every trial, to the point that he thanked God even in the midst of shipwrecks, beatings, riots, death threats and starvation.
Praise shatters doubt. When you stop praising, you get stuck in the muck and mire of your own problems. All you can see is the here and now. But something supernatural happens when you rejoice in the Lord. You are lifted out of the prison of impossibility and translated into a realm where you can do "all things through Him who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:13). When you praise, you go into a phone booth looking like Clark Kent and you come out looking like Superman!
Praise shatters anxiety. Paul said that when we hit the "rejoice" button and replace worry with joy-filled prayer, "the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:7). Joy will calm your anxious heart and allow you to receive the promises of God.
Way back in 1970 a military chaplain named Merlin Carothers wrote a small book called Prison to Praise. Today it has sold more than 17 million copies in 53 languages. It challenges readers to thank and praise God in the midst of difficulties—and it's full of testimonies of everyday people who experienced miraculous breakthroughs when they obeyed this simple principle.
What Carothers wrote 40 years ago is still relevant today: "The very act of praise releases the power of God into a set of circumstances and enables God to change them. Miracles, power and victory will all be a part of what God does in our lives when we learn to rejoice in all things."
Friday, September 3, 2010
KENNETH HAGIN’s FORGOTTEN WARNING
Before he died in 2003, the revered father of the Word-Faith
movement corrected his spiritual sons for going to extremes with
their message of prosperity.
Charismatic Bible teacher Kenneth Hagin Sr. is considered the
father of the so-called prosperity gospel. The folksy, self-trained
“Dad Hagin” started a grass-roots movement in Oklahoma that
produced a Bible college and a crop of famous preachers
including Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Savelle, Charles Capps, Jesse
DuPlantis, Creflo Dollar and dozens of others-all of whom teach
that Christians who give generously should expect financial
rewards on this side of heaven.
Hagin taught that God was not glorified by poverty and that
preachers do not have to be poor. But before he died in 2003 and
left his Rhema Bible Training Center in the hands of his son,
Kenneth Hagin Jr., he summoned many of his colleagues to Tulsa
to rebuke them for distorting his message. He was not happy that
some of his followers were manipulating the Bible to support what
he viewed as greed and selfish indulgence. Those who were close
to Hagin Sr. say he was passionate about correcting these abuses
before he died. In fact, he wrote a brutally honest book to address
his concerns. The Midas Touch was published in 2000, a year
after the infamous Tulsa meeting.
Many Word-Faith ministers ignored the book. But in light of the
recent controversy over prosperity doctrines, it might be a good
idea to dust it off and read it again.
Here are a few of the points Hagin made in The Midas Touch:
1. Financial prosperity is not a sign of God’s blessing. Hagin wrote:
“If wealth alone were a sign of spirituality, then drug traffickers and
crime bosses would be spiritual giants. Material wealth can be
connected to the blessings of God or it can be totally disconnected
from the blessings of God.”
2. People should never give in order to get. Hagin was critical of
those who “try to make the offering plate some kind of heavenly
vending machine.” He denounced those who link giving to getting,
especially those who give cars to get new cars or who give suits
to get new suits. He wrote: “There is no spiritual formula to sow a
Ford and reap a Mercedes.”
3. It is not biblical to “name your seed” in an offering. Hagin was
horrified by this practice, which was popularized in faith
conferences during the 1980s. Faith preachers sometimes tell
donors that when they give in an offering they should claim a
specific benefit to get a blessing in return. Hagin rejected this idea
and said that focusing on what you are going to receive “corrupts
the very attitude of our giving nature.”
4. The “hundredfold return” is not a biblical concept. Hagin did the
math and figured out that if this bizarre notion were true, “we would
have Christians walking around with not billions or trillions of
dollars, but quadrillions of dollars!” He rejected the popular teaching
that a believer should claim a specific monetary payback rate.
5. Preachers who claim to have a “debt-breaking” anointing should
not be trusted. Hagin was perplexed by ministers who promise
“supernatural debt cancellation” to those who give in certain
offerings. He wrote in The Midas Touch: “There is not one bit of
Scripture I know about that validates such a practice. I’m afraid it
is simply a scheme to raise money for the preacher, and
ultimately it can turn out to be dangerous and destructive for all
involved.”
(Many evangelists who appear on Christian television today use
this bogus claim. Usually they insist that the miraculous debt
cancellation will occur only if a person “gives right now,” as if the
anointing for this miracle suddenly evaporates after the prime time
viewing hour. This manipulative claim is more akin to witchcraft
than Christian belief.)
Hagin condemned other hairbrained gimmicks designed to trick
audiences into emptying their wallets. He was especially incensed
when a preacher told his radio listeners that he would take their
prayer requests to Jesus’ empty tomb in Jerusalem and pray over
them there-if donors included a special love gift. “What that radio
preacher really wanted was more people to send in offerings,”
Hagin wrote.
Thanks to the recent resurgence in bizarre donation schemes
promoted by American charismatics, the prosperity gospel is back
under the nation’s microscope. It’s time to revisit Hagin’s concerns
and find a biblical balance.
Hagin told his followers: “Overemphasizing or adding to what the
Bible actually teaches invariably does more harm than good.” If the
man who pioneered the modern concept of biblical prosperity blew
the whistle on his own movement, wouldn’t it make sense for us to
listen to his admonition?
By J. Lee Grady
movement corrected his spiritual sons for going to extremes with
their message of prosperity.
Charismatic Bible teacher Kenneth Hagin Sr. is considered the
father of the so-called prosperity gospel. The folksy, self-trained
“Dad Hagin” started a grass-roots movement in Oklahoma that
produced a Bible college and a crop of famous preachers
including Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Savelle, Charles Capps, Jesse
DuPlantis, Creflo Dollar and dozens of others-all of whom teach
that Christians who give generously should expect financial
rewards on this side of heaven.
Hagin taught that God was not glorified by poverty and that
preachers do not have to be poor. But before he died in 2003 and
left his Rhema Bible Training Center in the hands of his son,
Kenneth Hagin Jr., he summoned many of his colleagues to Tulsa
to rebuke them for distorting his message. He was not happy that
some of his followers were manipulating the Bible to support what
he viewed as greed and selfish indulgence. Those who were close
to Hagin Sr. say he was passionate about correcting these abuses
before he died. In fact, he wrote a brutally honest book to address
his concerns. The Midas Touch was published in 2000, a year
after the infamous Tulsa meeting.
Many Word-Faith ministers ignored the book. But in light of the
recent controversy over prosperity doctrines, it might be a good
idea to dust it off and read it again.
Here are a few of the points Hagin made in The Midas Touch:
1. Financial prosperity is not a sign of God’s blessing. Hagin wrote:
“If wealth alone were a sign of spirituality, then drug traffickers and
crime bosses would be spiritual giants. Material wealth can be
connected to the blessings of God or it can be totally disconnected
from the blessings of God.”
2. People should never give in order to get. Hagin was critical of
those who “try to make the offering plate some kind of heavenly
vending machine.” He denounced those who link giving to getting,
especially those who give cars to get new cars or who give suits
to get new suits. He wrote: “There is no spiritual formula to sow a
Ford and reap a Mercedes.”
3. It is not biblical to “name your seed” in an offering. Hagin was
horrified by this practice, which was popularized in faith
conferences during the 1980s. Faith preachers sometimes tell
donors that when they give in an offering they should claim a
specific benefit to get a blessing in return. Hagin rejected this idea
and said that focusing on what you are going to receive “corrupts
the very attitude of our giving nature.”
4. The “hundredfold return” is not a biblical concept. Hagin did the
math and figured out that if this bizarre notion were true, “we would
have Christians walking around with not billions or trillions of
dollars, but quadrillions of dollars!” He rejected the popular teaching
that a believer should claim a specific monetary payback rate.
5. Preachers who claim to have a “debt-breaking” anointing should
not be trusted. Hagin was perplexed by ministers who promise
“supernatural debt cancellation” to those who give in certain
offerings. He wrote in The Midas Touch: “There is not one bit of
Scripture I know about that validates such a practice. I’m afraid it
is simply a scheme to raise money for the preacher, and
ultimately it can turn out to be dangerous and destructive for all
involved.”
(Many evangelists who appear on Christian television today use
this bogus claim. Usually they insist that the miraculous debt
cancellation will occur only if a person “gives right now,” as if the
anointing for this miracle suddenly evaporates after the prime time
viewing hour. This manipulative claim is more akin to witchcraft
than Christian belief.)
Hagin condemned other hairbrained gimmicks designed to trick
audiences into emptying their wallets. He was especially incensed
when a preacher told his radio listeners that he would take their
prayer requests to Jesus’ empty tomb in Jerusalem and pray over
them there-if donors included a special love gift. “What that radio
preacher really wanted was more people to send in offerings,”
Hagin wrote.
Thanks to the recent resurgence in bizarre donation schemes
promoted by American charismatics, the prosperity gospel is back
under the nation’s microscope. It’s time to revisit Hagin’s concerns
and find a biblical balance.
Hagin told his followers: “Overemphasizing or adding to what the
Bible actually teaches invariably does more harm than good.” If the
man who pioneered the modern concept of biblical prosperity blew
the whistle on his own movement, wouldn’t it make sense for us to
listen to his admonition?
By J. Lee Grady
The Malachi Mandate: A Need for Spiritual Fathers and Mentors
By Jennifer LeClaire
There’s plenty of reflection among Christians about the spirit of Elijah. Doubtless, this Old Testament mouthpiece offers copious character traits that his New Testament counterparts would do well to model. However, for all the accurate prophetic decrees and miraculous moments that characterized Elijah’s ministry, it is his spiritual fatherhood that is perhaps most needed in the Body of Christ.
With companies of young prophets rising up and armies of prophetic believers awakening to the order to establish the Kingdom of God throughout all the earth, spiritual guidance is vital to a stable Church that the world will look to for answers.
Governments and other secular leaders won’t bow their ears to the utterances of super spiritual fruits, emotional flakes and hypocritical nuts. The governing church demands unwavering voices that refuse to compromise in the face of opposition, yet with a wisdom and grace that persuades even the hardest heart’s that God’s will is the only way.
The manifestation of the sons of God depends on spiritual fathers who will invest time and energy into their spiritual children. So as we consider Elijah and his miraculous ministry let us also consider this powerful prophet’s role in shaping the life and ministry of young Elisha, who went on to do far greater things than his spiritual mentor.
You don’t have to be an apostle to be a spiritual father or mother, but the apostolic reformation is surely ushering in a renewed focus on this relational dynamic that will prepare the Church for its Bridegroom. We are seeing the manifestation of the Malachi mandate that proclaims: “He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers...” (Malachi 4:6)
“There’s a revelation that’s beginning to come to the earth that’s obviously a part of the apostolic movement,” says Bishop Tony Miller, founder of Destiny World Outreach in Greenville, S.C. “In fact, this revelation of spiritual fathers is one of the major aspects of the Apostolic Movement – and it’s oftentimes overlooked. It’s the Malachi 4 model where God is restoring the hearts of the fathers back to their children and their children back to their fathers. It’s a two-way avenue.”
The Emerging Fathers
Many church leaders mourn the dearth of spiritual fathers in the Body of Christ today. Some, like Apostle John Eckhardt, founder of Crusader Ministries in Chicago, believes this parental drought is hindering the purposes of God in the apostolic revolution.
“I believe there are thousands of emerging apostles that have gifts within them and they are not being released because we don’t have fathers that understand the apostolic calling and the [need to] release them like we should,” Eckhardt argues. “I believe we do have many young ministers with apostolic callings who struggle to develop on their own because there is no one in their region that they are connected to that has a heart to train and disciple them into their gifting.”
One reason for the scarcity of spiritual fathers is the lack of a widespread fathering model in former generations. Many of today’s local church leaders were not fathered themselves, and subsequently do not know how to father others. The apostolic revolution is helping to break this vicious cycle with spiritual fathers and mothers and spiritual sons and daughters who are willing to learn and grow into their respective roles together for the sake of future generations.
Doug Stringer, founder and president of Turning Point Ministries International in Houston, Texas, is writing a book on the topic of spiritual fathers. His passion is to reach what he deems as a fatherless generation emer-ging as a prophetic generation in pursuit of spiritual fathers. In his travels, he frequently encounters young men and women with a deep craving for spiritual fathers.
“My generation was fatherless,” says Stringer, 50, author of the upcoming book Who’s Your Daddy Now? “We don’t know how to be fathers ourselves, but the emerging generation tells me they don’t expect us to know how to be fathers. They just want us to be willing to try, and to identify with them and offer a sense of connectedness.”
Anatomy of a Spiritual Father
Of course, the concept of spiritual fatherhood is not new to the apostolic. Long before the apostles were fully restored to the Church, Dr. Lester Sumrall raised up three strong spiritual sons. Sumrall passed away in 1996, but his ministry lives on, in part, through what he imparted to Rod Parsley, Ulf Ekman and Billy Joe Daugherty. Sumrall was known as a “pastor of pastors.” Sumrall, himself, was tutored by British evangelist Howard Carter and blessed by Smith Wigglesworth.
Parsley views his relationship with Sumrall as akin to the dynamics between Elijah and Elisha. In 1992, Sumrall passed his “sword of anointing” to Parsley, conferring on him the spiritual mantle of his ministry. “Dr. Lester Sumrall was not only my spiritual mentor and my pastor, but also he was, above all, my best friend. For more than 15 years he protected me, guided me, instructed me, corrected me and exhorted me. He encouraged and inspired me to a closer walk with God, and he increased my understanding of the spirit realm as no other human ever has,” Parsley wrote in his book Rod Parsley Presents Adventuring With Christ by Lester Sumrall.
Parsley described many of the characteristics of a spiritual father: protection, guidance, instruction, correction, exhortation, encouragement and inspiration. Miller agrees that these are some of the chief earmarks of a true spiritual father. A spiritual father, he says, is always willing to give his life for his sons. A spiritual father, he adds, will always anchor his sons to his character and purpose. A spiritual father, he continues, will always see gifts in his son that other people don’t see – and inspire him to put the gifts to work.
“In this apostolic move we’re moving into a season where I believe the emphasis of the Kingdom is not in doing but in being. That’s why fathers are arising on the scene,” Miller explains. Miller’s spiritual father is Tom Peters, pastor of Trinity Church International in Lake Worth, Fla. Miller describes him as man of godly character, yet not overly charismatic, who has made a tremendous impact on his life.
“My spiritual father recently said to me, ‘You don’t even need me anymore. You do far bigger things than I do’,” Miller shares. “I told him I would always need him. I need him because he was there when I had nothing. He understood the assignment on my life and he helped God forge character in my life. Then he told me that if I stay true to the character of God and walk humbly before the Lord, God will keep promoting me. It’s more important to him that I stay in a right relationship with God and posture myself according to character and the purpose of god than it is that I keep expanding my borders. I believe that that’s the heart of the true father.”
Breaking Down Resistance
For all the talk about spiritual fathers, we must not forget that without willing spiritual sons there cannot be the two-way avenue that Miller described. Spiritual sons should respect and honor their spiritual fathers, according to Peter Sumrall. That means serving the father’s vision and taking his advice concerning your own.
“My dad used to laugh because some guys would say ‘You are my spiritual father,’ but they were too busy to pick him up at the airport,” Sumrall recalls. “They didn’t understand the meaning of serving, or of receiving the spiritual insight and authority a father has to offer.”
It seems not much has changed today. An independent spirit often causes would-be sons to resist sonship, most notably the correction that come with the relationship. However, fathers who refuse to correct their sons will lose their sons as Eli lost his (1 Samuel 2:34; 4:11). And the Bible clearly states that those who will not receive correction will become bastards (Hebrews 12:8).
Miller puts it this way: Sonship is not visible by how someone receives encouragement; it’s visible by how they receive correction. A true son doesn’t make his father adjust the way he leads; a true son adjusts the way he follows. While ultimate accountability is surely before the Lord, spiritual sonship goes beyond accountability to a willingness to submit yourself to a father who can speak to the blind spots in your life so you can grow.
“I think many guys resist spiritual fathers because they don’t want to have to get permission from anybody to do what they want to do. It’s not about permission-giving. It’s about maturity. It’s about wisdom. You can enforce compliance, but submission can never be forced,” Miller explains. “Submission is an attitude of the heart. There are a lot of people out there who are keeping the rules but who are not submitting. They call you father until there is something they don’t agree with.”
Another reason some resist the father movement because they have seen what Miller calls rent-a-father, an abominable act where leaders attempt to merchandise believers. It sounds something like this, “Send me your tithes and I will be your father.” That tactic is not relational and does not fit God’s pattern for fathers – spiritual or natural. When a child is born, the father doesn’t tell him, “pay me and I’ll take care of you.” There is nothing wrong with honoring spiritual fathers with gifts, Miller asserts, but honor is far more than sending a check.
“A true father will cut away the flesh – that’s what circumcision is – that would impede the flow of life,” Miller says. “When a father takes his knife to shape the character of a son, it’s not to harm him. It’s to release a greater flow of life. That’s the reason I tell young men, ‘If your spiritual father doesn’t have a knife, go and buy him one.’ I don’t want my father not to carry a knife because I want him to deal with the areas of my life that cut off my productivity.”
The Qualities of Sonship
Beyond submitting to the counsel and correction – and receiving the encouragement and strength – from a spiritual father, true sons honor their father. But honor goes beyond gifts or even submission to include a measure of dependence. Young warriors are built for exploits, but older men who become spiritual fathers have a burden to impart before they depart. Fathers have an urgency to make a deposit in their sons’ lives so they win the battle.
just as we honor God by asking him to help us with our challenges, spiritual sons honor their spiritual fathers by asking them for insight. This concept is illustrated in 2 Kings 6 when the sons of the prophets came to Elisha looking for his blessing to go build a bigger dwelling by the river. The sons of the prophets, Stringer explains, wanted to build their own place, but they wanted their spiritual father to go with them in case they needed him. Indeed, when the young prophets lost their axe head in the river they turned to Elisha for some insight. Stringer sees that axe head as a symbol of strength, passion and the first love. Elisha was able to help the young prophets retrieve what was lost.
“Sometimes we need to be available to the emerging generation as apostolic fathers and help them find their passion, their creativity, their sense of destiny and purpose that God gave them,” Stringer says. “We need to give them wisdom, another shot in the arm so to speak, to keep them moving forward because they are full of vision and anointing. We just have to give them a compass.”
Apostolic fathers lay foundations. Rather than lording a title or office over a spiritual son, they get under them to push them to a higher dimension. Miller still remembers a recent trip to South Africa. A man there made a statement that still pierces his heart and reminds him of the mandate on his life. The man said, “Your success is my honor.” Miller tells his spiritual sons that the greatest thing they could do for him is to take what he’s imparted to them and use it to expand the Kingdom.
The apostolic is a multi-generational movement. The establishment of the Kingdom demands spiritual fathers who are willing to propel their spiritual sons to greater heights. Stringer puts it this way: “We will either be like Elizabeth rejoicing over the birthing of a forerunner generation or we will be like Rachael weeping over the loss of a whole generation. “It is up to us as the Church to carry the expression of Christ and to really represent the Father to a generation that has been deemed fatherless.”
There’s plenty of reflection among Christians about the spirit of Elijah. Doubtless, this Old Testament mouthpiece offers copious character traits that his New Testament counterparts would do well to model. However, for all the accurate prophetic decrees and miraculous moments that characterized Elijah’s ministry, it is his spiritual fatherhood that is perhaps most needed in the Body of Christ.
With companies of young prophets rising up and armies of prophetic believers awakening to the order to establish the Kingdom of God throughout all the earth, spiritual guidance is vital to a stable Church that the world will look to for answers.
Governments and other secular leaders won’t bow their ears to the utterances of super spiritual fruits, emotional flakes and hypocritical nuts. The governing church demands unwavering voices that refuse to compromise in the face of opposition, yet with a wisdom and grace that persuades even the hardest heart’s that God’s will is the only way.
The manifestation of the sons of God depends on spiritual fathers who will invest time and energy into their spiritual children. So as we consider Elijah and his miraculous ministry let us also consider this powerful prophet’s role in shaping the life and ministry of young Elisha, who went on to do far greater things than his spiritual mentor.
You don’t have to be an apostle to be a spiritual father or mother, but the apostolic reformation is surely ushering in a renewed focus on this relational dynamic that will prepare the Church for its Bridegroom. We are seeing the manifestation of the Malachi mandate that proclaims: “He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers...” (Malachi 4:6)
“There’s a revelation that’s beginning to come to the earth that’s obviously a part of the apostolic movement,” says Bishop Tony Miller, founder of Destiny World Outreach in Greenville, S.C. “In fact, this revelation of spiritual fathers is one of the major aspects of the Apostolic Movement – and it’s oftentimes overlooked. It’s the Malachi 4 model where God is restoring the hearts of the fathers back to their children and their children back to their fathers. It’s a two-way avenue.”
The Emerging Fathers
Many church leaders mourn the dearth of spiritual fathers in the Body of Christ today. Some, like Apostle John Eckhardt, founder of Crusader Ministries in Chicago, believes this parental drought is hindering the purposes of God in the apostolic revolution.
“I believe there are thousands of emerging apostles that have gifts within them and they are not being released because we don’t have fathers that understand the apostolic calling and the [need to] release them like we should,” Eckhardt argues. “I believe we do have many young ministers with apostolic callings who struggle to develop on their own because there is no one in their region that they are connected to that has a heart to train and disciple them into their gifting.”
One reason for the scarcity of spiritual fathers is the lack of a widespread fathering model in former generations. Many of today’s local church leaders were not fathered themselves, and subsequently do not know how to father others. The apostolic revolution is helping to break this vicious cycle with spiritual fathers and mothers and spiritual sons and daughters who are willing to learn and grow into their respective roles together for the sake of future generations.
Doug Stringer, founder and president of Turning Point Ministries International in Houston, Texas, is writing a book on the topic of spiritual fathers. His passion is to reach what he deems as a fatherless generation emer-ging as a prophetic generation in pursuit of spiritual fathers. In his travels, he frequently encounters young men and women with a deep craving for spiritual fathers.
“My generation was fatherless,” says Stringer, 50, author of the upcoming book Who’s Your Daddy Now? “We don’t know how to be fathers ourselves, but the emerging generation tells me they don’t expect us to know how to be fathers. They just want us to be willing to try, and to identify with them and offer a sense of connectedness.”
Anatomy of a Spiritual Father
Of course, the concept of spiritual fatherhood is not new to the apostolic. Long before the apostles were fully restored to the Church, Dr. Lester Sumrall raised up three strong spiritual sons. Sumrall passed away in 1996, but his ministry lives on, in part, through what he imparted to Rod Parsley, Ulf Ekman and Billy Joe Daugherty. Sumrall was known as a “pastor of pastors.” Sumrall, himself, was tutored by British evangelist Howard Carter and blessed by Smith Wigglesworth.
Parsley views his relationship with Sumrall as akin to the dynamics between Elijah and Elisha. In 1992, Sumrall passed his “sword of anointing” to Parsley, conferring on him the spiritual mantle of his ministry. “Dr. Lester Sumrall was not only my spiritual mentor and my pastor, but also he was, above all, my best friend. For more than 15 years he protected me, guided me, instructed me, corrected me and exhorted me. He encouraged and inspired me to a closer walk with God, and he increased my understanding of the spirit realm as no other human ever has,” Parsley wrote in his book Rod Parsley Presents Adventuring With Christ by Lester Sumrall.
Parsley described many of the characteristics of a spiritual father: protection, guidance, instruction, correction, exhortation, encouragement and inspiration. Miller agrees that these are some of the chief earmarks of a true spiritual father. A spiritual father, he says, is always willing to give his life for his sons. A spiritual father, he adds, will always anchor his sons to his character and purpose. A spiritual father, he continues, will always see gifts in his son that other people don’t see – and inspire him to put the gifts to work.
“In this apostolic move we’re moving into a season where I believe the emphasis of the Kingdom is not in doing but in being. That’s why fathers are arising on the scene,” Miller explains. Miller’s spiritual father is Tom Peters, pastor of Trinity Church International in Lake Worth, Fla. Miller describes him as man of godly character, yet not overly charismatic, who has made a tremendous impact on his life.
“My spiritual father recently said to me, ‘You don’t even need me anymore. You do far bigger things than I do’,” Miller shares. “I told him I would always need him. I need him because he was there when I had nothing. He understood the assignment on my life and he helped God forge character in my life. Then he told me that if I stay true to the character of God and walk humbly before the Lord, God will keep promoting me. It’s more important to him that I stay in a right relationship with God and posture myself according to character and the purpose of god than it is that I keep expanding my borders. I believe that that’s the heart of the true father.”
Breaking Down Resistance
For all the talk about spiritual fathers, we must not forget that without willing spiritual sons there cannot be the two-way avenue that Miller described. Spiritual sons should respect and honor their spiritual fathers, according to Peter Sumrall. That means serving the father’s vision and taking his advice concerning your own.
“My dad used to laugh because some guys would say ‘You are my spiritual father,’ but they were too busy to pick him up at the airport,” Sumrall recalls. “They didn’t understand the meaning of serving, or of receiving the spiritual insight and authority a father has to offer.”
It seems not much has changed today. An independent spirit often causes would-be sons to resist sonship, most notably the correction that come with the relationship. However, fathers who refuse to correct their sons will lose their sons as Eli lost his (1 Samuel 2:34; 4:11). And the Bible clearly states that those who will not receive correction will become bastards (Hebrews 12:8).
Miller puts it this way: Sonship is not visible by how someone receives encouragement; it’s visible by how they receive correction. A true son doesn’t make his father adjust the way he leads; a true son adjusts the way he follows. While ultimate accountability is surely before the Lord, spiritual sonship goes beyond accountability to a willingness to submit yourself to a father who can speak to the blind spots in your life so you can grow.
“I think many guys resist spiritual fathers because they don’t want to have to get permission from anybody to do what they want to do. It’s not about permission-giving. It’s about maturity. It’s about wisdom. You can enforce compliance, but submission can never be forced,” Miller explains. “Submission is an attitude of the heart. There are a lot of people out there who are keeping the rules but who are not submitting. They call you father until there is something they don’t agree with.”
Another reason some resist the father movement because they have seen what Miller calls rent-a-father, an abominable act where leaders attempt to merchandise believers. It sounds something like this, “Send me your tithes and I will be your father.” That tactic is not relational and does not fit God’s pattern for fathers – spiritual or natural. When a child is born, the father doesn’t tell him, “pay me and I’ll take care of you.” There is nothing wrong with honoring spiritual fathers with gifts, Miller asserts, but honor is far more than sending a check.
“A true father will cut away the flesh – that’s what circumcision is – that would impede the flow of life,” Miller says. “When a father takes his knife to shape the character of a son, it’s not to harm him. It’s to release a greater flow of life. That’s the reason I tell young men, ‘If your spiritual father doesn’t have a knife, go and buy him one.’ I don’t want my father not to carry a knife because I want him to deal with the areas of my life that cut off my productivity.”
The Qualities of Sonship
Beyond submitting to the counsel and correction – and receiving the encouragement and strength – from a spiritual father, true sons honor their father. But honor goes beyond gifts or even submission to include a measure of dependence. Young warriors are built for exploits, but older men who become spiritual fathers have a burden to impart before they depart. Fathers have an urgency to make a deposit in their sons’ lives so they win the battle.
just as we honor God by asking him to help us with our challenges, spiritual sons honor their spiritual fathers by asking them for insight. This concept is illustrated in 2 Kings 6 when the sons of the prophets came to Elisha looking for his blessing to go build a bigger dwelling by the river. The sons of the prophets, Stringer explains, wanted to build their own place, but they wanted their spiritual father to go with them in case they needed him. Indeed, when the young prophets lost their axe head in the river they turned to Elisha for some insight. Stringer sees that axe head as a symbol of strength, passion and the first love. Elisha was able to help the young prophets retrieve what was lost.
“Sometimes we need to be available to the emerging generation as apostolic fathers and help them find their passion, their creativity, their sense of destiny and purpose that God gave them,” Stringer says. “We need to give them wisdom, another shot in the arm so to speak, to keep them moving forward because they are full of vision and anointing. We just have to give them a compass.”
Apostolic fathers lay foundations. Rather than lording a title or office over a spiritual son, they get under them to push them to a higher dimension. Miller still remembers a recent trip to South Africa. A man there made a statement that still pierces his heart and reminds him of the mandate on his life. The man said, “Your success is my honor.” Miller tells his spiritual sons that the greatest thing they could do for him is to take what he’s imparted to them and use it to expand the Kingdom.
The apostolic is a multi-generational movement. The establishment of the Kingdom demands spiritual fathers who are willing to propel their spiritual sons to greater heights. Stringer puts it this way: “We will either be like Elizabeth rejoicing over the birthing of a forerunner generation or we will be like Rachael weeping over the loss of a whole generation. “It is up to us as the Church to carry the expression of Christ and to really represent the Father to a generation that has been deemed fatherless.”
Rod Parsley Gets Culturally Incorrect and Sees America's Great Awakening
By Jonas Clark
Rod Parsley Gets “Culturally Incorrect” on controversial social topics from abortion to Islam to homosexuality and more.
At this pivotal moment in history, America wrestles with herself. The minds and hearts of this generation have become the theater of conflict. It is a war of competing, mutually exclusive ways of viewing the universe and man’s place in it. It is a clash of paradigms, of value systems, and of visions of the future.
So says Pastor Rod Parsley in his latest book, “Culturally Incorrect: How Clashing Worldviews Affect Your Future.” Parsley contends that a healthy society requires the participation of morally founded people to offer policies that positively impact commerce and government; science and technology; and arts, entertainment and the media.
Parsley is the founder and president of The Center for Moral Clarity (CMC). Launched in 2004, CMC seeks to bridge the gap in America’s eroding value system by affecting moral change through passionate and effective Christian leadership and service. Parsley also serves as the senior pastor of World Harvest Church in Columbus, Ohio, and hosts “Breakthrough,” a daily and weekly television broadcast seen by millions across America and around the world. He is the bestselling author of “Silent No More.”
The Voice magazine caught up with Parsley to discuss his new book, the state of the Church, why Islam is making inroads into America, and many other ‘culturally incorrect’ topics.
Pastor Rod Parsley
The Voice: Why do you want people to read “Culturally Incorrect” and what do you hope they will learn?
Rod Parsley: The response to my previous book, “Silent No More,” showed me that we are a deeply divided people – politically and spiritually as well as morally. I wrote “Culturally Incorrect” to show why we are divided and how men and women of faith can engage in the war that is raging for the soul of our nation.
Through this book I want the culture at large to learn why the biblical worldview is superior to all others, and how false worldviews lead to disastrous results for our society. I also want the Church to understand its divine mandate to engage the culture. I truly believe this book can be the catalyst for a new Great Awakening in our nation, if the Church accepts its responsibility to make it happen.
The Voice: So you see another Great Awakening coming? How will it happen?
Rod Parsley: I absolutely see another Great Awakening coming to this nation in my lifetime, and the Word of God is calling this generation to its forefront. It’s incredible to imagine, but very realistic – God has used previous generations to effect massive cultural change before. The minds and hearts of this generation are the theater of conflict. Conflicting worldviews have led to competing, mutually exclusive ways of viewing the universe and man’s place in it. As the biblical worldview is shown to be superior – as it will, because absolute truth will not be denied – a new Great Awakening is not only possible, but inevitable.
The Voice: In the book you wrote, “We live in a generation of believers that has seemingly made the cross a gateway for self-help and converted the call to a life of Christian service into a quest for comfort and pleasure.” Whose fault is that? And how do we move out of a bless-me-only model of church that ultimately enables Christians to engage the culture around them?
Rod Parsley: I believe both church leaders and their followers share responsibility for our current state of lethargy, but would note that shepherds bear ultimate responsibility for their flocks. Today, we in the Church judge the effectiveness of a ministry by how many people are coming to worship services. I want us to return to a more telling measure of success, which is not how many people are coming but rather how many people are going into the culture to live transformed lives. I’m convinced that the Church’s failure to actively, vigorously and positively engage the culture has led to defeatism and isolation on our parts – and, as a result, we’re not heeding Jesus’ command to be salt and light.
The Voice: In “Culturally Incorrect” you write about withdrawal and isolation from society. Has there been too much focus on the rapture and not enough focus on advancing and establishing Christ’s Kingdom culture in our nation and the world?
Rod Parsley: It’s not a question of either-or. It’s a question of both-and. I don’t believe Christians can talk enough about our hope in the life to come – it is an essential component of the biblical worldview. I do believe the Church has ignored Christ’s mandate to establish the Kingdom of God on earth, and that necessarily involves engaging the culture, contending for the truth we’ve been given.
The Voice: What are the top three things that Christian leaders can do in their ministries to stop the onslaught of anti-Christ agendas?
Rod Parsley: It’s even more simple than that! The one most important thing our leadership can do is return to clear, biblical preaching of the cross. We have neglected to communicate biblical Christianity within our churches, and that has led to the current situation, in my judgment. Far too much of today’s preaching makes no mention of self-denial, which is entry-level Christianity.
While America’s liberal churches have abandoned the preaching of the cross because of its focus on sin and repentance, many conservative evangelical churches have shied away from it because of its unpopular call for self-denial and sacrifice. Many Christians have never been told that to save their life, they must lose it! Even our language suggests Christianity can be nothing more than a line on our resumes. We’re told to “accept Christ into our lives,” and that’s an attractive prospect for someone who already believes it’s all about them.
The Voice: What do you tell the person who says, “It may be your call from God to engage the culture, but not mine?”
Rod Parsley: If it’s a fellow Christian, I’d ask where in the Bible they found a personal exemption from Jesus’ command to be salt and light! I understand many believers are reluctant to come out of their sanctuaries and engage the culture. In the book I talk about “me and my comfort syndrome,” which is the product of an “easy believe” mentality in too much of the Church. I would only add that our divine appointment as ambassadors of our King requires us to witness our faith to a wayward culture. It’s not optional and it’s not flexible.
The Voice: Do you see progressive secularists in our nation pandering to those of Islamic faith while, at the same time, battling against the Christian faith? Or what is helping Islam make inroads in the United States?
Rod Parsley: The foundation of secular worldview is a rejection of the notion of absolute truth – that whatever is true for you may not be true for anyone else. This is a mindset that rejects Islam as well as Christianity, so I don’t think you’ll ever see secularists “pandering” to Muslims as such. I do believe, however, that the “anything goes” mentality of secularism has helped Islam make inroads in this nation. Man is continually looking to make sense of his surroundings, and Islam purports to do that. I noted in “Silent No More” that Islam is still growing rapidly in America, especially among blacks. As long as Bible believers fail to contend for the biblical worldview in the culture, something will fill the void in people’s hearts for something to believe in, and Muslims are, to say the least, aggressive about sharing their faith with others, to the point of imposing it.
The Voice: Non-believers say that Christians should not shove their morality and belief system down their throats. How do you address the issue of which moral compass our nation should look to?
Rod Parsley: I am committed to talking about God in the public square, as many of our Founding Fathers did. It’s impossible to divorce worldview from public policy and law-making. Yet I am mindful to do so with respect and humility. Terrorists operate by coercion. Christians have a different way of doing things – by persuasion, not compulsion. As former Attorney General John Ashcroft has said, “It is against my religion to impose my religion.”
The Voice: You discuss holding a biblical worldview that is not influenced by Marxism, Postmodernist worldviews and Humanism, etc. There is a push throughout our colleges and universities to produce graduates that have a “worldview.” Their worldview is that of a global citizen that will one day look to be governed by international law through the United Nations, not the United States Constitution. What’s your take on this?
Rod Parsley: I am a global citizen. Through our Bridge of Hope missions outreach, we’ve been active in meeting people’s physical and spiritual needs around the world. I started working to relieve human suffering in Sudan long before it was trendy to do so. My own view is that it would be a bad idea for the citizens of this nation to cede their authority to govern themselves to an international body, either the United Nations or some other organization.
Rod Parsley Preaching
The Voice: With the introduction of new words, terms and definitions, like the U.S. Constitution being called a “living document,” are we being set up for further judicial changes?
Rod Parsley: The notion that the Constitution should change over time has been around for decades and, in fact, was a factor in the U.S. Supreme Court’s outrageous Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. I addressed this situation, which I call “judicial tyranny,” in “Silent No More.” There are certainly many judges who hold to this erroneous view of the law on the bench today, but I’m grateful for those who are faithful to the historic role of the judiciary – to interpret the law, rather than make new law from the bench. Using the courts to advance a public-policy agenda has been part of the liberal playbook for a long time; it’s the only way they can get approval for their ideas. So I’m sure we’ll be having this discussion for the foreseeable future in this nation.
The Voice: You wrote about the myth of the separation of church and state in your book “Silent No More”. Since the writing of that book what has changed?
Rod Parsley: In one respect, nothing has changed. The concept of “separation of church and state” still does not appear in the Constitution! What has changed is that liberals and opponents of religious freedom have become even more militant in enforcing this outmoded concept. Around the world you’re seeing the proclamation of the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality denounced and even prosecuted as “hate speech,” and in some circumstances it’s illegal to evangelize in public. If we’re not vigilant we’ll see the elimination of our religious freedoms – all on the basis of a fictitious concept. It’s a scary thought, but one that should motivate Christians to action.
The Voice: Why does it seem that homosexuality has become so acceptable in American society? How do we combat the homosexual agenda that continues to sponsor hate crime legislation that intends to stop people like you from saying that homosexuality is immoral and their push to redefine the family?
Rod Parsley: The only way Christians can authentically and authoritatively approach the issue of homosexuality is from a heart of compassion. Love, not animosity, must be our motivation. It grieves me, for example, that the median age of homosexual men at death is 42 and for the population at large, the median age at death is 75. For lesbians, the median age at death is 45; for heterosexual women, 79. How can we not have compassion and love for people who are dying decades before they should?
We’ve fallen into the trap of labeling those on the other side as crazy, stupid or evil. That’s no way to save souls! In many cases, we have to convince our adversaries that we’re not hateful or vengeful before we can contend for the truth we bring them. In “Culturally Incorrect,” I have made the case as persuasively as I can that Christians should assertively contend for the biblical worldview and accept the call of authentic Christianity for their own lives. We possess absolute truth – God is the ultimate reality – and we shouldn’t be afraid to say so.
The Voice: Millions of babies have been murdered through abortions. In your book you talk about not settling for a partial victory. What is the next battle?
Rod Parsley: We won a great battle in April, when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. I was present when President Bush signed that bill into law, and it’s gratifying to know that it will be enforced. Through our grassroots organization, the Center for Moral Clarity, we are involved now in helping to provide ultrasound machines for pro-life women’s clinics around the nation. We know that nearly nine out of every 10 women considering abortion will change their mind and keep their babies once they see an ultrasound image of the life inside them. Ultimately, though, my goal is to see Roe v. Wade overturned; that would send the battle over legal abortion back to the states, where it belongs, and I look forward to advocating for life at the state level when that happens.
The Voice: How can the everyday disciple of Christ make a difference?
Rod Parsley: First, by realizing that each of us already possesses the ability to make a difference. Unfortunately, most of us don’t use the influence we have over others – and we each have spheres of influence in our families, workplaces and communities. It’s also vital for disciples of Christ to understand and commit to the biblical mandate to be salt and light in Matthew 5. The current generation of believers has failed to meet the culture in the marketplace of ideas and present a relevant, compelling Gospel. We must, as Peter says, always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within us. Only biblical Christianity brings meaningful, coherent and tested answers to our most basic questions – so believe me, our non-Christian friends and neighbors need what we have to offer; it’s just a matter of whether we will be obedient to share what we know.
The Voice: How will Church be different 25 years from now?
Rod Parsley: Frankly, the state of the Church 25 years from now depends on what we do now. If the Church doesn’t wake up and fulfill the mission that God has laid out for us in His Word, just 4 percent of my daughter’s generation will be Bible-believing Christians. This compares to 35 percent of my generation and 65 percent of my parents’ generation accepting the Bible as the Word of God. So you’re talking about a tremendous decline in the Church’s influence within two generations if we don’t accept our duty to become assertive advocates for our faith and for a biblical worldview.
The Voice: How has writing this book changed Rod Parsley?
Rod Parsley: Studying worldviews for “Culturally Incorrect” has helped me better understand the motivations for people’s actions in the public arena, especially those with whom I disagree. It’s important to understand what makes an abortion advocate or a same-sex marriage supporter believe what he or she believes. That’s the first step to persuading him or her to the rightness of my cause. I’ve also developed an even more profound sense of urgency about living an authentic Christian life, and leading those I influence to do the same.
Rod Parsley Gets “Culturally Incorrect” on controversial social topics from abortion to Islam to homosexuality and more.
At this pivotal moment in history, America wrestles with herself. The minds and hearts of this generation have become the theater of conflict. It is a war of competing, mutually exclusive ways of viewing the universe and man’s place in it. It is a clash of paradigms, of value systems, and of visions of the future.
So says Pastor Rod Parsley in his latest book, “Culturally Incorrect: How Clashing Worldviews Affect Your Future.” Parsley contends that a healthy society requires the participation of morally founded people to offer policies that positively impact commerce and government; science and technology; and arts, entertainment and the media.
Parsley is the founder and president of The Center for Moral Clarity (CMC). Launched in 2004, CMC seeks to bridge the gap in America’s eroding value system by affecting moral change through passionate and effective Christian leadership and service. Parsley also serves as the senior pastor of World Harvest Church in Columbus, Ohio, and hosts “Breakthrough,” a daily and weekly television broadcast seen by millions across America and around the world. He is the bestselling author of “Silent No More.”
The Voice magazine caught up with Parsley to discuss his new book, the state of the Church, why Islam is making inroads into America, and many other ‘culturally incorrect’ topics.
Pastor Rod Parsley
The Voice: Why do you want people to read “Culturally Incorrect” and what do you hope they will learn?
Rod Parsley: The response to my previous book, “Silent No More,” showed me that we are a deeply divided people – politically and spiritually as well as morally. I wrote “Culturally Incorrect” to show why we are divided and how men and women of faith can engage in the war that is raging for the soul of our nation.
Through this book I want the culture at large to learn why the biblical worldview is superior to all others, and how false worldviews lead to disastrous results for our society. I also want the Church to understand its divine mandate to engage the culture. I truly believe this book can be the catalyst for a new Great Awakening in our nation, if the Church accepts its responsibility to make it happen.
The Voice: So you see another Great Awakening coming? How will it happen?
Rod Parsley: I absolutely see another Great Awakening coming to this nation in my lifetime, and the Word of God is calling this generation to its forefront. It’s incredible to imagine, but very realistic – God has used previous generations to effect massive cultural change before. The minds and hearts of this generation are the theater of conflict. Conflicting worldviews have led to competing, mutually exclusive ways of viewing the universe and man’s place in it. As the biblical worldview is shown to be superior – as it will, because absolute truth will not be denied – a new Great Awakening is not only possible, but inevitable.
The Voice: In the book you wrote, “We live in a generation of believers that has seemingly made the cross a gateway for self-help and converted the call to a life of Christian service into a quest for comfort and pleasure.” Whose fault is that? And how do we move out of a bless-me-only model of church that ultimately enables Christians to engage the culture around them?
Rod Parsley: I believe both church leaders and their followers share responsibility for our current state of lethargy, but would note that shepherds bear ultimate responsibility for their flocks. Today, we in the Church judge the effectiveness of a ministry by how many people are coming to worship services. I want us to return to a more telling measure of success, which is not how many people are coming but rather how many people are going into the culture to live transformed lives. I’m convinced that the Church’s failure to actively, vigorously and positively engage the culture has led to defeatism and isolation on our parts – and, as a result, we’re not heeding Jesus’ command to be salt and light.
The Voice: In “Culturally Incorrect” you write about withdrawal and isolation from society. Has there been too much focus on the rapture and not enough focus on advancing and establishing Christ’s Kingdom culture in our nation and the world?
Rod Parsley: It’s not a question of either-or. It’s a question of both-and. I don’t believe Christians can talk enough about our hope in the life to come – it is an essential component of the biblical worldview. I do believe the Church has ignored Christ’s mandate to establish the Kingdom of God on earth, and that necessarily involves engaging the culture, contending for the truth we’ve been given.
The Voice: What are the top three things that Christian leaders can do in their ministries to stop the onslaught of anti-Christ agendas?
Rod Parsley: It’s even more simple than that! The one most important thing our leadership can do is return to clear, biblical preaching of the cross. We have neglected to communicate biblical Christianity within our churches, and that has led to the current situation, in my judgment. Far too much of today’s preaching makes no mention of self-denial, which is entry-level Christianity.
While America’s liberal churches have abandoned the preaching of the cross because of its focus on sin and repentance, many conservative evangelical churches have shied away from it because of its unpopular call for self-denial and sacrifice. Many Christians have never been told that to save their life, they must lose it! Even our language suggests Christianity can be nothing more than a line on our resumes. We’re told to “accept Christ into our lives,” and that’s an attractive prospect for someone who already believes it’s all about them.
The Voice: What do you tell the person who says, “It may be your call from God to engage the culture, but not mine?”
Rod Parsley: If it’s a fellow Christian, I’d ask where in the Bible they found a personal exemption from Jesus’ command to be salt and light! I understand many believers are reluctant to come out of their sanctuaries and engage the culture. In the book I talk about “me and my comfort syndrome,” which is the product of an “easy believe” mentality in too much of the Church. I would only add that our divine appointment as ambassadors of our King requires us to witness our faith to a wayward culture. It’s not optional and it’s not flexible.
The Voice: Do you see progressive secularists in our nation pandering to those of Islamic faith while, at the same time, battling against the Christian faith? Or what is helping Islam make inroads in the United States?
Rod Parsley: The foundation of secular worldview is a rejection of the notion of absolute truth – that whatever is true for you may not be true for anyone else. This is a mindset that rejects Islam as well as Christianity, so I don’t think you’ll ever see secularists “pandering” to Muslims as such. I do believe, however, that the “anything goes” mentality of secularism has helped Islam make inroads in this nation. Man is continually looking to make sense of his surroundings, and Islam purports to do that. I noted in “Silent No More” that Islam is still growing rapidly in America, especially among blacks. As long as Bible believers fail to contend for the biblical worldview in the culture, something will fill the void in people’s hearts for something to believe in, and Muslims are, to say the least, aggressive about sharing their faith with others, to the point of imposing it.
The Voice: Non-believers say that Christians should not shove their morality and belief system down their throats. How do you address the issue of which moral compass our nation should look to?
Rod Parsley: I am committed to talking about God in the public square, as many of our Founding Fathers did. It’s impossible to divorce worldview from public policy and law-making. Yet I am mindful to do so with respect and humility. Terrorists operate by coercion. Christians have a different way of doing things – by persuasion, not compulsion. As former Attorney General John Ashcroft has said, “It is against my religion to impose my religion.”
The Voice: You discuss holding a biblical worldview that is not influenced by Marxism, Postmodernist worldviews and Humanism, etc. There is a push throughout our colleges and universities to produce graduates that have a “worldview.” Their worldview is that of a global citizen that will one day look to be governed by international law through the United Nations, not the United States Constitution. What’s your take on this?
Rod Parsley: I am a global citizen. Through our Bridge of Hope missions outreach, we’ve been active in meeting people’s physical and spiritual needs around the world. I started working to relieve human suffering in Sudan long before it was trendy to do so. My own view is that it would be a bad idea for the citizens of this nation to cede their authority to govern themselves to an international body, either the United Nations or some other organization.
Rod Parsley Preaching
The Voice: With the introduction of new words, terms and definitions, like the U.S. Constitution being called a “living document,” are we being set up for further judicial changes?
Rod Parsley: The notion that the Constitution should change over time has been around for decades and, in fact, was a factor in the U.S. Supreme Court’s outrageous Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. I addressed this situation, which I call “judicial tyranny,” in “Silent No More.” There are certainly many judges who hold to this erroneous view of the law on the bench today, but I’m grateful for those who are faithful to the historic role of the judiciary – to interpret the law, rather than make new law from the bench. Using the courts to advance a public-policy agenda has been part of the liberal playbook for a long time; it’s the only way they can get approval for their ideas. So I’m sure we’ll be having this discussion for the foreseeable future in this nation.
The Voice: You wrote about the myth of the separation of church and state in your book “Silent No More”. Since the writing of that book what has changed?
Rod Parsley: In one respect, nothing has changed. The concept of “separation of church and state” still does not appear in the Constitution! What has changed is that liberals and opponents of religious freedom have become even more militant in enforcing this outmoded concept. Around the world you’re seeing the proclamation of the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality denounced and even prosecuted as “hate speech,” and in some circumstances it’s illegal to evangelize in public. If we’re not vigilant we’ll see the elimination of our religious freedoms – all on the basis of a fictitious concept. It’s a scary thought, but one that should motivate Christians to action.
The Voice: Why does it seem that homosexuality has become so acceptable in American society? How do we combat the homosexual agenda that continues to sponsor hate crime legislation that intends to stop people like you from saying that homosexuality is immoral and their push to redefine the family?
Rod Parsley: The only way Christians can authentically and authoritatively approach the issue of homosexuality is from a heart of compassion. Love, not animosity, must be our motivation. It grieves me, for example, that the median age of homosexual men at death is 42 and for the population at large, the median age at death is 75. For lesbians, the median age at death is 45; for heterosexual women, 79. How can we not have compassion and love for people who are dying decades before they should?
We’ve fallen into the trap of labeling those on the other side as crazy, stupid or evil. That’s no way to save souls! In many cases, we have to convince our adversaries that we’re not hateful or vengeful before we can contend for the truth we bring them. In “Culturally Incorrect,” I have made the case as persuasively as I can that Christians should assertively contend for the biblical worldview and accept the call of authentic Christianity for their own lives. We possess absolute truth – God is the ultimate reality – and we shouldn’t be afraid to say so.
The Voice: Millions of babies have been murdered through abortions. In your book you talk about not settling for a partial victory. What is the next battle?
Rod Parsley: We won a great battle in April, when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. I was present when President Bush signed that bill into law, and it’s gratifying to know that it will be enforced. Through our grassroots organization, the Center for Moral Clarity, we are involved now in helping to provide ultrasound machines for pro-life women’s clinics around the nation. We know that nearly nine out of every 10 women considering abortion will change their mind and keep their babies once they see an ultrasound image of the life inside them. Ultimately, though, my goal is to see Roe v. Wade overturned; that would send the battle over legal abortion back to the states, where it belongs, and I look forward to advocating for life at the state level when that happens.
The Voice: How can the everyday disciple of Christ make a difference?
Rod Parsley: First, by realizing that each of us already possesses the ability to make a difference. Unfortunately, most of us don’t use the influence we have over others – and we each have spheres of influence in our families, workplaces and communities. It’s also vital for disciples of Christ to understand and commit to the biblical mandate to be salt and light in Matthew 5. The current generation of believers has failed to meet the culture in the marketplace of ideas and present a relevant, compelling Gospel. We must, as Peter says, always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within us. Only biblical Christianity brings meaningful, coherent and tested answers to our most basic questions – so believe me, our non-Christian friends and neighbors need what we have to offer; it’s just a matter of whether we will be obedient to share what we know.
The Voice: How will Church be different 25 years from now?
Rod Parsley: Frankly, the state of the Church 25 years from now depends on what we do now. If the Church doesn’t wake up and fulfill the mission that God has laid out for us in His Word, just 4 percent of my daughter’s generation will be Bible-believing Christians. This compares to 35 percent of my generation and 65 percent of my parents’ generation accepting the Bible as the Word of God. So you’re talking about a tremendous decline in the Church’s influence within two generations if we don’t accept our duty to become assertive advocates for our faith and for a biblical worldview.
The Voice: How has writing this book changed Rod Parsley?
Rod Parsley: Studying worldviews for “Culturally Incorrect” has helped me better understand the motivations for people’s actions in the public arena, especially those with whom I disagree. It’s important to understand what makes an abortion advocate or a same-sex marriage supporter believe what he or she believes. That’s the first step to persuading him or her to the rightness of my cause. I’ve also developed an even more profound sense of urgency about living an authentic Christian life, and leading those I influence to do the same.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
APOSTOLIC FATHERING
An Article by John Thuringer in Arise Magazine (Summer, 2000) describes David Cannistraci’s ministry and his views on the current Apostolic Movement.
If anyone has experienced the fruit of apostolic fathering, David Cannistraci certainly has. For twenty-five years, he has practiced the art of being a spiritual son. Today, Cannistraci is the pastor of GateWay City Church (formerly Evangel Christian Fellowship) the same church he received Christ through earlier in his life.
"My uncle is Emanuele Cannistraci, a tremendous prophet of the Lord over the past fifty-two years who functions with a strong apostolic ministry," Cannistraci explains. "Over the years I have been trained by him in our local church as a minister."
Although he was raised in a Christian home, he did not make a strong commitment to Christ until he was fourteen. It was during the Jesus Movement that he had a real power encounter with the Holy Spirit and immediately wanted to be used in ministry. Four years after this experience, he enrolled in Bible school and later went on to earn both a Master's degree and doctorate.
"I began when I was nineteen as an all around helper in the church office," recalls Cannistraci. "Later I got into radio and television production on behalf of the church and started leading cell groups. As the cell groups started multiplying rather rapidly, the elders discerned a call on my life. I was then ordained and began to preach and teach."
Cannistraci continued to faithfully serve in his local church from 1979 until 1987. It was at this point that he had a profound experience with God who was calling he and his wife, Kathy, along with their two sons, to go to the Philippines as missionaries.
"We made a one year commitment, but really believed we would spend the rest of our lives there," Cannistraci remembers. "The harvest was so ripe there, the ease of evangelism was such a dynamic attraction to us."
However, it wasn't long after they arrived that their home church called, saying that they wanted Cannistraci to return and co-pastor the church with his uncle.
"After the healing crusades and church planting in the Philippines, it was kind of a culture shock for me to come back to the U.S.," says Cannistraci.
"But we really thought it was the Lord calling us, so we returned to build the church up and establish new ministries. Since returning in 1989, we have also planted four other churches as well."
Although there is a great deal more discussion about apostles today than there has been previously, Cannistraci says that growing up in the kind of church that he did, apostles and prophets are all he has ever known.
"Our church from its inception was apostolic and prophetic," he explains.
"As long as I could remember, we were involved with planting churches. The great privilege of my life has not been to study this topic, but experience it as a son. To be raised up within the context of loving and confronting relationships is a tremendous thing. I am the product of fathering much more than I am a product of my education."
Cannistraci's first book, "Apostles and the Emerging Apostolic Movement" (Regal, 1996), has received wide acclaim internationally, and was the first major work available on apostolic ministry. It has since been translated into several foreign languages.
"Apostles are those that are called and supernaturally empowered by Christ to go into the world with Divine authority to win and establish the lost in Kingdom order and truth, especially through the planting of new churches," says Cannistraci. "They have the heart of fathers. They are progenitors, like the patriarchs of the Old Testament. They are those who have inherited Abraham's call, the original apostolic figure in Scripture. Abraham went forth from his homeland to a place where God called Him to establish a family that would bless the nations of the earth. Apostles are fruitful men who raise up a family of churches to release believers into the earth to populate the kingdom of God."
Cannistraci sees apostles as equippers, training and nurturing the body of Christ to be apostolic, much like an evangelist causes the Church to be evangelistic.
"For years we have called apostles missionaries. But the thing that this term has often left out is the dynamic concept of raising up an apostolic people who are fully activated saints, mobilized for the work of the Great Commission," Cannistraci explains.
"As well as being fathers, with a nurturing, loving and reproductive side, I would also see them as generals in an army," he continues. "They have tremendous, broad powers of authority and are able to influence and mobilize people for specific Kingdom goals."
Cannistraci doesn't think you have to be famous to be an apostle. In fact, he thinks that most of the great apostles in the earth are unknown, quietly doing their job in the backwoods of Africa, China, and Latin America.
"I was just in Guatemala a few weeks ago and sat in a very humble office with a man who oversees eight hundred churches," relates Cannistraci. "He's a beautiful man, but no one has ever heard of him."
In addition, he sees apostles as reformers, calling the church to the standard of God and bringing correction when people get off track.
"We see Paul the apostle correcting the church and bringing reformation," Cannistraci says. "A lot of guys today are calling themselves apostles, it seems to be the designer label of the day. But when I think of apostles, I think of those that are truly expanding the boundaries of the Kingdom, growing it and making it larger. In this sense, men like Luther and Wesley were apostolic because they brought reformation."
There are a number of characteristics of false apostles that Cannistraci thinks are worth noting because so many people are getting caught up in what he describes as "apostolic fever." The first and foremost thing he believes everyone should understand is that a true apostle is one who has been transformed by Christ from the inside out.
"What makes an apostle false is that he lacks the true, internal transformation that is required to be an apostle," explains Cannistraci. "He may have a dynamic personality, he may be an influencer, or he may be famous, but ultimately he is masquerading because he is not a man changed by God."
He also points out that false apostles are characterized by methods that lack integrity or apostolic precedence. He cites things like secrecy, manipulation, flattery, pet doctrines, or attempts to isolate themselves from the rest of the body of Christ.
"Third, I think false apostles teach things that are not based on truth and pervert the gospel," Cannistraci adds. "We should make sure that we only follow those who are in relationship with others, who have a place of submission in their own lives and are recognized by others around them as apostles. If he's the only guy saying he is an apostle, that's a red light."
Because the command of the Lord to disciple the nations is an enormous task, he also believes that it calls for a great change. Among the changes is a shift from control-based relationships to empowering relationships, those that release the work of God as it is seen in the New Testament.
"Denominations have each been guilty of their own unique sin. But one common sin for many has been a hierarchical control which has worked against them," says Cannistraci. "God is emphasizing relationship, spiritual family, not denominational function. I am not against denominations, in fact I have written about the gift they can be when they are created by God. However, there has been this fear in the heart of ministers that they could lose their license or their church if they do the wrong thing."
"On the other hand, you have these tremendous new churches which play by an entirely new set of rules," Cannistraci continues. "They are liberated. Their government is simple and non-confining, providing good accountability without limiting the vision of the senior pastor in terms of fulfilling the Great Commission. These congregations are flowing with enthusiasm, financial blessing, and a readiness to take the gospel to the lost."
In so far as a denomination can facilitate relationship, Cannistraci sees it as a good thing. But the moment it begins to block relationship and stifle apostolic initiative-the ability to create and do new things without running it through a bureaucracy-it becomes a hindrance.
"Another picture of an apostle is that of a pioneer, a spiritual innovator, one who is willing to try new things and be creative," says Cannistraci. "I believe we are moving away from the wineskin of religious tradition to spiritual innovation."
When it comes to the topic of apostolic fathers networking together, Cannistraci sees a tremendous trend towards apostles realizing their need for one another.
"Essentially, the body of Christ is a network of networks. We really aren't talking about anything new here," he explains. "It's clans and tribes and families coming together as one nation. It's very common to bump into these apostolic networks which have been developing over the last ten years, many of which are older than that. When people come together, the spirit of selfishness and pride is broken and a brand new dimension of anointing can be released. However, we can't build the body of Christ, Jesus is doing that. All we can do is recognize each other, meet each other, and love each other as long lost relatives who are already family. We must be careful not to organize the life right out of everything, which is a typical thing for us to do. I'm all for formal networks of networks, but there is a tremendous humility that we need to practice in this regard. We must recognize that there will be many such networks and no single one has been appointed to unite the entire church in North America or wherever."
When it comes to apostolic ministry and its operation within a city, Cannistraci believes that God will raise up multiple clusters of pastors who love one another. Then, from these groups, a body of representatives will pull everything together for the city. However, he doesn't see that starting with a central decision to get all pastors into one fellowship.
"I think it starts organically with pastors connecting with other pastors in small groups," says Cannistraci. "I believe it is a Kingdom pattern for taking cities. The new wine is found in the clusters. When you have the clusters coming together, you have this enormous force in the city built on love rather than a political or ecumenical agenda. I have great affection for all city-reaching efforts, but for me, the key is when pastors actually like each other and will fight for one another. Once this happens, the devil will never be able to hold a city shut."
The bottom line is that the paradigm of family is foundational to Cannistraci when it comes to things apostolic. He feels that, especially in the West, we are prone to reducing everything to a series of steps that we try to activate without relationship-but God has always been about establishing families.
"In all of this talk about the apostolic ministry which is wonderful, my concern is that we can't forget the heart of this thing," Cannistraci concludes. "It is really for the glory of Jesus, through the power of the Spirit, in the love of God, within the context of family."
If anyone has experienced the fruit of apostolic fathering, David Cannistraci certainly has. For twenty-five years, he has practiced the art of being a spiritual son. Today, Cannistraci is the pastor of GateWay City Church (formerly Evangel Christian Fellowship) the same church he received Christ through earlier in his life.
"My uncle is Emanuele Cannistraci, a tremendous prophet of the Lord over the past fifty-two years who functions with a strong apostolic ministry," Cannistraci explains. "Over the years I have been trained by him in our local church as a minister."
Although he was raised in a Christian home, he did not make a strong commitment to Christ until he was fourteen. It was during the Jesus Movement that he had a real power encounter with the Holy Spirit and immediately wanted to be used in ministry. Four years after this experience, he enrolled in Bible school and later went on to earn both a Master's degree and doctorate.
"I began when I was nineteen as an all around helper in the church office," recalls Cannistraci. "Later I got into radio and television production on behalf of the church and started leading cell groups. As the cell groups started multiplying rather rapidly, the elders discerned a call on my life. I was then ordained and began to preach and teach."
Cannistraci continued to faithfully serve in his local church from 1979 until 1987. It was at this point that he had a profound experience with God who was calling he and his wife, Kathy, along with their two sons, to go to the Philippines as missionaries.
"We made a one year commitment, but really believed we would spend the rest of our lives there," Cannistraci remembers. "The harvest was so ripe there, the ease of evangelism was such a dynamic attraction to us."
However, it wasn't long after they arrived that their home church called, saying that they wanted Cannistraci to return and co-pastor the church with his uncle.
"After the healing crusades and church planting in the Philippines, it was kind of a culture shock for me to come back to the U.S.," says Cannistraci.
"But we really thought it was the Lord calling us, so we returned to build the church up and establish new ministries. Since returning in 1989, we have also planted four other churches as well."
Although there is a great deal more discussion about apostles today than there has been previously, Cannistraci says that growing up in the kind of church that he did, apostles and prophets are all he has ever known.
"Our church from its inception was apostolic and prophetic," he explains.
"As long as I could remember, we were involved with planting churches. The great privilege of my life has not been to study this topic, but experience it as a son. To be raised up within the context of loving and confronting relationships is a tremendous thing. I am the product of fathering much more than I am a product of my education."
Cannistraci's first book, "Apostles and the Emerging Apostolic Movement" (Regal, 1996), has received wide acclaim internationally, and was the first major work available on apostolic ministry. It has since been translated into several foreign languages.
"Apostles are those that are called and supernaturally empowered by Christ to go into the world with Divine authority to win and establish the lost in Kingdom order and truth, especially through the planting of new churches," says Cannistraci. "They have the heart of fathers. They are progenitors, like the patriarchs of the Old Testament. They are those who have inherited Abraham's call, the original apostolic figure in Scripture. Abraham went forth from his homeland to a place where God called Him to establish a family that would bless the nations of the earth. Apostles are fruitful men who raise up a family of churches to release believers into the earth to populate the kingdom of God."
Cannistraci sees apostles as equippers, training and nurturing the body of Christ to be apostolic, much like an evangelist causes the Church to be evangelistic.
"For years we have called apostles missionaries. But the thing that this term has often left out is the dynamic concept of raising up an apostolic people who are fully activated saints, mobilized for the work of the Great Commission," Cannistraci explains.
"As well as being fathers, with a nurturing, loving and reproductive side, I would also see them as generals in an army," he continues. "They have tremendous, broad powers of authority and are able to influence and mobilize people for specific Kingdom goals."
Cannistraci doesn't think you have to be famous to be an apostle. In fact, he thinks that most of the great apostles in the earth are unknown, quietly doing their job in the backwoods of Africa, China, and Latin America.
"I was just in Guatemala a few weeks ago and sat in a very humble office with a man who oversees eight hundred churches," relates Cannistraci. "He's a beautiful man, but no one has ever heard of him."
In addition, he sees apostles as reformers, calling the church to the standard of God and bringing correction when people get off track.
"We see Paul the apostle correcting the church and bringing reformation," Cannistraci says. "A lot of guys today are calling themselves apostles, it seems to be the designer label of the day. But when I think of apostles, I think of those that are truly expanding the boundaries of the Kingdom, growing it and making it larger. In this sense, men like Luther and Wesley were apostolic because they brought reformation."
There are a number of characteristics of false apostles that Cannistraci thinks are worth noting because so many people are getting caught up in what he describes as "apostolic fever." The first and foremost thing he believes everyone should understand is that a true apostle is one who has been transformed by Christ from the inside out.
"What makes an apostle false is that he lacks the true, internal transformation that is required to be an apostle," explains Cannistraci. "He may have a dynamic personality, he may be an influencer, or he may be famous, but ultimately he is masquerading because he is not a man changed by God."
He also points out that false apostles are characterized by methods that lack integrity or apostolic precedence. He cites things like secrecy, manipulation, flattery, pet doctrines, or attempts to isolate themselves from the rest of the body of Christ.
"Third, I think false apostles teach things that are not based on truth and pervert the gospel," Cannistraci adds. "We should make sure that we only follow those who are in relationship with others, who have a place of submission in their own lives and are recognized by others around them as apostles. If he's the only guy saying he is an apostle, that's a red light."
Because the command of the Lord to disciple the nations is an enormous task, he also believes that it calls for a great change. Among the changes is a shift from control-based relationships to empowering relationships, those that release the work of God as it is seen in the New Testament.
"Denominations have each been guilty of their own unique sin. But one common sin for many has been a hierarchical control which has worked against them," says Cannistraci. "God is emphasizing relationship, spiritual family, not denominational function. I am not against denominations, in fact I have written about the gift they can be when they are created by God. However, there has been this fear in the heart of ministers that they could lose their license or their church if they do the wrong thing."
"On the other hand, you have these tremendous new churches which play by an entirely new set of rules," Cannistraci continues. "They are liberated. Their government is simple and non-confining, providing good accountability without limiting the vision of the senior pastor in terms of fulfilling the Great Commission. These congregations are flowing with enthusiasm, financial blessing, and a readiness to take the gospel to the lost."
In so far as a denomination can facilitate relationship, Cannistraci sees it as a good thing. But the moment it begins to block relationship and stifle apostolic initiative-the ability to create and do new things without running it through a bureaucracy-it becomes a hindrance.
"Another picture of an apostle is that of a pioneer, a spiritual innovator, one who is willing to try new things and be creative," says Cannistraci. "I believe we are moving away from the wineskin of religious tradition to spiritual innovation."
When it comes to the topic of apostolic fathers networking together, Cannistraci sees a tremendous trend towards apostles realizing their need for one another.
"Essentially, the body of Christ is a network of networks. We really aren't talking about anything new here," he explains. "It's clans and tribes and families coming together as one nation. It's very common to bump into these apostolic networks which have been developing over the last ten years, many of which are older than that. When people come together, the spirit of selfishness and pride is broken and a brand new dimension of anointing can be released. However, we can't build the body of Christ, Jesus is doing that. All we can do is recognize each other, meet each other, and love each other as long lost relatives who are already family. We must be careful not to organize the life right out of everything, which is a typical thing for us to do. I'm all for formal networks of networks, but there is a tremendous humility that we need to practice in this regard. We must recognize that there will be many such networks and no single one has been appointed to unite the entire church in North America or wherever."
When it comes to apostolic ministry and its operation within a city, Cannistraci believes that God will raise up multiple clusters of pastors who love one another. Then, from these groups, a body of representatives will pull everything together for the city. However, he doesn't see that starting with a central decision to get all pastors into one fellowship.
"I think it starts organically with pastors connecting with other pastors in small groups," says Cannistraci. "I believe it is a Kingdom pattern for taking cities. The new wine is found in the clusters. When you have the clusters coming together, you have this enormous force in the city built on love rather than a political or ecumenical agenda. I have great affection for all city-reaching efforts, but for me, the key is when pastors actually like each other and will fight for one another. Once this happens, the devil will never be able to hold a city shut."
The bottom line is that the paradigm of family is foundational to Cannistraci when it comes to things apostolic. He feels that, especially in the West, we are prone to reducing everything to a series of steps that we try to activate without relationship-but God has always been about establishing families.
"In all of this talk about the apostolic ministry which is wonderful, my concern is that we can't forget the heart of this thing," Cannistraci concludes. "It is really for the glory of Jesus, through the power of the Spirit, in the love of God, within the context of family."
The Kingdom of God and Leadership
Jennifer LeClaire interviews Dr. Myles Munroe.
Dr. Myles Munroe’s book, “Rediscovering the Kingdom” has helped open the eyes of countless Christians to the Kingdom message. Because of his writings the Kingdom of God is again in the minds and hearts of believers world wide.
Dr. Munroe is founder, president and senior pastor of Bahamas Faith Ministries International, an all-encompassing network of ministries headquartered in Nassau, Bahamas. He is recognized as a leader in spiritual government and has been honored by natural governments. The Queen of England and the Governor General of the Bahamas have both recognized his service to the islands.
With a strong commitment to transforming followers into leaders, Dr. Munroe is addressing one of the greatest challenges in the Body of Christ. His latest book release “The Spirit of Leadership” is consistent with his mission to help believers discover their purpose, potential and leadership.
The Voice magazine sat down with Dr. Munroe to talk about the Kingdom of God, how Jesus is raising up leaders in developing nations to spread the Gospel, and strategies for breaking down barriers within the Body of Christ.
THE VOICE: The Spirit of God is speaking to His leaders about the Kingdom in this time and season. What is God saying to you about the restoration of the Kingdom of God?
DR. MUNROE: We’re finally getting to the original message, the original assignment, and the original goal of God. It has always been the restoration of His Kingdom on earth. It is the only message Jesus preached that we can verify. God is restoring the original message of the Bible. This is very significant. It’s important to note that Jesus placed the end of the age on the condition that the message of the Kingdom is preached into all the world.
I went to college and have a degree in theology, but there was not one class on the Kingdom. I read the four Gospels and it was the only thing that Jesus preached. That was a very strange contradiction to me. The Spirit of God has been speaking about the Kingdom for years, but we are finally listening and that’s exciting to me. We will see the true impact of the Kingdom if we keep preaching it.
THE VOICE: Many believe the Church is going to enter into a time of greater manifestations of the power of God in the years to come. What will it take to see the return of greater miracles, signs and wonders at the hands of the believers?
DR. MUNROE: Kingdom teaching. What we call signs and wonders and miracles are simply the evidence of the presence of another government – the Kingdom. A kingdom is not a religion. It’s the influence of a government over a domain or a territory. It’s the impact of a king over a territory. That’s why it’s called a “king-dom” – a king’s domain.
So miracles, signs and wonders are not for entertainment. Miracles are not supposed to be used as a point of attracting believers to big meetings. Miracles, signs and wonders are supposed to show that another government, another authority, another power, another Kingdom is present. The more we preach the Kingdom, I guarantee you the more we will see miracles taking place; I mean on a daily basis. Just like any government impacts the land over which it rules, so will the Kingdom of God impact the world when we begin to appropriate its authority and power. That’s what Jesus did.
THE VOICE: Is there a need for more spiritual fathers in the local church; are there enough?
DR. MUNROE: I believe there’s a great need for spiritual fathers. That’s one of the greatest lacks we have in the Body of Christ.
That is why there is so much immorality, unethical behavior and corruption. Families are disintegrating, divorce is skyrocketing, rebellion is in the Church, and congregations are splitting. I am certain this is the result of a lack of fathering. We have many great preachers, fantastic singers, awesome teachers but very few fathers. Fathers are difficult to find because fathering has more to do with care than with charisma. It has more to do with responsibility than with performance. It has more to do with leadership, accountability and love than with fame, exposure and glory. Fathering requires a commitment to nurturing and developing others rather than using and benefiting from others.
In the Body of Christ lately there seems to be a tremendous pursuit of titles. It’s amazing that everyone wants a title but no one wants the title of father. They are pursuing the titles of bishops and apostles and prophets and evangelists, but how come no one desires to be a father? We are in dire need of spiritual fathers. We have very few people who are willing to lay their lives down for the sake of the development of other people.
THE VOICE: What’s it going to take for the eyes of those who should be spiritual fathers to open and step into that role? Where’s the disconnect?
DR. MUNROE: Many leaders today have not been properly fathered. My hope is that there will be fathers who will be strong enough in character to rebuke and correct and to restore some sanity to the people who are in leadership positions who have not been fathered.
THE VOICE: You prefer to teach rather than preach and this approach to ministry has obviously been well received by the masses. Why do you think this method is so effective?
DR. MUNROE: Because that’s what Jesus did. In my humble view, the difference between preaching and teaching is very important. To preach means to declare, to pronounce or to announce. To teach means to train and instruct for change. Preaching doesn’t change people. Preaching may attract, give information, alert people, even convict people, but teaching brings understanding and you cannot change until you understand. You cannot grow until you have information. That’s why Jesus taught. Jesus never preached to the disciples. He preached to the multitudes, but He taught His disciples. He announced the Kingdom to the multitudes but He taught the Kingdom to His disciples.
THE VOICE: As the founder of the International Third World Leaders Association, you have a unique perspective on the issues in these countries. What are the biggest challenges to spreading the Gospel in developing nations?
Dr. Myles Munroe preaching...
DR. MUNROE: The only ones that can reach these people are the people themselves. I believe that the greatest way to win the third world is to win the third world people first and let them go back into their own culture and into their own environment and share the Gospel. One of the greatest obstacles is the misconception of who Jesus is. Many third world people I work with have a concept of Christ that comes from what religion calls Christianity. In many ways Christianity has misrepresented Christ in a very terrible way. I’m talking about hundreds of years of history that has really damaged the image of Jesus. Many of these people don’t want to hear about Christianity.
Secondly, in many of these countries there are very strong cultic religions, and those religions have also twisted the concept that people have of Christ. We need to correct that. Thirdly, in many of those countries there is a misconception of God and the reason why Christ came to earth. We have misrepresented and almost made Jesus Christ synonymous with democracy. That’s dangerous because Christ is a King, not a president.
Finally, poverty and corruption are major issues in many of these countries because of poor leadership that was a product of oppression. People have been dispossessed. They have been raped of their dignity, their self-concept, self-worth and self-respect. Christianity is not enough as a religion. These people need restoration of self-concept and in many cases the religion of Christianity does not provide these answers. Many times it can provide the religion but it doesn’t provide restoration of the quality of life that people need to have to believe in themselves. So these are some of the issues that we need to look at in the 21st century and I hope the Church will take another look at what makes effective missions.
THE VOICE: How do you see the role of third world countries in spreading the Gospel around the world?
DR. MUNROE: I am convinced that the last world on earth is the third world; that God has now turned His face toward them. I am convinced that the greatest spiritual movement on earth is about to emerge and it will not emerge from the first world or the second world. It will emerge from the third world. It has already begun. I am a part of it. I represent them. The largest churches that exist today and the massive growing emerging ministries are in developing countries.
I believe that God is going to transfer the responsibilities for winning the world in this century to the third world people. Also keep in mind that the largest segment of the world’s population is in third world countries. So it is very natural for the Lord by His wisdom to move among those people to win their own people. If the second and first worlds are wise, they will begin to learn from the third world and find out what’s going on and not to try to impose their brand of Christianity on the third world because it will not and cannot work.
God is raising up people without anyone’s permission. He is calling them. He is anointing them without anyone’s sanction and the greatest leaders in the world to come will be third world leaders used of God. They are going to be products of their culture and God is going to use them to impact the world. And my prayer is that the second, first and third world believers will cooperate and not compete with each other and see the world won for Jesus.
THE VOICE: What have been the benefits of networking with other ministries?
DR. MUNROE: No one man can win the whole world but all men together under Christ can win the world. God will never place His program in the hands of any one person or one ministry. He’s too smart for that. But He will make it necessary for all of us to have a piece of everything and that’s why we need one another. One of the weaknesses of the Church in history is the spirit of exclusivity and isolation. That’s why denominations were developed. One move of God thought that it was the move of God and so they began to believe that previous or future moves could not be moves of God. This is very sad. The world seems to be wiser than us because it realizes it has strength and it has weakness and that’s why you have what they call merging companies. Some of the most successful companies in history are those that merged with other strong companies. The Church needs to learn that lesson and begin to network.
Networking is first understanding your strengths and weaknesses, appreciating the strengths of another and then joining your weakness to that person’s strength so that you can be stronger. We will not make it in this 21st century without networking. Networking requires, first of all maturity, secondly, the ability to submit to another man’s strength. Without those two added elements we remain prideful and weak.
THE VOICE: How can we break down the barriers between races and cultures in the Body of Christ?
DR. MUNROE: We have to reduce ourselves from every race to one race – and that is the human race. As long as we consider race beyond human race there will be racism. We need to get a revelation of what it means to be human. Racism and bigotry is not only related to pigmentation of skin. It can also be related to differences of opinions or differences of methods. We can be a racist between denominations and belief systems.
The source of racism is low self-esteem, low self-worth and a poor self-concept. Once you realize how valuable you are as a human and recognize that everybody else is also made in the same image as you are, then equality is an automatic result. The greatest command in the law is the secret to destroying racism and that is to love God with all your heart, your soul, and your strength. Then love yourself and love your neighbor to the same degree that you love yourself. Until you love yourself, racism will always be present.
Racism is a sign of self-hatred. I don’t care if you speak in tongues. I don’t care how many miracles you work. If you have problems with people who are different from you, then you are still suffering from self-hatred. If you discover and really understand God and love what God is and who God is, then you’ll naturally love yourself because you are made in His image. It’s impossible for you to love God and hate your brother.
THE VOICE: One of your key messages is “everyone is born for a God-given purpose and potential to fill that purpose.” How do you see the apostolic and prophetic ascension gifts helping believers recognize and walk out their purpose?
Dr. Myles Munroe alter call prayer...
DR. MUNROE: The Apostle Paul said Christ gave to the Church some gifts, some functions. They are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to train the saints for the work of their ministry. That word “ministry” means to exercise their gifts. So the goal of all leadership is to help people under their care to first discover their purpose (the word “purpose” means original intent) and then help them develop the character and skill to execute that assignment. Then the Body will never suffer weakness because each one will bring to the table their gift, their strength. Purpose is the discovery of your reason for existing. Without purpose life is an experiment.
THE VOICE: Many believe there is a restoration of arts coming to the Church. You are a talented concert pianist, master of the guitar and worship leader. What do you perceive God is doing in the realm of arts and music in this hour?
DR. MUNROE: I think God is reclaiming everything, and rightfully so. He paid for it. Everything belongs to God. Sometimes we believe there is devil music or devil dance. There’s no such thing in Scripture. What we have is a thief who stole it and corrupted it. We need to repossess it and then convert it back to its original use: to show forth the nature and glory of God. THE VOICE: What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the Body of Christ today and what must we do to address these issues?
DR. MUNROE: The Church is becoming impressed with itself. We seem to be preoccupied with promoting ourselves to ourselves. There seems to be such a clutch for self-promotion, self-labeling, self-advertisement, and self-possession. That is very dangerous because the commission God gave the Church is not to promote itself but to reach the world. Also, the world is being given a very distorted picture of the true message of the Kingdom.
Right now religion is the number one problem in the world and we know that all the terrorism that we are experiencing and the fear is mostly motivated by religion. Jesus Christ did not bring a religion into the world. He bought a Kingdom. The world doesn’t need another religion. It doesn’t need traditions and rituals. The world needs a practical application of principles and precepts that will impact their daily lives. Jesus said blessed are those who are poor spiritually for to them belong, not a religion, but the Kingdom of heaven. Only the Kingdom satisfies spiritual hunger – not religion.
Dr. Myles Munroe’s book, “Rediscovering the Kingdom” has helped open the eyes of countless Christians to the Kingdom message. Because of his writings the Kingdom of God is again in the minds and hearts of believers world wide.
Dr. Munroe is founder, president and senior pastor of Bahamas Faith Ministries International, an all-encompassing network of ministries headquartered in Nassau, Bahamas. He is recognized as a leader in spiritual government and has been honored by natural governments. The Queen of England and the Governor General of the Bahamas have both recognized his service to the islands.
With a strong commitment to transforming followers into leaders, Dr. Munroe is addressing one of the greatest challenges in the Body of Christ. His latest book release “The Spirit of Leadership” is consistent with his mission to help believers discover their purpose, potential and leadership.
The Voice magazine sat down with Dr. Munroe to talk about the Kingdom of God, how Jesus is raising up leaders in developing nations to spread the Gospel, and strategies for breaking down barriers within the Body of Christ.
THE VOICE: The Spirit of God is speaking to His leaders about the Kingdom in this time and season. What is God saying to you about the restoration of the Kingdom of God?
DR. MUNROE: We’re finally getting to the original message, the original assignment, and the original goal of God. It has always been the restoration of His Kingdom on earth. It is the only message Jesus preached that we can verify. God is restoring the original message of the Bible. This is very significant. It’s important to note that Jesus placed the end of the age on the condition that the message of the Kingdom is preached into all the world.
I went to college and have a degree in theology, but there was not one class on the Kingdom. I read the four Gospels and it was the only thing that Jesus preached. That was a very strange contradiction to me. The Spirit of God has been speaking about the Kingdom for years, but we are finally listening and that’s exciting to me. We will see the true impact of the Kingdom if we keep preaching it.
THE VOICE: Many believe the Church is going to enter into a time of greater manifestations of the power of God in the years to come. What will it take to see the return of greater miracles, signs and wonders at the hands of the believers?
DR. MUNROE: Kingdom teaching. What we call signs and wonders and miracles are simply the evidence of the presence of another government – the Kingdom. A kingdom is not a religion. It’s the influence of a government over a domain or a territory. It’s the impact of a king over a territory. That’s why it’s called a “king-dom” – a king’s domain.
So miracles, signs and wonders are not for entertainment. Miracles are not supposed to be used as a point of attracting believers to big meetings. Miracles, signs and wonders are supposed to show that another government, another authority, another power, another Kingdom is present. The more we preach the Kingdom, I guarantee you the more we will see miracles taking place; I mean on a daily basis. Just like any government impacts the land over which it rules, so will the Kingdom of God impact the world when we begin to appropriate its authority and power. That’s what Jesus did.
THE VOICE: Is there a need for more spiritual fathers in the local church; are there enough?
DR. MUNROE: I believe there’s a great need for spiritual fathers. That’s one of the greatest lacks we have in the Body of Christ.
That is why there is so much immorality, unethical behavior and corruption. Families are disintegrating, divorce is skyrocketing, rebellion is in the Church, and congregations are splitting. I am certain this is the result of a lack of fathering. We have many great preachers, fantastic singers, awesome teachers but very few fathers. Fathers are difficult to find because fathering has more to do with care than with charisma. It has more to do with responsibility than with performance. It has more to do with leadership, accountability and love than with fame, exposure and glory. Fathering requires a commitment to nurturing and developing others rather than using and benefiting from others.
In the Body of Christ lately there seems to be a tremendous pursuit of titles. It’s amazing that everyone wants a title but no one wants the title of father. They are pursuing the titles of bishops and apostles and prophets and evangelists, but how come no one desires to be a father? We are in dire need of spiritual fathers. We have very few people who are willing to lay their lives down for the sake of the development of other people.
THE VOICE: What’s it going to take for the eyes of those who should be spiritual fathers to open and step into that role? Where’s the disconnect?
DR. MUNROE: Many leaders today have not been properly fathered. My hope is that there will be fathers who will be strong enough in character to rebuke and correct and to restore some sanity to the people who are in leadership positions who have not been fathered.
THE VOICE: You prefer to teach rather than preach and this approach to ministry has obviously been well received by the masses. Why do you think this method is so effective?
DR. MUNROE: Because that’s what Jesus did. In my humble view, the difference between preaching and teaching is very important. To preach means to declare, to pronounce or to announce. To teach means to train and instruct for change. Preaching doesn’t change people. Preaching may attract, give information, alert people, even convict people, but teaching brings understanding and you cannot change until you understand. You cannot grow until you have information. That’s why Jesus taught. Jesus never preached to the disciples. He preached to the multitudes, but He taught His disciples. He announced the Kingdom to the multitudes but He taught the Kingdom to His disciples.
THE VOICE: As the founder of the International Third World Leaders Association, you have a unique perspective on the issues in these countries. What are the biggest challenges to spreading the Gospel in developing nations?
Dr. Myles Munroe preaching...
DR. MUNROE: The only ones that can reach these people are the people themselves. I believe that the greatest way to win the third world is to win the third world people first and let them go back into their own culture and into their own environment and share the Gospel. One of the greatest obstacles is the misconception of who Jesus is. Many third world people I work with have a concept of Christ that comes from what religion calls Christianity. In many ways Christianity has misrepresented Christ in a very terrible way. I’m talking about hundreds of years of history that has really damaged the image of Jesus. Many of these people don’t want to hear about Christianity.
Secondly, in many of these countries there are very strong cultic religions, and those religions have also twisted the concept that people have of Christ. We need to correct that. Thirdly, in many of those countries there is a misconception of God and the reason why Christ came to earth. We have misrepresented and almost made Jesus Christ synonymous with democracy. That’s dangerous because Christ is a King, not a president.
Finally, poverty and corruption are major issues in many of these countries because of poor leadership that was a product of oppression. People have been dispossessed. They have been raped of their dignity, their self-concept, self-worth and self-respect. Christianity is not enough as a religion. These people need restoration of self-concept and in many cases the religion of Christianity does not provide these answers. Many times it can provide the religion but it doesn’t provide restoration of the quality of life that people need to have to believe in themselves. So these are some of the issues that we need to look at in the 21st century and I hope the Church will take another look at what makes effective missions.
THE VOICE: How do you see the role of third world countries in spreading the Gospel around the world?
DR. MUNROE: I am convinced that the last world on earth is the third world; that God has now turned His face toward them. I am convinced that the greatest spiritual movement on earth is about to emerge and it will not emerge from the first world or the second world. It will emerge from the third world. It has already begun. I am a part of it. I represent them. The largest churches that exist today and the massive growing emerging ministries are in developing countries.
I believe that God is going to transfer the responsibilities for winning the world in this century to the third world people. Also keep in mind that the largest segment of the world’s population is in third world countries. So it is very natural for the Lord by His wisdom to move among those people to win their own people. If the second and first worlds are wise, they will begin to learn from the third world and find out what’s going on and not to try to impose their brand of Christianity on the third world because it will not and cannot work.
God is raising up people without anyone’s permission. He is calling them. He is anointing them without anyone’s sanction and the greatest leaders in the world to come will be third world leaders used of God. They are going to be products of their culture and God is going to use them to impact the world. And my prayer is that the second, first and third world believers will cooperate and not compete with each other and see the world won for Jesus.
THE VOICE: What have been the benefits of networking with other ministries?
DR. MUNROE: No one man can win the whole world but all men together under Christ can win the world. God will never place His program in the hands of any one person or one ministry. He’s too smart for that. But He will make it necessary for all of us to have a piece of everything and that’s why we need one another. One of the weaknesses of the Church in history is the spirit of exclusivity and isolation. That’s why denominations were developed. One move of God thought that it was the move of God and so they began to believe that previous or future moves could not be moves of God. This is very sad. The world seems to be wiser than us because it realizes it has strength and it has weakness and that’s why you have what they call merging companies. Some of the most successful companies in history are those that merged with other strong companies. The Church needs to learn that lesson and begin to network.
Networking is first understanding your strengths and weaknesses, appreciating the strengths of another and then joining your weakness to that person’s strength so that you can be stronger. We will not make it in this 21st century without networking. Networking requires, first of all maturity, secondly, the ability to submit to another man’s strength. Without those two added elements we remain prideful and weak.
THE VOICE: How can we break down the barriers between races and cultures in the Body of Christ?
DR. MUNROE: We have to reduce ourselves from every race to one race – and that is the human race. As long as we consider race beyond human race there will be racism. We need to get a revelation of what it means to be human. Racism and bigotry is not only related to pigmentation of skin. It can also be related to differences of opinions or differences of methods. We can be a racist between denominations and belief systems.
The source of racism is low self-esteem, low self-worth and a poor self-concept. Once you realize how valuable you are as a human and recognize that everybody else is also made in the same image as you are, then equality is an automatic result. The greatest command in the law is the secret to destroying racism and that is to love God with all your heart, your soul, and your strength. Then love yourself and love your neighbor to the same degree that you love yourself. Until you love yourself, racism will always be present.
Racism is a sign of self-hatred. I don’t care if you speak in tongues. I don’t care how many miracles you work. If you have problems with people who are different from you, then you are still suffering from self-hatred. If you discover and really understand God and love what God is and who God is, then you’ll naturally love yourself because you are made in His image. It’s impossible for you to love God and hate your brother.
THE VOICE: One of your key messages is “everyone is born for a God-given purpose and potential to fill that purpose.” How do you see the apostolic and prophetic ascension gifts helping believers recognize and walk out their purpose?
Dr. Myles Munroe alter call prayer...
DR. MUNROE: The Apostle Paul said Christ gave to the Church some gifts, some functions. They are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to train the saints for the work of their ministry. That word “ministry” means to exercise their gifts. So the goal of all leadership is to help people under their care to first discover their purpose (the word “purpose” means original intent) and then help them develop the character and skill to execute that assignment. Then the Body will never suffer weakness because each one will bring to the table their gift, their strength. Purpose is the discovery of your reason for existing. Without purpose life is an experiment.
THE VOICE: Many believe there is a restoration of arts coming to the Church. You are a talented concert pianist, master of the guitar and worship leader. What do you perceive God is doing in the realm of arts and music in this hour?
DR. MUNROE: I think God is reclaiming everything, and rightfully so. He paid for it. Everything belongs to God. Sometimes we believe there is devil music or devil dance. There’s no such thing in Scripture. What we have is a thief who stole it and corrupted it. We need to repossess it and then convert it back to its original use: to show forth the nature and glory of God. THE VOICE: What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the Body of Christ today and what must we do to address these issues?
DR. MUNROE: The Church is becoming impressed with itself. We seem to be preoccupied with promoting ourselves to ourselves. There seems to be such a clutch for self-promotion, self-labeling, self-advertisement, and self-possession. That is very dangerous because the commission God gave the Church is not to promote itself but to reach the world. Also, the world is being given a very distorted picture of the true message of the Kingdom.
Right now religion is the number one problem in the world and we know that all the terrorism that we are experiencing and the fear is mostly motivated by religion. Jesus Christ did not bring a religion into the world. He bought a Kingdom. The world doesn’t need another religion. It doesn’t need traditions and rituals. The world needs a practical application of principles and precepts that will impact their daily lives. Jesus said blessed are those who are poor spiritually for to them belong, not a religion, but the Kingdom of heaven. Only the Kingdom satisfies spiritual hunger – not religion.
Six Women Leaders to Avoid
J. Lee Grady
A popular female evangelist arrived at an airport and was escorted to the baggage claim area. After she retrieved her luggage she was taken to the passenger pickup lounge where she met her hosts from a local church, who planned to take her in a comfortable van to a nearby hotel so she could rest before speaking at an evening service.
The members of the welcoming team were not prepared for this woman's icy response to their greeting. When they opened the door to the van, she told them bluntly: "I will not ride in that." Then she stormed back into the airport with her entourage. After making inquiries, one of the church staff was informed by the woman's assistant that Her Highness must be transported in a certain type of vehicle.
The stated choices were a Bentley, a Mercedes-Benz or a Lincoln Town Car! Nevermind that Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. This regal woman of God insisted on arriving in luxury.
When I heard this story I didn't know whether to start a petition drive or just vomit on the spot. I was outraged, bewildered and nauseated.
For the last seven years I have given my life to help empower and release women leaders in the church. I have dedicated my life to ending gender discrimination-especially when it limits women's spiritual gifts and callings.
Yet when I hear of poor examples of women pastors and preachers, I must confess I fight discouragement. Yes, we need many more trained women church leaders-but we don't need any more bad examples!
In my travels I have observed all kinds of women leaders, some who are stellar role models and others who would do us all a favor if they pursued different careers. If you have aspirations to pursue leadership in ministry at any level, I pray you will avoid becoming like the ones I am about to describe.
1. THE DIVA To this woman, ministry is all about her. She is the star. Surely she started out with genuine passion for God, but today her message is not defined by her unseen prayer life but by what people see on stage. Greed and pride have deceptively lured her into compromise.
She knows how to move a crowd. There is obviously a strong anointing on her life, but it has been subtly fused with a carnal agenda. She can inspire people to success and wow them with her own accomplishments, but there is nothing in her sermon that brings true repentance or brokenness. Her message may be loud, and it can elicit shouts at the altar. But the people don't realize they've been drugged with a spiritual form of cocaine that triggers a religious high but can't bring them closer to Jesus.
The diva is known for her demands. Someone must carry her Bible, her water bottle, her purse and her cell phone. Those who ask her to preach in their church soon learn that she is "high maintenance." She will require the priciest hotel rooms and the biggest offerings-which she will collect with plenty of manipulative arm-twisting.
Her Christian values were once admirable. But the holy fire that burned in her heart a few years ago has been quenched by greed and an addiction to the crowd's approval. She stopped studying the Bible and now focuses more on what she plans to wear at her conferences. She stopped spending time in God's presence and began craving the glow of television lights.
The diva loves grand entrances. She comes into the meeting late and is whisked off the stage as soon as she has delivered her sermon. She doesn't associate with common folks or spend too much time praying for them. A strange atmosphere surrounds her: A mixture of the Holy Spirit's irrevocable gifting and a disturbing aura of self-importance. Only those who are discerning can recognize the difference.
2. THE CONTROL FREAK If you saw the movie The Devil Wears Prada you know the type of leader I am talking about. Unfortunately the main character of that film, the fearsome fashion publisher Miranda Priestly, has a few counterparts in the religious world.
Beware of this woman if she is in any church leadership position. She rules with an iron fist and leaves a trail of wounded bodies behind her. Somehow she missed the elementary Leadership 101 class, which teaches that every Christian leader must learn to serve. To her, authority is about dominating people.
This woman does not know how to delegate. She is not a team player. The control freak believes she knows all the answers, and therefore she must sign off on all decisions, no matter how petty. People line up outside her door night and day to get her approval, and anyone who needs an appointment is first advised to obtain a "weather report" on her shifting moods.
Somehow this woman never took care of her anger issues when she was a young Christian. Now that she has a position of power, no one is brave enough to challenge her ungodly behavior. She surrounds herself with yes-men and yes-women who dislike her authoritarianism but are too intimidated to admit that her ruthless temper is a sin.
The control freak has no peers and doesn't have a relational style. She may claim to have an older mentor (who usually lives in a distant city) but she doesn't open up her life to those who work with her. They are her subjects, and she demands obedience and long hours of work to prove loyalty. Her employees usually resign on a regular basis because of her harsh criticism and abusive words.
3. THE FLIRT I recently took a pastor friend of mine to a conference to hear a visiting woman preacher from another state. Imagine my horror when this lady walked to the podium wearing a dress that looked like it had been sprayed on.
Every curve and crevice on this woman's body was visible to the ogling eyes in the audience. Some of the guys, to their credit, began looking at the floor toward the end of her sermon so they would not commit adultery in their thoughts. I wanted to run to the podium, grab one of those "modesty cloths" they use during prayer times and wrap it around Sister Shapely before anyone else stumbled.
This woman obviously missed the memo about adopting a "professional and sensible dress code" for ministry. Or perhaps she simply ignored the memo because of her own unresolved sexual issues. Somebody should have yanked her off the platform and sent her back to the new believer's class, where godly women teach other women why it's wrong to use their femininity as a sexual weapon.
The flirt disregards sexual boundaries. She hangs around with men alone in the church office, and might even counsel men alone. She may even use sexually charged language or veiled vulgarity in her sermons. (Note: Just because male leaders engage in this behavior does not make it acceptable.)
Women in ministry do not have to wear their hair in a bun or don ankle-length flannel dresses in order to be modest. There's nothing wrong with looking your best. My favorite women leaders usually wear smart pantsuits, tasteful jewelry and comfortable shoes when they preach. They dress like respectable businesswomen-and they command respect from their churches because of it.
4. THE FLAKE God knows we need leaders today who understand the gifts of the Holy Spirit. But whenever there are revivals of Pentecostal power, the devil always lures some people to unbalanced and unhealthy extremes. In the modern charismatic movement, leaders who misuse the gifts of prophecy or other supernatural phenomena have deceived or irreparably wounded many people.
The flake may have had a legitimate experience with God, but because of pride she begins to believe that her gift is unique. She may even claim special access to God and have frequent visions or dreams that bolster her claims. These experiences might be from God. But if she does not stay grounded in biblical truth and seek accountability in healthy ministry relationships, she may elevate herself to a point where no one can challenge her revelations.
No one who steps out in the supernatural is going to get it right 100 percent of the time. We prophesy in part, and those who use the gift of prophecy are likely to "miss it" from time to time. But the flake will rarely admit to missing it. She will stubbornly contend that she heard from God, even if all the evidence proves otherwise.
It's bad enough when flakes are in the pews because they can cause divisive splits in congregations. But when a flake is elevated to a leadership position, an even bigger disaster looms. That person may veer into extrabiblical methods or outright heresy because she cannot receive correction.
The flake usually has serious unresolved emotional issues. She may be prone to depression, and she might seek unusual spiritual experiences to soothe her damaged emotions. She is always in superspiritual mode and rarely enjoys the normal routines of life. My advice to the flake: Come down to earth!
5. THE FEMINIST I don't believe all forms of feminism are wrong. In the early years of the 20th century, many brave Christian men and women worked tirelessly to win women the right to vote. Gender equality is a human right, and it is something that God set down in the first chapters of Genesis. Because both male and female are created in His image, we should work to correct the injustices of gender inequality and abuse.
But there is another more sinister form of feminism that has no support in Scripture. It is a bitter, vengeful attitude that places women against men, and often elevates women to a superior position. Sadly, this worldly spirit has invaded the church.
The feminist church leader has a man-hating spirit. She may be a gifted communicator, but if you listen closely you will hear the sound of a grinding axe when she speaks. She has not forgiven the men who hurt her in the past, and she intends to punish those men who get in her way today. Her unresolved issues are transferred to her audience. Her poison is injected into everyone who hears her.
She may claim that she believes in gender equality, but she will often surround herself only with women and refuses to put men in certain positions. Oftentimes the feminist has experienced at least one failed marriage and does not have any healthy relationships with men. Because she is unhealed, she cannot be an effective healer.
6. THE VICTIM This is the most pitiful of all the bad examples I've listed. She is guaranteed to make you feel sorry for her. And she might use a full box of Kleenex to help you understand her pain.
What the victim lacks in leadership skills she will make up for in sob stories.
Everyone is against her. She is suspicious of her own congregation. Other churches, she says, are maligning her. The devil, she insists, has targeted her ministry for destruction. Every trial that comes her way confirms that she is the focus of a demonic conspiracy.
Chaos surrounds this woman. Her ministry is always in turmoil. The victim moves from crisis to crisis, always anticipating another tragedy around the next corner. True joy has been replaced by a constant religious anxiety that repels people-thus making sure that her ministry will always be composed of a small "remnant" of people who have similar emotional baggage.
Of course if you suggest that this woman's misfortune might be the result of her negative outlook on life, she won't listen. That's because the victim has found a bizarre form of pleasure in her dysfunction. She's become quite comfortable at the center of her painful universe.
DON'T SETTLE FOR LESS
All these bad examples are in the church today-and each has her male counterpart. But I am not giving up in my resolve to see an army of gifted, trained women who will serve as pastors, missionaries, evangelists, CEOs, government leaders and social reformers. This is the hour for women to arise.
Instead of divas, we need humble women who are willing to serve even if they receive no public recognition. Instead of control freaks, we need leaders who wash the feet of their disciples and push them to greatness while modeling sacrifice. Instead of flirts, we need mature, dignified mothers of faith who have crucified their adolescent fantasies.
Rather than flakes who are tossed around by spiritual fads, we need discerning women who love biblical truth more than charismatic goose bumps. Rather than feminists, we need women who have resolved their issues with men and are willing to partner with them on equal footing. Rather than victims, we need women in ministry who are emotionally healthy.
Don't be discouraged if you see yourself in any of these negative examples. There is probably a little bit of diva in all of us! And all of us have resisted the urge to become control freaks.
If you are called to leadership, God will guide the preparation process-and He will bring mentors and positive role models in your life to challenge and encourage you. If you allow the Holy Spirit to shape your character, you may end up being the good example the church is waiting for.
A popular female evangelist arrived at an airport and was escorted to the baggage claim area. After she retrieved her luggage she was taken to the passenger pickup lounge where she met her hosts from a local church, who planned to take her in a comfortable van to a nearby hotel so she could rest before speaking at an evening service.
The members of the welcoming team were not prepared for this woman's icy response to their greeting. When they opened the door to the van, she told them bluntly: "I will not ride in that." Then she stormed back into the airport with her entourage. After making inquiries, one of the church staff was informed by the woman's assistant that Her Highness must be transported in a certain type of vehicle.
The stated choices were a Bentley, a Mercedes-Benz or a Lincoln Town Car! Nevermind that Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. This regal woman of God insisted on arriving in luxury.
When I heard this story I didn't know whether to start a petition drive or just vomit on the spot. I was outraged, bewildered and nauseated.
For the last seven years I have given my life to help empower and release women leaders in the church. I have dedicated my life to ending gender discrimination-especially when it limits women's spiritual gifts and callings.
Yet when I hear of poor examples of women pastors and preachers, I must confess I fight discouragement. Yes, we need many more trained women church leaders-but we don't need any more bad examples!
In my travels I have observed all kinds of women leaders, some who are stellar role models and others who would do us all a favor if they pursued different careers. If you have aspirations to pursue leadership in ministry at any level, I pray you will avoid becoming like the ones I am about to describe.
1. THE DIVA To this woman, ministry is all about her. She is the star. Surely she started out with genuine passion for God, but today her message is not defined by her unseen prayer life but by what people see on stage. Greed and pride have deceptively lured her into compromise.
She knows how to move a crowd. There is obviously a strong anointing on her life, but it has been subtly fused with a carnal agenda. She can inspire people to success and wow them with her own accomplishments, but there is nothing in her sermon that brings true repentance or brokenness. Her message may be loud, and it can elicit shouts at the altar. But the people don't realize they've been drugged with a spiritual form of cocaine that triggers a religious high but can't bring them closer to Jesus.
The diva is known for her demands. Someone must carry her Bible, her water bottle, her purse and her cell phone. Those who ask her to preach in their church soon learn that she is "high maintenance." She will require the priciest hotel rooms and the biggest offerings-which she will collect with plenty of manipulative arm-twisting.
Her Christian values were once admirable. But the holy fire that burned in her heart a few years ago has been quenched by greed and an addiction to the crowd's approval. She stopped studying the Bible and now focuses more on what she plans to wear at her conferences. She stopped spending time in God's presence and began craving the glow of television lights.
The diva loves grand entrances. She comes into the meeting late and is whisked off the stage as soon as she has delivered her sermon. She doesn't associate with common folks or spend too much time praying for them. A strange atmosphere surrounds her: A mixture of the Holy Spirit's irrevocable gifting and a disturbing aura of self-importance. Only those who are discerning can recognize the difference.
2. THE CONTROL FREAK If you saw the movie The Devil Wears Prada you know the type of leader I am talking about. Unfortunately the main character of that film, the fearsome fashion publisher Miranda Priestly, has a few counterparts in the religious world.
Beware of this woman if she is in any church leadership position. She rules with an iron fist and leaves a trail of wounded bodies behind her. Somehow she missed the elementary Leadership 101 class, which teaches that every Christian leader must learn to serve. To her, authority is about dominating people.
This woman does not know how to delegate. She is not a team player. The control freak believes she knows all the answers, and therefore she must sign off on all decisions, no matter how petty. People line up outside her door night and day to get her approval, and anyone who needs an appointment is first advised to obtain a "weather report" on her shifting moods.
Somehow this woman never took care of her anger issues when she was a young Christian. Now that she has a position of power, no one is brave enough to challenge her ungodly behavior. She surrounds herself with yes-men and yes-women who dislike her authoritarianism but are too intimidated to admit that her ruthless temper is a sin.
The control freak has no peers and doesn't have a relational style. She may claim to have an older mentor (who usually lives in a distant city) but she doesn't open up her life to those who work with her. They are her subjects, and she demands obedience and long hours of work to prove loyalty. Her employees usually resign on a regular basis because of her harsh criticism and abusive words.
3. THE FLIRT I recently took a pastor friend of mine to a conference to hear a visiting woman preacher from another state. Imagine my horror when this lady walked to the podium wearing a dress that looked like it had been sprayed on.
Every curve and crevice on this woman's body was visible to the ogling eyes in the audience. Some of the guys, to their credit, began looking at the floor toward the end of her sermon so they would not commit adultery in their thoughts. I wanted to run to the podium, grab one of those "modesty cloths" they use during prayer times and wrap it around Sister Shapely before anyone else stumbled.
This woman obviously missed the memo about adopting a "professional and sensible dress code" for ministry. Or perhaps she simply ignored the memo because of her own unresolved sexual issues. Somebody should have yanked her off the platform and sent her back to the new believer's class, where godly women teach other women why it's wrong to use their femininity as a sexual weapon.
The flirt disregards sexual boundaries. She hangs around with men alone in the church office, and might even counsel men alone. She may even use sexually charged language or veiled vulgarity in her sermons. (Note: Just because male leaders engage in this behavior does not make it acceptable.)
Women in ministry do not have to wear their hair in a bun or don ankle-length flannel dresses in order to be modest. There's nothing wrong with looking your best. My favorite women leaders usually wear smart pantsuits, tasteful jewelry and comfortable shoes when they preach. They dress like respectable businesswomen-and they command respect from their churches because of it.
4. THE FLAKE God knows we need leaders today who understand the gifts of the Holy Spirit. But whenever there are revivals of Pentecostal power, the devil always lures some people to unbalanced and unhealthy extremes. In the modern charismatic movement, leaders who misuse the gifts of prophecy or other supernatural phenomena have deceived or irreparably wounded many people.
The flake may have had a legitimate experience with God, but because of pride she begins to believe that her gift is unique. She may even claim special access to God and have frequent visions or dreams that bolster her claims. These experiences might be from God. But if she does not stay grounded in biblical truth and seek accountability in healthy ministry relationships, she may elevate herself to a point where no one can challenge her revelations.
No one who steps out in the supernatural is going to get it right 100 percent of the time. We prophesy in part, and those who use the gift of prophecy are likely to "miss it" from time to time. But the flake will rarely admit to missing it. She will stubbornly contend that she heard from God, even if all the evidence proves otherwise.
It's bad enough when flakes are in the pews because they can cause divisive splits in congregations. But when a flake is elevated to a leadership position, an even bigger disaster looms. That person may veer into extrabiblical methods or outright heresy because she cannot receive correction.
The flake usually has serious unresolved emotional issues. She may be prone to depression, and she might seek unusual spiritual experiences to soothe her damaged emotions. She is always in superspiritual mode and rarely enjoys the normal routines of life. My advice to the flake: Come down to earth!
5. THE FEMINIST I don't believe all forms of feminism are wrong. In the early years of the 20th century, many brave Christian men and women worked tirelessly to win women the right to vote. Gender equality is a human right, and it is something that God set down in the first chapters of Genesis. Because both male and female are created in His image, we should work to correct the injustices of gender inequality and abuse.
But there is another more sinister form of feminism that has no support in Scripture. It is a bitter, vengeful attitude that places women against men, and often elevates women to a superior position. Sadly, this worldly spirit has invaded the church.
The feminist church leader has a man-hating spirit. She may be a gifted communicator, but if you listen closely you will hear the sound of a grinding axe when she speaks. She has not forgiven the men who hurt her in the past, and she intends to punish those men who get in her way today. Her unresolved issues are transferred to her audience. Her poison is injected into everyone who hears her.
She may claim that she believes in gender equality, but she will often surround herself only with women and refuses to put men in certain positions. Oftentimes the feminist has experienced at least one failed marriage and does not have any healthy relationships with men. Because she is unhealed, she cannot be an effective healer.
6. THE VICTIM This is the most pitiful of all the bad examples I've listed. She is guaranteed to make you feel sorry for her. And she might use a full box of Kleenex to help you understand her pain.
What the victim lacks in leadership skills she will make up for in sob stories.
Everyone is against her. She is suspicious of her own congregation. Other churches, she says, are maligning her. The devil, she insists, has targeted her ministry for destruction. Every trial that comes her way confirms that she is the focus of a demonic conspiracy.
Chaos surrounds this woman. Her ministry is always in turmoil. The victim moves from crisis to crisis, always anticipating another tragedy around the next corner. True joy has been replaced by a constant religious anxiety that repels people-thus making sure that her ministry will always be composed of a small "remnant" of people who have similar emotional baggage.
Of course if you suggest that this woman's misfortune might be the result of her negative outlook on life, she won't listen. That's because the victim has found a bizarre form of pleasure in her dysfunction. She's become quite comfortable at the center of her painful universe.
DON'T SETTLE FOR LESS
All these bad examples are in the church today-and each has her male counterpart. But I am not giving up in my resolve to see an army of gifted, trained women who will serve as pastors, missionaries, evangelists, CEOs, government leaders and social reformers. This is the hour for women to arise.
Instead of divas, we need humble women who are willing to serve even if they receive no public recognition. Instead of control freaks, we need leaders who wash the feet of their disciples and push them to greatness while modeling sacrifice. Instead of flirts, we need mature, dignified mothers of faith who have crucified their adolescent fantasies.
Rather than flakes who are tossed around by spiritual fads, we need discerning women who love biblical truth more than charismatic goose bumps. Rather than feminists, we need women who have resolved their issues with men and are willing to partner with them on equal footing. Rather than victims, we need women in ministry who are emotionally healthy.
Don't be discouraged if you see yourself in any of these negative examples. There is probably a little bit of diva in all of us! And all of us have resisted the urge to become control freaks.
If you are called to leadership, God will guide the preparation process-and He will bring mentors and positive role models in your life to challenge and encourage you. If you allow the Holy Spirit to shape your character, you may end up being the good example the church is waiting for.
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