Protocol & Delegated Authority

Two of the biggest needs in the church today is for a clear understanding of both Protocol & Delegated Authority. Much of what occurs in our Meetings, Fellowships, Networks, and Churches lacks proper Biblically Balanced Submission and is clearly out of order because of these foundations are not understood.

Let me first deal with Protocol. Webster defines Protocol as: "A system of rules that explain the correct conduct and procedures to be followed in formal situations." I teach about Protocol quite often when teaching on Prophetic Ministry. Every church or ministry has their own Protocol. There are general Biblical guidelines for how things are supposed to function and operate…but not specifics. Each church or ministry Set-Man or Set-Woman must determine what the rules of correct conduct and procedures will be for the work they are set over.

It is up to all the followers to play the game we played as kids in school: “Follow The Leader”. Quite often, folks get used to a Protocol in the house where they fellowship on a regular basis. Then they go visit another work that has a different Protocol. If said person begins to operate the way they do in the ministry they normally attend in the other work with the different Protocol; then they are out of order because they are not submitting to the Protocol of that house they are currently in.

It does not matter what you normally do, it is your job to submit to the house you are in and follow the Protocol that has been set out by the Set-Man or Set-Woman. You also cannot get upset at another Man or Woman of God if they have a different Protocol to the one you are used to. If we understood this we would have less folks out of order and less folks with their nose bent out of shape. (I hope you understand my expression)

Now let me deal with Delegated Authority. The Free Dictionary defines Delegated Authority as: "The action by which a commander assigns part of his or her authority commensurate with the assigned task to a subordinate commander. While ultimate responsibility cannot be relinquished, delegation of authority carries with it the imposition of a measure of responsibility. The extent of the authority delegated must be clearly stated." The church totally operates by this principle.

Jesus is the Head of the Church and as such is the Final Authority and ultimate holder of authority. He delegates or gives a measure or a part of His authority to a Set-Man or Set-Woman in a church or ministry. Then that Set-Man or Set-Woman in turn will delegate authority to various staff members, department heads, and leaders. Closely related to Delegated Authority is the understanding of Spheres of Authority. Allow me to illustrate the difference between the two from my life and my role as a Set-Man in a local fellowship.

My Mother and Father who are both Apostles, happen to be members of the local fellowship that I am the Set-Man of, it is their home church when they are not out on the road ministering. When we are not in church, they are Mom & Dad and I submit to their authority as both my Natural and Spiritual Parents. But once we come into the church, they tell everyone that Michael is the Set-Man and what he says goes. In fact, this past Sunday morning when my Dad spoke he got up and said the boss said to speak now and that we would do the announcements and offering after he spoke. He said this because I whispered to him to go and speak now. Now they are still my parents, but in the church, they are submitted to my sphere of Authority as the Set-Man.

Now let me contrast that with Delegate Authority. In the church that I am Set-Man of, I have an Associate Minister who I have been friends with for some 25 or so years. He is really the one with the Pastor’s Heart and is the most gifted Psalmist I have ever met. When I turn a service over to him to either speak or lead worship, I am no longer in authority because I have Delegated my Authority to him. Once he is exercising that Delegated Authority, if someone wants to share or say something, they need to go to Pastor Mike, not to me, because he is operating in authority at that moment. Both Spheres of Authority and Delegated Authority are critical for us to understand and walk in.

If we could get these simple things right…oh how much better things would flow. Imagine how much less strife we would have in Ecclesia if these things were understood and practiced. Let us make this our goal that we understand and walk in Protocol and Delegated Authority.

Restoration & Convergence

I woke up with two Words on my heart & mind this morning: Restoration & Convergence.

Restoration is defined as - the action of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition, or the act or process of returning something to its original condition by repairing it, cleaning it, etc. the act of bringing back something that existed before, or the act of returning something that was stolen or taken.

Convergence is defined as - when two or more things come together to form a new whole, or two or more things coming together, joining together, or evolving into one, or to come together and unite in a common interest or focus. An example would be many streams converging into one river. Related words would be: combination, connection, or culmination.

I began to think of these two words in relation to where the church has been, where we are now, and what lies just ahead:

Many in the church have been crying and believing for the church to live in the power demonstrated in the book of Acts. Many have prophesied that it was coming; even in our time right now on the earth. I also fully expect this to be fulfilled in our day, but not because we have prayed some magic prayers or made some magic confessions, but rather because: The church has been going through a period of Restoration.

What we fail to realize is that God has been quite busy over the last 70 years or so bringing the church through Restoration whether we have realized it or not. Sometimes looking back over recent history gives us some perspective. If we can see where we have been and what God has taken us through we can see where we are going.

“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.” Mark 2:22 NKJV

For us to walk in what the book of Acts walked in, we must look like the book of Acts in our structure. God will not waste the New Wine if the current Wineskin can’t hold it! So, God has been taking us through a Period of Restoration through different moves and emphases starting with the Voice of Healing Revival in the late 40’s – early 50’s.

With each restoration move of God a different Ministry Manifestation or Expression has also been Restored to the Church. The one constant throughout church history has been the function of the Pastor, but the rest of the Ascension Gifts in Ephesians 4:11 were not seen or known to be among the church.

·         In the late 40’s – the mid 50’s God restored the Office of Evangelist with the Voice of Healing Revival. AA Allen, Oral Roberts, William Branham, Jack Coe etc.

·         In the 70’s God restored the Office of the Teacher with the Word of Faith movement. Kenneth E. Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Charles Capps, Fred Price etc.

·         In the Late 80’s – mid 90’s God restored the Office of the Prophet. Bill Hamon, Chuck Pierce, James Goll, Cindy Jacobs etc.

·         In the mid 90’s – the 200’s God restored the Office of the Apostle. C. Peter Wagner, Che Ahn, John Kelly, Jonas Clark, etc.

Many times, throughout church history, we have been like the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration, declaring that it is good for us to be here and desiring to build a tabernacle and camp there. The thing about God is that He does not camp, He moves. From the very beginning in Genesis we see the Holy Spirit moving over the face of the deep. In the Old Testament when the Pillar of Cloud Moved…they had to move; when the Pillar of Fire Moved…they had to move.

Well God moved from the Voice of Healing, through the Charismatic Renewal, into the Word of Faith Movement. Then into the Prophetic and finally the Apostolic. The problem is many have stopped at different moves along the way and camped while God moved on. He was busy working the Restoration of all Things!

“Therefore, repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.” Acts 3: 19-21 NASB

This brings us to where we are right now. God has restored the wineskin so that we can hold what the Book of Acts held. All the Ascension Gifts are not only in operation, but now in many circles, are fully accepted. It is time for the Convergence! It is time for all these moves of restoration to come together in one Major, Mighty Move of God!

For those of us who did not camp, but kept on moving through the various moves of Restoration we have come to a time that James Goll called: “The Convergence Of The Ages”. We have reached the time in History where all the Ministry Gifts have been Restored. We have reached the time in History where all the Moves of God have wrought their Manifestations and done their Work.

In likening Convergence to a Culmination, we must realize that everything God does has as intended purpose, nothing is haphazard or by chance. He has been working all along through these last 70 years or so to bring us to this point in time, where we could have a wineskin like the book of Acts and therefore hold the Demonstrations of the Book of Acts. The Restoration is complete and it is time for all the Restoration Moves to be in Manifestation at once and all the Ministries to Operate and Flow as One…Convergence has come!