Thoughts On 2016-Understanding The Why Of The Process

2016 was an interesting year for many, me included. The year started with great Prophetic Promise and excitement. Then as the year unfolded many of us received curve balls that we were not expecting. Our choice was to go with what was cast our way, embrace it, and the find the purpose of God in it; or get stuck and stifled right there, no longer moving towards our destiny.

I discovered that even in the curve ball God has been working His Master Plan for our lives. He seldom operates or does things the way that we think that He will or should. After all, He is still sovereign and has promised to do a New Thing. Why are we so surprised when He does? Because it didn’t come the way we had the scenario worked out in our pre-conceived ideas.

I for one learned this more than anyone this year. Even though I have always preached that we can’t put God in a box and that He will seldom do it like we think He will; yet when it happened to me, I was totally floored. I made up my mind to embrace the assignment and in the process, discover the why of the process.

So often we want to understand the WHY before we embrace the process. That is not how it works. It is as we embrace the process that the why is made clear. I discovered this year that God really does know what He is doing even when we think He doesn’t.

Unfortunately, many never discover the beauty or irony of how this works because they want it all figured out with a pretty bow on it before they do anything. They are individuals with all the POTENTIAL in the world who never live up to it because they can’t embrace a process they do not understand. God has always operating an individual’s destiny as unfolding revelation. He told Abraham to go to a land that He would show him.

Most of us would have said: “If you don’t show me where we are going, I am not leaving.” Thus, we find the underlying issue why so many never move past POTENTIAL. I read somewhere that the “Just Shall Live By Faith”. If you know exactly where you are going, no faith is required. But when you embrace that you are going where only God knows; then you are walking “By Faith And Not By Sight”.

This year, despite being thrown a major curve ball that I never saw coming nor ever expected or wanted, I discovered the purpose and plan of God for my life by embracing the process. I now know why I received the assignment that I did that I was not expecting. It turns out that God actually had at least four reasons that I am aware of at the time of this writing, and I am sure more will be revealed in the process.

My advice to you is simply this: Even when you don’t understand the curve ball that seems to be thrown your way, embrace it and yield to the process of God, as you do you will understand the why of the process. 

Teach Them To Your Sons

All the way back in Israel’s history…there was a practice that we in the church today sure do need to resurrect. It was known as “Teach them to your Sons”.

“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.” Deuteronomy 6:6-8 NASB

“You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 11:18-20 NASB

“Now therefore, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it on their lips, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel.” Deuteronomy 31:19 NASB

The pattern was always that Fathers taught their Sons, who in turn taught their Sons, and so forth and so on. The pattern was always to be multi-generational. “The God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob”.

Yet in our day many of our Leaders both Naturally & Spiritually have forgotten and lost this pattern. What and how are we teaching our Sons…that they might teach their Sons? Apostle Paul instructed his Son Timothy, the Emerging Apostle:

“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2 NKJV

Do you see the pattern of Multi-Generational again? Paul…Timothy…Faithful Men…Others Also.

If there is not a burning desire to pour into the next generation and you are in leadership…then you surely cannot call yourself Apostolic or a Father. Teaching from a Pulpit or a Platform is not Fathering nor Apostolic. From the pattern of Israel it was something that was “Hands On”.

As we seek to be Apostolic Fathers…we must do more than just teach from the pulpit…we must be “Hands On” with the next generation to raise up Sons. Let’s Go For It Copying The Pattern As Old As Israel!

Hear And Be Healed

Yesterday I read a Facebook post by a friend of mine, Dr. Don Lynch, who asked as a conversation starter: “To what extent should miracles, signs and wonders be paired with preaching?”

I began to think almost immediately of all the Scriptures I have ever used in preaching along these lines over the years. But I couldn’t get the thought out of head even this morning. Then to my remembrance came this verse that Rev. Kenneth E. (Dad) Hagin used to quote way back in the early 80’s when I used to attend Healing School at Rhema while a student there.

“But despite Jesus’ instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases.” Luke 5:15 New Living Translation (emphasis mine)

I want you to pay attention to what The New Living Translation brings out that other Translations don’t. They came to hear Him Preach…and to Be Healed of their diseases. They didn’t just come to be Healed…But to Hear and be Healed. Most other Translations just say: “…great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.”

I am struck with the thought that many want to be healed, but don’t want to hear anything. They want you to lay hands on them and just ZAP it to them. Well thank God for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit being in operation as He wills, but if they aren’t…you better Hear The Word!

I am also reminded of the ministry of Jesus in Matthew chapter 4.

“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.” Matthew 4:23 New King James Version (emphasis mine)

Again notice in the ministry of Jesus that He was not just Healing, but He was Teaching, Preaching and Healing. The Word must be proclaimed if we expect to see the Healing Power of God. God confirms His Word, and if we don’t put His Word out there He has nothing to confirm.

Remember the Great Commission in Mark 16?

“And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover’….And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.” Mark 16: 15-18 & 20 New American Standard Bible (emphasis mine)

I want you to notice that in obedience to the commission that they received, that they went out and preached everywhere…and the Lord worked with them…and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. What if they didn’t preach? Then I dare say the Lord would not be able to work with them. Notice He confirmed the word. He only confirms the word! He will not confirm anything but His Word!

Tongues More Than You Think

It is always amazing to me that Apostle Paul in writing to the church at Corinth stated that he did not want them to be ignorant about the manifestations of the Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 12-14 in context). Yet, the very thing he said that he did not want the church to be ignorant of seems to be the very thing a large percentage of the church is ignorant of.

I remember Rev. Kenneth E. (Dad) Hagin used to say in his teachings that there are two reasons why folks are ignorant about subjects in the Word of God:

1.      No Teaching

2.      Poor Teaching

Unfortunately, the church has been victim of both a lack of teaching and poor teaching about the Manifestations of the Spirit, and Tongues in particular.

At the root of most of the issues and confusion over Tongues in the church, even among those who believe that Tongues are still for today, (cessationists of course do not believe that they are) is that most do not understand that the New Testament speaks of two different manifestations of Tongues:

1.      Private Tongues – (or Personal Tongues) Your Prayer Language for your own Worship & Prayer Life.

2.      Public Tongues – This is the Public Gift that works in conjunction with the Gift of Interpretation of Tongues in a Public Setting, with the two together equaling the Gift of Prophecy. Prophecy does it in one step, Tongues & Interpretation does it in two.

Today I was mediating on 1 Corinthians 12-14 from multiple translations and came across this:

“I’m grateful to God for the gift of praying in tongues that he gives us for praising him, which leads to wonderful intimacies we enjoy with him. I enter into this as much or more than any of you.” 1 Corinthians 14:18 The Message (emphasis mine)

From this verse in the Message it is quite clear that Apostle Paul is speaking here about the first manifestation of Tongues that we have defined…Private Tongues. I want you to pay close attention to the wording that The Message brings out:

·         Paul is grateful for the Gift of Praying in Tongues. (note this is not a Public Message that needs to be interpreted).

·         Paul said that God gave us this ability (Praying in Tongues) for Praising Him! We can Worship in Tongues (our Prayer Language) and we should.

·         When we exercise Praying in Tongues both for Prayer and Praise it leads to Wonderful Intimacies with Him.

·         Paul admitted that he entered into this practice (exercising his prayer language for both prayer and praise) as much as or more than any of the rest of the Corinthian church.

Obviously if this was a bad practice, Paul would not have engaged in it as much as he did; nor would he have encouraged them to operate in it. Wasn’t it Paul who said: “Follow me as I follow the Lord”? We should be following his example in this.

Now if you treat this Manifestation of Tongues the same as the Public Gift of Tongues, you are going to be greatly confused. That is like trying to play Baseball with Football rules. There is much more to Tongues than many of us have thought, believed and in far too many cases practiced.

Sometimes it is just fine to either pray or praise in the Spirit (other Tongues) without there being an Interpretation, especially in a BELIEVERS MEETING. Maybe not in a crusade…but amongst Believers…it should be an accepted and expected practice. After all, didn’t Paul also say:

“For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.” 1 Corinthians 14:2 NASB (emphasis mine) (some translations use the word secrets instead of mysteries)

We need the manifestation of both Private Tongues and Public Tongues. They need to be clearly defined as to their intended purposes as well as how they should function in our midst; decently and in order. You see when it comes to Tongues…there is more than many think.

Each One

After an outstanding service yesterday morning at Community Church Fixer of Hearts in North Brunswick, NJ; which I have the privilege to lead, I have been thinking all day about a phrase that occurs over and over again in Apostle Paul’s discourse on the Gifts (or Manifestations) of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14.

“But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

1 Corinthians 12:7 NASB (emphasis mine)

“But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.” 1 Corinthians 12:11 NASB (emphasis mine)

“What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.” 1 Corinthians 14:26 NASB (emphasis mine)

What was so special about the service yesterday morning that had me thinking all day long? It was a service where there was participation by about eight or nine other people during the service besides me in communicating all that God wanted to get across to the Body that was assembled. We had Tongues & Interpretation of Tongues, Psalms & Songs of the Lord, Exhortations, Admonitions, An Explanation of a Vision, A Testimony of an Instant Healing and the Sound of a Human Shofar (no actual horn) that pierced and shifted the atmosphere. God used the ‘Multiplicity of Gifting’ that was present in the house to accomplish His purpose.

I want you to pay particular attention to the emphasized two words in each of the verses above: ‘Each One’! Notice Paul was talking about the involvement of the Body in the Ministry and about their Participation in the service or gathering of Believers. So often we have this mindset in the church that the congregation sits back and watches the show as those on the ‘Platform Perform’. That is NOT WHAT GOD INTENDED!

Church is not a Spectator Sport! God does not want His Body to be Pew-sitters…He wants them to be Participators! I am not an authority on the English language…but the last time I checked…Each One meant Everybody present. Our job as Leadership is to Facilitate a flow of the Holy Spirit (much like an orchestra conductor) that allows for Each One to participate according to their gifting, as the Spirit wills, for the common good and edification of the Body.

To make the Church function by divine design according to the New Testament pattern that Paul speaks of in these texts it will require two things:

·         People being willing to step out of their comfort zone and not rely on Leadership to do all the ministry realizing that God has uniquely gifted them and desires to use those gifts for the common good of the Body.

·         Leadership that recognizes people’s gifts, accepts people’s gifts, develops people’s gifts, empowers people’s gifts, encourages people’s gifts, honors people’s gifts, deploys people’s gifts and celebrates people’s gifts.

An Apostolic Letter To An Apostolic Son

Traditionally theologians have referred to the Epistles of First and Second Timothy, as well as Titus as Pastoral Epistles. Nothing could be further from the Truth. Timothy and Titus were both Spiritual Sons to Apostle Paul and as such were being fathered, mentored and trained as young up and coming emerging Apostles in their own right.

If you read the New Testament through the Paradigm of an Apostolic Mindset, this will be quite clear. Paul clearly referred to Timothy as his son. (see 1 Corinthians 4: 17, 1 Timothy 1: 2 & 18 and 2 Timothy 1:2) Titus was also referred to as his son. (see Titus 1:4) With that in mind we are better off referring to these Epistles as Apostolic Epistles, not Pastoral Epistles.

I want to draw your attention to one passage from Apostle Paul’s first letter to Timothy:

“Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” 1 Timothy 4: 13-16 NKJV (Emphasis Mine)

I have highlighted some words in this passage that we should pay attention to as an Apostolic Father was writing to an Emerging Apostolic Son:

Ø  Reading

Ø  Exhortation

Ø  Doctrine

Ø  The Gift

Ø  Prophecy

Ø  Laying On Of Hands

Ø  Meditate

Ø  Doctrine (second time…just maybe it is important)

Ø  Continue

It is quite often that we get asked what Apostolic Ministry is all about and how does it differ from other types of ministry. This should be a PROOF TEXT for every Apostle and Emerging Apostle in the Body of Christ!

We could go into great detail on each one of these bullet points, but suffice it to say, each and every one of them are an integral part of Apostolic Ministry. These were things that Paul stressed to his Son Timothy. If we are going to be truly New Testament Apostolic all of these things will be part of what we do; and if we are going to raise up Apostolic Sons, we will stress these things to them just as Paul stressed them to Timothy.

What Ever Happened To The Whole Counsel Of God?

As I read through some of the posts by Leaders in the Body of Christ these days I grow quite concerned. This morning I posted my ‘Thought For The Day’ on Facebook: “We must beware of Hobby Horses. Some have an inclination or bend towards a particular doctrine and ride it like a horse stressing it alone avoiding everything else. There is great danger in that as it leads to unbalanced Believers. Apostle Paul said I did not shrink back from declaring the Whole Counsel of God...neither should we.”

About twenty years ago a team of Ministers and I conducted a Minister’s Seminar. That particular day the Lord led me to deal with the topic: “The Dangers Of Not Preaching The Whole Counsel Of God”. I would like to think that the Church has made great strides and improvement over the last twenty years since that seminar, and while in some areas we have, in this area it is clear that we have not. Look at what Apostle Paul declared to the Elders of Ephesus as they came to him at Miletus in Acts chapter 20.

“For I never shrank or kept back or fell short from declaring to you the whole purpose and plan and counsel of God.” Acts 20:27 Amplified Bible Classic Edition

Notice what Paul said:

·         I Never Shrank or Kept Back or Fell Short From Declaring…

·         Declaring What?

·         The Whole Purpose and Plan and Counsel of God!

It should be noted that the word Declare in this text in the Original Greek carries the meaning: I bring back word, I report; I announce, I declare. Paul was saying he made an announcement of the Whole Counsel of God. He Declared the Whole Counsel of God. He Brought Back A Word…A Report of The Whole Counsel of God.

To hear some people tell it there is only on doctrine in Scripture. As much as I believe in Sonship and desire to pour into the next generation raising up sons; there is more to the Whole Counsel of God than just Sonship. As much as I believe in preaching the Kingdom, after all John the Baptist preached the Kingdom, Jesus preached the Kingdom and Paul preached the Kingdom; but there is more to the Whole Counsel of God than just the Kingdom.

The Whole Counsel of God contains Sonship. The Whole Counsel of God contains the Kingdom. Neither Sonship nor the Kingdom as good as they are; they are not the be all and end all of the Whole Counsel of God. If they were…what do we do with the Major and Minor Prophets? What do we do with the Psalms and Proverbs? What do we do with all of Israel’s history? I thought all of their history was written as examples for us???? (1 Corinthians 10:10-12) I thought all Scripture was profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16)

The Whole Counsel of God is all inclusive of all truth from Genesis to Revelation. We must preach all of it from cover to cover. We were never called to be “a one trick pony”…we were called to Declare and Announce the Whole Counsel of God.

If we continue in Acts chapter 20 in the context we will note some of Paul’s concern as to why it is so important that the Whole Counsel of God be proclaimed:

“I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.” Acts 20: 29 & 30 New American Standard Bible

Notice what Paul said:

·         Savage wolves will come in.

·         They won’t spare the flock.

·         From among your own selves men speaking false doctrine will arise.

·         They will draw away disciples to themselves.

Now my Brother and Sister look across the landscape of the church in our day and you can see that these very things are happening right among us. The Church has been permeated from within by “Gooey Grace” and “Sloppy Agape” to the point that folks no longer believe that repentance is required and that we can live like the devil and still go to heaven.

We are in dire need of the Whole Counsel of God! The Bible is clear: “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Luke 13:5 New American Standard Bible

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 New American Standard Bible

The Whole Counsel of God says that God wants all to come to repentance and that none should perish. It says that unless one does repent they will perish. That is surely a far cry from the damnable heresy of the hyper-grace message being propagated today.

Can you see how important the Whole Counsel of God is? I have only given a few examples, but these examples should prove the validity of what I am saying. It is time to live and practice the use of ALL SCRIPTURE…Not Just Our Pet Doctrine or Hobby Horse…IT IS TIME TO DECLARE THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD!