As you know, I’m in Gatlinburg, Tennessee attending a Word and Spirit seminar with Randall Grier. Randall says the Lord spoke to him in 2007 and told him that a split or division is coming in the body of Christ.
He said there are churches he calls Informational that have come to the forefront in the body of Christ and that will assert even greater influence in the next year and a half.These churches have abandoned the teaching of the Word and the moving of the Spirit and are following a plan devised by men and not God. I suppose we could call them seeker sensitive churches, catering to the likes and dislikes of the audience. People come and go unchanged.
Then Randall says that the Lord told him that there are what he calls Revelational churches, or churches that teach the Word strongly and are open to the moving of the Holy Spirit in their meetings. These churches cater to the presence of God and seek to make the atmosphere conducive to God’s power manifesting. People are changed by the power of God in these meetings.
Yesterday, he listed 16 characteristics of Revelational churches:
1. These churches are committed to the Word, to Jesus, and to the Holy Spirit
(1 Timothy 4:13-16).
2. These churches teach the Word and refuse to compromise doctrine (Romans 16:7).
3. They refuse worldly influences through any person or source (1 John 2:15).
4. These churches treasure and seek the Word of God and manifestations of the
Spirit(Acts 4: 29-31).
5. Pastors and church leaders spends lots of time studying the Word and praying
(Acts 6: 3-4).
6. The messages preached in these churches are born in prayer and Study of the
and not by group consensus (Galatians 1:12).
7. Pastors minister with an anointing and flow in spiritual gifts as the Spirit
wills(Ephesians 4:11; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10).
8. Pastors and church leaders walk closely with the Lord in thought, word, and deed
(Ephesians 4:1; 1 Timothy 4:12).
9. These churches pray and seek God for everyone to be born again and Spirit filled
(Acts 2:42; Acts 8:15).
10. Church services are prayed out in advance, and ministers implicitly follow the
direction of the Holy Spirit for the meeting (Mark 16:20; John 5:19).
11. People are ministered to and refreshed by the Holy Spirit in these chuches
Romans 15:13; 1 John 5:4).
12. The messages preached require a response and the people are urged to grow
spiritually (Acts 20:32).
13. The Fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit operate along with ministry
gifts(Galatians 5:22-24; Ephesians 4:11-12; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10).
14. The Word of God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ are always welcome in these
churches (Acts 4:29-31).
15. The Spirit of truth and the wisdom of God flow freely in these churches
1 Corinthians 2:12).
16. These churches are blessed by God and will eventually grow and flourish because
teach the Word and follow the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit carefully
(Matthew 16:18-19).
Randall declared that we need a new reformation in the church today, and he urged pastors to minister in an uncompromising way.
I’ll end here with a declaration he had everyone recite:
I will not compromise the Word of God or the Holy Ghost, and through the Lord Jesus Christ I exercise authority over the devil and over the influence of the world.
My personal take on all of this is that at Victory we are right in line with what I believe Jesus wants us to be doing, and we're going to get stronger in it!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
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Amen Pastor!
ReplyDeleteHey there Pastor Mitch,
ReplyDeleteI am glad you have gone to this meeting with the knowing that you will RECEIVE and bring back to us, the sheep.
In saying that, yes, you are missed. Pastor Mike did an awesome job last night. It was kinda like, "when the cat is away, the mice will play" (words from a friend last night) MESSING WITH YOU, WE BEHAVED...... ; )
It was a fun free time in the Lord..worship was great, our guests were awesome. A time to just let God love on us and love one another, as we should..
Hurry back, come back ready to give to us. I think we ALL want for the Holy Spirit to move more and more in our services.
Amen
Yes, VF is in line with what Jesus wants us to do in this time and age. But that takes a Shepard that knows what is going on with his flock. And sometimes that takes being aware of SPIRITS that don't belong in our services, we need to pray for those who have these spirits on them (not of God), and pray that they will cry out for help.
The seeker churches, man, I can only imagine how thick the air is in the services. How sad. It hurts my heart these are lost people (some) and don't have a clue they are walking down a WRONG path following their sheperd.
Your spirit is so in tuned with what walks thru our church doors, the teaching we receive and your obedience to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.... that's what makes our church a Revelational church. You, our sheperd hungers for the word and urges us to be in the word as well, like you should. THE SHEEP ARE FED AT OUR CHURCH. Praise God...Thanks for all you and Susan do.
Peace to you, be safe. You are in our prayers
Linda
Interesting posts the past few days. I'm trying to come to a better understanding of the points you listed, and am just wondering if you could name a few churches that you consider to be Informational as you described, and ones that you consider to be Revelational?
ReplyDeleteInstead of using the terms Revelational and Informational, I would prefer to use "Seeker Sensitive" and "God Sensitive." I'm not sure that it would be wisdom for me to name a church name and call that church Informational and then another Revelational. I think this is something each believer must decide for himself or herself.
ReplyDeleteI've been with Jesus now for almost 33 years, and wow, how things have changed in the church world. In the past, we all wanted God so badly. We came out of denominational churches looking for the REAL and GENUINE and found the Baptism with the Holy Spirit and a REAL and INTIMATE relationship with Jesus! And for years, churches contended for a passionate, vibrant, intimate relationship with Jesus.
Over the past few years ,an entire movement of Seeker Sensitive churches have been born. They cater more to what people want and will accept than what God wants and will accept.
I am definitely for change and for out of the box thinking when it comes to how to do church. But when when you cater to what people want at the expense of what God wants and what He desires, you'll get off base. "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it..." (Psalm 127:1)
I want to court the presence of God, and the freedom and liberty of the Holy Spirit, and I want to be friendly to new comers and make then feel that they don't have to fit some kind of mold or tradition to be accepted at out church.
To specifically answer the question you posed without pointing a finger at any local church, I would take the 13 points I listed about Informational churches (Seeker Sensitive)and take the 16 points I listed Revelational Churches (God Sensitive)and look at any church you know of in that light. Then you can make your own assessment.
Victory isn't perfect because I am flawed! But I really want God, His Word, ann His Spirit!
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
I am so pleased to see our pastors genuine desire for the move of the precious Holy Spirit in our services. We will not survive the coming challenges without the tangible presence and Glory of the Holy Spirit (He will meet all our needs according to His riches in GLORY). Glory is not just the hereafter to come but rather NOW "thy kingdom come--NOW".... I believe that as His tangible presence continues to intesify we will have healings and even deliverances taking place as His Glory Cloud settles over the service. We must not reject Him but celebrate our Comforter and allow him to comfort us. Yes we can experience this in private prayer but (like in Acts) the corporate manifestation is greater and we must allow this as a corporate body of believers.
ReplyDelete