"GOD SHOOK Our Church"
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
by Mike Riches (-pastor).
Before I share what occurred, let me first point out that there is a
biblical precedent of God invading His people. The Jewish leaders
of the early Church were sure everything was on target, until God
initiated a series of dramatic and supernatural events in Acts
chapters ten and eleven. God quickly shattered Peter's religious
pride.
Our Church SHAKEN
The Lord did something similar to our church family and me. You
could have described us as a typical, non-denominational, evangelical
church. We were characterized by contemporary worship music,
verse-by-verse expositional preaching, a sensitivity to the non-
Christian, and concern with equipping the saints. We had a noted
children's ministry, and a vibrant young adult church, which was
growing and gaining the attention of the community. Our church
would have been described as a safe place, as we grew from 170 to
1500-1700 in attendance in seven years. We were even in the
middle of a building program to relieve our cramped conditions. But
God had plans of His own.
As mentioned earlier, like Peter on the rooftop, God invaded us in
January of 2000. Within 120 days we experienced several people
who had dramatic demonic manifestations, physical healings taking
place, and prophetic words and dreams being released. And to truly
take us over the edge, my wife experienced two angelic visitations
to explain what was transpiring and what was going to transpire.
I can't imagine Peter being more traumatized than I was, and over
time many in our church became offended as to what was taking
place (including myself at times).
Things did not subside after those first 120 days, in fact, they
continue even today in a very notable fashion. Hundreds have
received physical healing, hundreds have received freedom from
captivity by powers of darkness, and hundreds have received eternal
life through Jesus Christ. Many of the healings have included terminal
diseases, and even recovery from a death-coma.
The Lord taught us many memorable truths through some very painful
lessons. Due to uncertainty, discomfort, and fear, eighty percent of
the people that were with us in January 2000 are no longer a part of
our church. Our building project came to a screeching halt while
excavation had already started. We had been respected in the
community of churches surrounding us as a solid and progressive
evangelical church; now all manner of stories were circulating and
our reputation had become tarnished because of the unconventional
ministry that was taking place. Very hurtful things were stated and
expressed toward our leadership and church body.
About REFORMATION
One of the lessons we learned in all of this was that the Lord is still
reforming His Church. Much has been restored in the Church since
the scriptures began to be recovered in the late 1300's to the mid
1500's. Of course Martin Luther was used to recover the essence
of salvation by grace, through faith alone in Jesus Christ, in the 16th
century. The reformation continued in different dimensions of the
Church for the next several centuries. But there is still reformation
work to be done in the Church at large.
In the midst of this dramatic upheaval, when I was in a particular
state of offense at what God was doing in our church, He asked me
a series of questions:
* "What is My design for the Church?"
* "Are you faithful to the commission I gave My Church, or had
you succumbed to conventional expectations of man?"
* "What is different about what I am doing in your church than
what happened while I ministered on earth?"
* "Were there not physical healings?"
* "Did I not hear directly from My Father as to what He was
going to do and what He wanted Me to do and say?"
* "Were there not demonic manifestations no matter where I
ministered, whether in the Synagogue or out in the streets and fields?"
* "And did I not demonstrate authority over all powers of
darkness and powerfully release those who had been captives?"
* "Was not all of this part of people coming into My kingdom?"
* "Was not all of this part of Me training and teaching My
disciples how to do My ministry?"
* "Were not My disciples commissioned to carry out the very
ministry My Father sent Me into the world to perform?"
* "Did I not say that My disciples would do the very works I
have done and even greater?"
* "Did I not pray for My disciples regarding this work and not
only them but for all who would ever believe in Me because of their testimony?"
Waking up to JESUS' MINISTRY
We soon realized there was nothing happening in our church that
was not spoken to and demonstrated directly in the Scriptures. God
simply woke us up. We needed a good shaking, though! We began
to read the Scriptures in a fresh way, all while having our paradigm
and practice of "church" change dramatically.
During this season we learned a central message. The Lord
emphasized what characterized the ministry or what we like to call
"Jesus-ministry." Luke 4:18-19 summarizes it as proclaiming the
gospel, releasing captives, giving sight to the blind, freeing the
oppressed, and proclaiming this is the age of God's grace.
Jesus' design for His Church - all of us who possess God's Spirit
and are followers of Jesus Christ - is that we continue the very
ministry He initiated on earth. My ministry and our church were
falling short in the assignment the Lord had given us, and we were
anemic in the demonstration of His power in our midst. The Church
of Jesus Christ, like our church, needs to recover the foundation of
God's Word with the demonstration of His power, so that people's
lives are radically transformed. This is the mission of the Church.
This is what Jesus commissioned us to do! We need a full return
to ancient truths and power in present-day wineskins. We need
more than mere programs or routine, for the Church desperately
needs a revolution unto reformation.
----------------------------------------------------
[MIKE RICHES is pastor of Clover Creek Bible Fellowship in
Spanaway, Washington. -Article excerpted from an issue of
Radiate Magazine- http://www.radiatemagazine.org ]