July 30, 2014
My life is changing in an incredible way.
Not that it appears to be easy. But Jesus said, "My
yoke is easy and my burden is light" Matt 11:30 The Kingdom is easy
because of the love of the Father, the perfect work of the Son Jesus
Christ and the overwhelming grace, encouragement, encounter and loving
kindness of the Spirit. The resources of heaven are beyond understanding
and they are richly poured out in support of assignments and throne
room plans directed by the Spirit.
This Sunday as the first notes of worship were struck I
saw a vision in my mind of buildings and structures falling down and
crumbling to the ground. Massive structures simply collapsing and
blowing down. What was exciting is that Dave McRae, my friend and
cohort in the Fivefold ministry saw the same thing. He shared about it
right after worship.
Then this morning I thought I heard the Lord say,
Right now. This season requires...."Let go of your/the
interpretations of your horizons that you are holding so clearly set in
your mind, heart and interpretation. Set down all the pieces and wait
on the Spirit in promise." It is critical that wisdom and love
fashion what we are building under the direction of the Holy Spirit. He
is toppling structures that don't witness to the sound of his heart.
So, in all this I am in transition along with everyone
else as we daily follow the Spirit in the hope of a Harvest of new
Christ followers through the Holy Spirit that changes the landscape of
America and the Nations. In the midst of this I realized my view of the
Kingdom is changing. My understanding of church and churches is
changing. My understanding of being a church in a city is changing. So
much is changing. I've come to discover that my mindsets and teachings
of the past are simply not powerful in this time. They need new energy
and power in the Spirit. What is awesome is that the Spirit is
bringing new understanding and opening up the Scriptures in an awesome
way. New questions lead to new connections and understanding. The ways
of God are so beautiful.
I am moving from a church mindset to a Kingdom and Apostolic mindset.
This is not new for some but is for me. I have served
in and worked in and been blessed over many years by the church. The
local church. The unit or family that may or may not be connected to a
denominational affiliation or identity. My concepts of the Kingdom
flowed out of my church understanding. You know 1000's of churches all
attempting to be a whole picture of health, power, organization
etc.... But as I look at the words of Jesus in Revelation (considering
he did not have many in that book, I believe they are critical to
success in the establishing of his ekklesia. Which he is establishing
by the way) I see 1) city wide expressions of Kingdom identity 2) Large
emphasis on spiritual discernment 3) Lots of open doors to heaven 4)
Revelation of Jesus taking the primary root and place int he whole
book. In short, I see a different set of criteria for evaluating,
envisioning and empowering an ekklesia (regional assembly of believers
in many expressions of their assignments and identities). Jesus is
front and center and revelation of wisdom and understanding appear to be
the plumb line of righteousness in a given region.
The perspective I have been growing in and coming to
understand more deeply is Kingdom based. This is not a new concept,
having served the Lord as a Vineyard pastor for 13 years. John Wimber
brought a clear and fresh vision for the Kingdom of God and highlighted
Ladd's influence on him. But I have moved on in years and in
understanding since those Wimber years and feel the Lord has added to
the structure new levels of understanding for me.
Here are a couple thoughts:
1) The city expression of the church (ekklesia) does
not fall into denominational or family cultural lines. There is One
Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. The overall expression of Christ Jesus,
the revelation of his love to the eyes of the heart of a whole city, is
encapsulated in each and every fellowship and gives witness across all
those families of the reality and depth of knowledge of assignments and mission in the Kingdom. Jesus clearly marked love as the true witness
of the Fathers heart in a people. Love between churches and those
Christians in a given city is a critical watermark of the true and real
expression of the Kingdom.
2) The region and certainly each city comprised of
churches of all kinds is a divinely appointed expression of the glory
and majesty of Christ Jesus and is intended to impact the wider
geography with compelling witness for the Kingdom of God.
3) Generosity, love and service toward one another
(churches in the ekklesia) is the true call of the Kingdom. Each part
doing its work sharing in and through the blessings and inheritance of
Christ develops maturity and power in their given assignment and
identity and pours that out freely on the other fellowships throughout
the city.
Ok. So this is happening. But the prevailing economy
between churches, the mindset of stand alone expressions of the Kingdom
without connection or even love for the rest of the Body, and the
judgement leveled against each other do not promote love.
It is my understanding that not only is the Spirit
bringing a dynamic witness of righteousness as the Kingdom advances, he
is at the same time tearing down mindsets that simply cannot support the
new structures of the Kingdom he is revealing.
There is much more to look into on this topic.
Exciting times. But with all the excitement, Jesus is the One desire I
have focused on. His love is ever expanding and growing in my heart.
Comments? Ideas?
Please forward your comments and ideas. There is a so much to learn from each other.
Other posts that may interest you
www.jeffreynoldsministries.com - blog
Lord Bless
Brother Jeff Reynolds
jeff@jeffreynoldsministries.com
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