A Vision For The Church

The churches that should make us long to be more like them are not the ones that impress us most with anything visible

. They may or may not be large in numbers. They may or may not have highly-talented musicians or techno-wonders. None of these things will be what touches us most deeply. It will be the clearly-manifest Presence of God in response to the hunger of the people to be near Him, that captures us in those places. We wont leave wanting to copy what they do in their style, furnishings, or music selections. Well leave wanting to beg God to come and visit our church like He is visiting theirs.

The churches that are experiencing a deeper Presence of God do not have pastors and leaders who do everything right. Its rather that they have recognized the humbling truth: that no church program was achieving rich, abundant, and lasting fruit for the Kingdom of God. Then, through confession, repentance, humility, and heart-longing cries to God to come and take over, they invited the Holy Spirit to enter, rule, and create a holy entry place for revival in their city.

So many Christians seek to copy what other seeming successful churches do, while God wants us to fall on our faces and pray until He tells us what to do. This would bring supernatural results far greater than going to yet another conference or reading yet another book telling us how to be like someone else. After all, its a Spirit that He wants us to catch, not a program or technology.

You can have a heart that longs for Gods presence in your life or your church, but that doesnt automatically mean that you are entirely on Gods Program. In my own ministry, time and again I have had to turn away from some direction I followed for some reason other than that it was the true leading of God. We ran an orphanage in Haiti and did 100 international adoptions; though this work appeared holy and fruitful to many, it was never the will of God for us to do it! We were almost entirely ruined before I woke up and realized that God was not punishing me, but rather calling me to leave my own plans and follow Him! He directed me to a ministry that would be much more difficult, but much more miraculous and fruitful for His Kingdom. Copying other seemingly successful programs is not difficult when compared to the great difficulty of listening for the leading of the Holy Spirit and following exactly, all, and only what He is telling us to do!

If you want to look sharp and up-to-date, impressing people and fitting into the fast-paced, get-your-own-way, wealth-driven culture, go ahead and read the most popular books on sale at the Christian bookstores, and run to the churches that are attractive to your physical senses. But if you want to be ready to live in fearless victory when the current system begins to fall to pieces, or if you would rather walk daily in the Kingdom of Heaven while your feet still walk on earth, then pray for spiritual eyes, ears, and hearts that will lead you to a Truth and a Life that will still be going successfully through eternity.

Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips. So that your trust may be in the Lord, I teach you today, even you (Proverbs 22:17-19).

by: mike

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