A second reason for revival in Algeria is the baptism of the Holy Ghost. In obedience to the Lord’s command to receive the “promise of the Father”, many Algerian believers are not settling for an evangelically-based Christianity without the power of the Holy Ghost that makes them dynamic and effective.

A final reason for revival in the underground church of Algeria is the revelation of Jesus Christ that is being received by Muslims. One Arabic MBB personally testified to me of her conversion encounter. “I saw Jesus on the cross and heard the nails being driven into his hands. It sounded like thunder in my ears. Then as I looked upon Him it seemed like a mask was ripped off my face and I saw Jesus as the true God. Then in a flash I saw Islam as a lie, and all Islamic nations were under this deception.”

Let’s continue to pray and believe God for revival to spread in the Islamic world and for the veil of deception to be removed from their eyes.

PART III

Even though the early Church began with an awesome outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the reality that believers were now individual temples of the Lord, in the last 1700 years, since the days of the Roman Emperor Constantine, when he made Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire and ordered Christians to come out of their homes and meet in buildings and auditoriums, Christianity has been dominated by a “brick and mortar” mentality. This has institutionalized the Church and greatly limited her spiritual fruit and growth.

Here are some of the elements that characterized this type of mentality:

1. The building became more important than the people.

The church is not a building. The church is the people. It doesn’t matter where the people of God meet for God will fill every structure as much as he can. The meeting place is not the issue. Have you ever heard someone say in a church service: “It’s so good to be in the house of God this morning?” I know what people mean when they say that, but it’s the wrong mentality. Every born again believer is the house of God (Heb 3:6). Individually and collectively we are the house of God. The house is a spiritual house, not a physical building.

This mentality that puts an overemphasis on the building confines the ministry of the gospel to the four walls. Instead of taking Christ to the people, we invite people to come to the church building. We invent new programs and new ways to advertize the church so people in the community can come to our church building.

John the Baptist preached in the wilderness. Multitudes came out to hear him.  Jesus never had a building where He operated from. He was out in the byways and highways at every intersection of life ministering to people. He taught the ways of God and ministered healing in the open air and in homes. He was anointed for burial at the end of a meal in the home of Lazarus. The last supper where Jesus and his disciples ate their last meal together, and where he instituted the new covenant, took place in a home. The early church began in a blaze of glory in the upper room of a house and then spilled out on to the streets of Jerusalem (Acts 2). Paul and his companions met by the riverside for prayer (Acts 16). We need to be more concerned about being the church than coming to the church. Having church simply means to gather together for the purpose of conducting kingdom business. That can be done anywhere at any time for where two or three believers are gathered in the Name of Jesus He is there (Mat 18:18-20).

2. Money became more important than the message.

If every motive of the heart could be revealed you would soon discover that many of the reasons we do what we do is because of money. Someone once said that our church services have become like theaters, and preachers the actors, people the audience, while the tithes and offerings are like the admittance fees. Ouch! Even good television ministries now spend more time using the public airwaves to fund-raise rather than preach the gospel. More time is spent soliciting viewers for money than it is ministering to their real needs. Often messages are preached that promise people prosperity if they will only give to their ministries. Money has not only become more important than the message, but it has become the message. What a sham we have made from the gospel!

I travel to nations preaching the gospel, training and equipping disciples, and carrying messages God gives me for the Church or the nation I’m traveling to. Because the majority of the nations I travel to are very poor, most of the time I do not receive offerings from my overseas ministry. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked American churches to help me with my overseas expenses, and how more often than not, they responded negatively, usually stating that the church had other pressing needs. Most of the needs had to do with regular overhead costs like operating expenses and salaries, the maintenance of the church building, or some fund drive they just started.

Needs of the church building ranged from general renovation costs like remodeling certain rooms, redesigning the sanctuary, or purchasing a new boiler to heat the building for the winter. Weeks would go by and soon I find that the pastor himself is going on a church-sponsored overseas mission trip. It’s amazing how quickly the church came up with funds to send their pastor whose primary calling is not to the nations, but weeks earlier they could not make a contribution to help send one who has a calling to go. These are churches that I have relationship with. Again, this is evidence that we are more concerned about what happens inside the four walls than sending those whose primary ministry is outside the four walls.

Is it expedient that the bulk of traditional church funds be tied up in overhead, building maintenance, general expenses, and salaries? A friend of mine did a study on the availability of church funds after all the local expenses are paid. His studies revealed that only 7-11% of all church monies are flexible and can be earmarked for other needs outside the church. That is very sad and hinders one of the primary purposes of the Church: the evangelization and discipleship of the nations, and the sending of those who are called to go.

3. Organization took precedence over relationship.

Jesus did not come to the earth to start a new organization called Christianity. He came to reconcile man to God. Early in his ministry Jesus called all the disciples to himself. From them he chose 12 whom he named apostles. The first reason he chose them was so they could be with him (Mk 3:13-14). Without a church building or an organization Jesus impacted the 12 apostles until they went and changed their world.  Jesus placed emphasis on relationship.

What has become popular in churches today is to organize flow charts with names and titles of people who oversee certain departments in the church, and others report to them. I realize that within larger churches these departments, organizational systems, and charts can aid in maintaining order in the operation of all church functions and activities. What we need to realize, however, is that this hierarchical chain of authority, can also greatly limit relationship-building because it keeps things at a professional and formal level. Professionalism and formalism kills the organic nature of the Church and of the kingdom of God, and usually keeps relationships only at a superficial level. Can we truly function organically and still maintain order in our churches? I believe we can, as long as we maintain a balance, and we work according to relationship and give precedence to relationship.

When I first got saved it was not a department in the church or a program that discipled me. It wasn’t even a new convert’s class or the pastor’s sermons. The person that led me to the Lord was the one who discipled me. Others that God brought into my life also helped. Individual empowerment and accountability through relationships are what caused me to grow spiritually.

4. Liturgy became more important than liberty.

Liturgy is a form of public worship or a ritual officially prescribed by the Church.  Ritualism and formality kills the liberty of the Spirit of God. One time the great apostle John G. Lake was called away during a service where the Spirit of God was in manifestation and the saints were enjoying great liberty. Upon returning Lake found the atmosphere of the meeting had changed drastically to one of formality. This is what happens when you follow a prescribed program instead of the Spirit of God.

I have some dear friends who pastor a church in New Jersey. They have trained their people to have an exaggerated expectancy for the manifestation of the Spirit of God every time they meet. Even their church business meetings are often interrupted by the Spirit of God because they make room for Him. I’ve been eating with these pastors at a restaurant and they have ministered to me in tongues and interpretation, and then received a word of knowledge for a waitress and ministered to her. You cannot operate in that unless you’ve cultivated an acute awareness that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit and He is always present with you. Liturgy kills that kind of liberty.

5. Schedule became more important than the Holy Spirit.

This point coincides with the last one. You cannot rush the Holy Spirit or restrict him to a schedule. Adherence to man’s agenda and schedule without concern for what the Holy Spirit wants to say and do will grieve Him. God forbid if He should want to speak during our song sessions. He should speak before or after the songs, but not during it, and certainly not during the offering.

One time in a church service a man was called up to pray for the nation. The praise and worship team had just finished a high volume, high intensity series of songs that released an anointing to meet people’s needs. The atmosphere was also primed for inspired utterances to come forth. Anyone with sensitivity could discern that it was time for something else to happen by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Someone needed to step in and take the service in another direction.

Guess what happened? The man was called upon to pray and according to schedule, he prayed. The Spirit’s agenda was bypassed. Things proceeded according to the traditional pattern of the regular church services.  Prayer is good, but in this case, the man’s prayer killed the anointing. This happens quite frequently in church services and meetings.

One time in a church service my wife had a word of knowledge for a physical condition. This happened during the preliminary part of the service. A good number of people responded so I decided to help her minister to the people. When the pastor saw how many people responded he told me to hurry because he wanted to move the service along in order to accomplish other things in that meeting. In other words, things had to go according to schedule without lengthy interruptions even if they were Holy Ghost interruptions. It didn’t really matter that there were so many people who were afflicted in their body and needed healing.

6. Titles became more important than servant-hood.

The political church structure puts emphasis on positions and titles, but it is the true spiritual authorities and anointings that God recognizes. Just because you have a title does not mean you function accordingly. Titles also have a tendency to make one proud and give them a superiority complex. This is why Jesus said: “He that is greatest among you let him be your servant.” Greatness is marked by servant-hood. Titles and positions can puff people up until they believe the one who is served is greater than the one who serves.

Paul said he was the least of the apostles and that God had declared them to be last and made them a spectacle to the world. He understood that apostles were not at the top of the ecclesiastical authority chain, but were foundation layers whose role was to serve and empower everyone.

The early apostles would gag today if they could see how self-appointed apostles profit from their ministries and down lines of people who tithe to them or how they receive pampered treatment.

Often titles and positions are used to intimidate others into submitting to their own visions, agendas, and desires. True ministers are not looking for fame or celebrity, nor are they grasping for titles; instead they are looking to be spent for the benefit of others.

7. Attendance became more important than effectiveness.

Regular attendance, volunteerism, and giving are the things that are greatly esteemed and evaluated in the traditional church. These things are considered the marks of true spirituality. But it should be apparent that a believer can be consistent in these areas and yet lack the fire and fervency that comes from true fellowship with God. The opposite can also be true. Some believers may not be as consistent in their attendance, volunteerism, and giving but are being very effective in their daily walk with God, reaching out to others, caring and sharing their lives with them in making disciples outside the sphere of the four walls of the church.

Some former students of mine were commenting to me one time about how their attendance at our corporate church services was actually hindering their personal lives from being more effective in their witness for Christ. Between work and family life and attending at least two or three evening church services per week they were having a challenge in their time management trying to schedule other evenings for the discipleship of new converts they had won to the Lord at work. Why not just bring them to the corporate church services? Because more often than not, the services did not appeal to the new converts and address current issues in their lives.

I am not saying that believers should stop attending services, volunteering, and giving. What I am saying is that we should not measure true spirituality by these things alone. Charles Finney made the following statement:

“There is a certain type of Christian that although being constructively involved in the church and pass off as being very good Christians are useless in a revival. I do not mean that they are wicked, but they have a form of piety which has no fire and efficiency and actually repels new believers, and wards off the truth.”

8. Tithing took precedence over testimony.

If tithing is to have any precedence at all in the Church today, why didn’t the New Testament writers emphasize it? Why didn’t the apostle Paul even mention it? Surely if it was a principle doctrine and practice during Paul’s day he would’ve spent much time talking about it. But the truth is that neither Paul nor any of the other writers hardly mentioned it. Giving, yes; tithing, no! We must come to terms with this, and admit that the possibility largely exists that perhaps this is a tradition of men not even taught or practiced by the early church. And if you think this excuses you to give less than a tithe, ask yourself this question: Should he under grace that has had the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost give less than he who gave a tithe under the law? Under the new covenant of grace everything we have is the Lord’s. Why limit it to 10%? Our very lives belong to Him. He is Lord and Master of all that we have, all that we are, and hope to be.

If we had more testimony of changed lives people would give voluntarily so that more lives could be changed. But once again, the sad truth is that coercion and manipulation are often used today to increase people’s giving because so much of the church’s operating expenses and programs are dependent on the people’s tithes. In other words, the tithes of the people are what are keeping the church doors open and its workers employed. Is there anything wrong with that? If you measure the actual fruit of evangelism and discipleship and put that up against the kind of money that rolls into churches on a monthly basis you would see that something is terribly wrong with our system. The “brick and mortar” mentality has kept the majority of the funds being used inwardly instead of outwardly.

9. Appointments of men became more important than appointments of God.

The work that our missionary team founded in the nation of Liberia many years ago has now gone through several different leadership transitions in a 20 year period, but there has been a great spiritual decline in the last several years. Often people have blamed the lack of resources and funds for the decline, but we’ve discovered that the real reason is in the leadership appointed. Wrong leaders who did not have the apostolic grace that previous leaders had to lead a national work are what attributed to the steady decline of the work.

It doesn’t matter how educated, organized, or orated someone is, if he lacks the God-given grace to function in the position appointed him it will be a failure.  Men who are selected to positions based only on social or academic standing are often not God’s choice. Paul and Barnabas were separated and sent by the Holy Ghost, not men (Acts 13:1-4).

The common practice in many church governments today is for the congregation to vote for a pastor, or for church boards to appoint someone to a ministry position, or to make spiritual decisions that they have not the grace to make. This causes all kinds of short term and long term problems. In the New Testament they knew people by the grace given to them, and they allowed the Holy Ghost to bear witness with them before placing men in positions of authority. In other words, anointings are given by God, but positions are appointed by men. Authentic New Testament churches grow according to anointings, not official positions.

10. Clergy was considered sacred but the laity was considered secular.

Under the old covenant the prophet, the priest, and the king were anointed by the Spirit of God and set apart for ministry. No one else in that dispensation had any measure of the Spirit upon them. Under the new covenant, however, all believers have the Spirit of God in them and upon them. Yet today, while all clergy are still considered sacred, all laity are categorized as secular. This separation and categorical distinction of clergy and laity has greatly hindered the advancement of the great commission, and taken a measure of personal responsibility and involvement away from the individual believer.

I’ll take this a step further. Not only is the clergy considered sacred and the laity secular, but the church building has been considered sacred. The church property is sacred including all church vehicles. The church computers are sacred. All church furniture is sacred.  Meanwhile the homes and property of all individual believers is considered secular. It’s an Old Testament truth influenced by the “brick and mortar” mentality.

In the New Testament every believer is sacred because of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. All his possessions, if set apart for God’s use, are sacred. Every believer is called a saint and has a God-given ability, gift, and function in the body of Christ. Yes, there are ministers who have a calling and grace to preach and teach the Word of God, but they are not to be considered more sacred than any other believer. They simply have a different function within the body that carries with it a greater responsibility and authority by which they will be judged more severely.

I also ministered with others in a convention and more training sessions and enjoyed great liberty and utterance in the Holy Ghost. God gave me a message on “Dirty Rain” — the dilution of the Word of God and decline of the move of the Spirit in Liberia.

The Sunday morning service has never been the main foundation of my life in knowing God personally. I got saved and discipled by another brother. I learned about God and daily living through him and other people that God brought into my life. Although I’ve been taught great truths by many ministers including pastors, I can’t say that I remember too many actual sermons. What I learned came through relationships I had outside of the Sunday morning church service. My own personal empowerment to seek and learn about the Lord was the single greatest factor that enabled me to be a true disciple of Jesus.

The emphasis again needs to be accountability through close knit relationships in addition to the Sunday morning traditionally structured service. Over the years my definition of church has changed. I no longer define the essence of church as the gathering of true disciples of Jesus in a church building on Sunday morning, but any purposeful meeting where disciples are conducting the business of the kingdom is church for where two or three are gathered together in the name of Jesus, he is there.

For example, He taught in the parable of the sower that if you don’t understand that parable, you cannot understand other parables (Mk 4:13). In other words, within that parable lies the key to understanding other parables. The key to this parable is not only in the incorruptible seed of the Word of God being sown, but it is the soil’s ability to receive that seed. The soil represents the heart of man. The true spiritual condition of any church or ministry depends on the health of the hearts of the people.

In 1987 my wife and I were part of a team of missionaries that established interdenominational Bible training centers in Liberia, West Africa. Since then, as the ministry has passed through different hands in that nation, there has been a diminishing of the life and fire that were strong birthmarks of its early beginnings. The issue is in the hearts of the leaders and what they are imparting to the students. Currently there are efforts being put forth to restore the ministry there to its former glory. Our caution though must be to avoid the temptation of financing outward structures whether they be buildings, better office space, vehicles, and equipment without taking care of the spiritual life that caused the decline in the first place.

Again, there is a mentality out there in ministry and church life that thinks if we make the outward more attractive then the inward will take care of itself. If we have a nicer building, more money, better equipment, etc. then God will send the fruit of revival. But the New Testament and the history of revivals have usually started with humble beginnings, and from people whose hearts were hungry and thirsty for a move of God. God is not pleased when we glory in the flesh and in external things and putting our dependency on those things to produce fruit.

Think of how Jesus began His earthly ministry. He chose 12 men and called them to spend time with Him. Look what happened! Revival spread everywhere. Without buildings, without equipment, without fancy promotional techniques or gimmicks, without devising new programs and methods to reach people, without a lot of structure, and rules and regulations to govern them externally, they experienced constant revival. “But that was Jesus!” you say. But aren’t we called to walk as He walked (1 John 2:6), and do the works and greater works than He did (John 14:12)? Isn’t He the pattern? Isn’t that what the early Church did after Jesus left the earth? Isn’t that why the Holy Spirit was sent to us?

The Lord wants us to understand that the nature of the Church and of the kingdom of God is organic. The new nature and the life of God in the spirit of man is what make the Church a living organism and not so much an organization. You cannot manufacture an organism or breathe life into it, whether it be a tree, a plant, or the human body. Fruit cannot be manufactured. It is a by-product of being alive. Life begins on the inside, and continues to grow from the inside, not the outside. That’s why we must constantly watch over our hearts and feed and nurture the new nature in us, and follow where life is leading us, and not a dead program.

In Acts 2 the Lord added to the church daily because the early Church was truly functioning as a living organism, drawing its life from within. Here is a powerful truth: Organic principles utilize a minimum amount of energy and yet produce maximum results (fruit).

“All by itself the soil produces grain…” (Mk 4:28)

All by itself, I repeat, all by itself a living organism produces fruit from the soil, which in this case represents the heart of man.

As another example of a living organism producing fruit from within itself, take our physical bodies. Our physical bodies do not struggle to grow. As long as it has breath, rest, exercise, food, and drink it thrives. The same could be said of trees and plants. As long as the soil in which they’re planted receives sufficient nutrients from the sun and the rain these living organisms will thrive. It’s the same way with the born again spirit of man. As long as it gets fed with the proper nutrients of the Word and the Spirit, and has the privilege of fellowship with God and other believers it will grow (Acts 2:42).

My younger brother whom I referred to earlier recently led a local Catholic man to the Lord and got him filled with the Holy Ghost. I’ve spoken to this new convert several times, and he is on fire for God. With little provoking and prodding from us he is testifying to all his family and friends of what Jesus has done in his life. All who knew him before know that he is a changed man. He is devouring the Word of God daily and prays continually. He’s still in the Catholic church so he’s not getting fed the Word of God there. The only real fellowship and encouragement he has right now is from my brother and I. Yet this new convert is growing spiritually by leaps and bounds blazing abroad the good news of Jesus without shame and timidity. All his growth has come from within the soil of his heart. That is organic!

No church or person is telling this new convert that he has to read the Word, pray, and witness to others. It is the desire and joy of his life. He has received a new nature. And he is nurturing that new nature and being renewed daily through fellowship with God. It is the miracle of what new life produces.

How different this is from so much of church life today! How many times have we heard pastors and church leaders try to get people to pray, witness, read their Bible, get involved in some church program, or outreach, yet to no avail. Or, a new program is started and there is life and fire in it for awhile, but soon it becomes burdened with layers of rules and regulations and top heavy structure until the life that was in it dies, or moves on.

Jesus did not go out among sinners because of some structured program, policy, or law that told Him He had to do it. He did not spend time with sinners to earn a salary. He did not pray as a means of earning merits from the Father. He did not forgive His enemies at the cross so He could make it to heaven. He did all these things because it was His nature! Again, the life within Him produced these actions and the fruit of them.

Old Testament thinking makes you produce apart from that new life and nature. Old Testament thinking is based on the law which was given to spiritually dead people to govern their flesh, and it works from the outside in, but New Testament thinking moves from the outside, the flesh, to the heart and the new nature within. The law hardens the human spirit because it does not deal with the hidden places of the heart.

“I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

All fruit is a result of fellowship. That’s where true life flows from. If we tend to the Vine (Jesus) then the branch takes care of itself and produces fruit automatically.

The reason for our attempts in seeking to produce a quality of life in the Church from the outside in is simply due to the absence of the Spirit of God in our lives and the insensitivity in us to follow life. Again, stemming from an Old Testament temple mentality, we separate church services, church functions, and programs from our daily spiritual life. After all, it is the spiritual overflow of our daily lives that marks our church services, functions, and programs.

We tend to compartmentalize our lives. We do this by dividing our lives up into two basic categories: the spiritual and the natural. Certain activities like prayer, Bible study, and going to church services are considered spiritual while ordinary activities such as eating, sleeping, working, and other physical duties are natural activities. Once again, this is a by-product of Old Testament temple thinking and the law. There is so much of this kind of thinking in us that we don’t even realize.

What happens is that we do the natural activities in our lives reluctantly while apologizing to God and claiming that these natural activities are draining us of our spiritual strength. This results in a constant straining, striving, and pushing to one day be super-spiritual. It’s a big struggle for many of us. All of these are symptoms of a lack of awareness of the New Testament reality that the Holy Spirit is always with you and that you are His temple. It is an Old Testament temple mentality where God’s presence dwelt in a room, a geographical location in Jerusalem.

Jesus never divided His life into compartments or categories. He lived in the presence of God, and made no distinction between His daily activities. Every act of His life was a contribution to the glory of God.

“I do always those things that please the Father” (John 8:29)

Certainly all acts are not equal in importance, but God accepts them all. God is with you and in you when you’re eating, sleeping, working or doing any other ‘natural’ thing.

Don’t let the natural world become the enemy of the spiritual world.

“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31)

Cultivating an awareness of His presence and the reality that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and that He is always with you will increase your spiritual receptivity and cause you to enjoy His life more on a regular, daily basis. In other words, learning to cultivate the ability to live from within, following your heart, following where the life of God is leading you is the key to maintaining freshness and fruit in your walk with God. That is the nature of the kingdom of God.

I see a trend today that is attempting to reverse this process and avoid another mass exodus from our churches by developing programs that will either keep people from leaving our churches, or draw new people into them (that is what spurned the seeker-friendly church philosophy). Usually this is done by offering new and exciting programs that attempt to produce a quality in the Church from the outside in. And this is not the pattern of the New Testament.

The Lord gave me a word a few years ago that further magnifies this truth:

“Let the fruit grow the ministry and not the ministry grow the fruit.”

He went on to use the example of the woman at the well who had an encounter with God that led to an entire Samaritan city being impacted with the gospel (John 4:28-30, 39-42). The fruit of that woman’s testimony produced greater ministry among many other people. This is the pattern we see throughout the gospels and the New Testament. The key to this fruit lay in the revelation, power, and compassion Jesus walked in as a result of His fellowship with the Father. All fruit flows and grows from within that fellowship.

We cannot produce a quality in the Church from the outside in. What is common in the church world today is to start a ministry or a program, embalm it with some sort of structure, and then try and breathe spiritual life into it that will produce fruit. The New Testament pattern is to find out where life is moving, and then build just enough structure to facilitate that life. Then when life changes, there is so little structure established that things can easily be shut down or changed when life moves on. Conversely, changing outward forms, structures, worship styles, adding a new missions statement, new programs, new outreaches, changing the name of your church or ministry are all false, unproductive ways to produce spiritual life. Spiritual life and health flows from the new spiritual nature we receive when we’re born again.

Large numbers of people, elaborate buildings, and an increasing flow of cash does not guarantee spiritual life and health. The Church did not begin with that focus and yet somehow modern Church principles have put the emphasis on attendance, buildings, and cash. Some have called it the A, B, C’s of modern church growth. But many false religions of the world have a large following, magnificent buildings, and lots of cash, too. Although we are not opposed to any of these things in and of themselves, they are not the true indicators of spirituality. As a matter fact, often these things serve as a sort of façade or smokescreen that hides the real problems and issues that are facing the Church in this hour. We’ve been guilty of painting and decorating the cart while neglecting the sick horse.

My younger biological brother who is a bit of a wordsmith came up with the following quote that illustrates the ‘cart before the horse mentality’ that is so prevalent in the body of Christ today:

“Another meeting, another offering, another song, another convention, another banquet, another special speaker, another concert, another project, another program…and so ‘church life’ continues, but the changed life remains scarce. If the horse is healthy the cart will be pulled. If the horse is unhealthy, making the cart more attractive is useless.” — Roy Farias

There is a subtle, almost subconscious mentality in the Church today that places great emphasis on the outward and external appearances of Christianity. We are trained by example to esteem appearance, presentation, professionalism, and showmanship above hidden service and meeting the every day, pressing, oft-unspoken heart needs of individual people. We are easily impressed by the trappings of the production of the Church, and fooled by its big names and big conferences. I’m afraid there is a large gap separating the culture of the modern Western Church from the heart of God as revealed through Jesus in the gospels and through the early Church.

The sad truth is that in much of the Church world the culture of the kingdom of God has been lost to the culture of hype, greed, religious politics, a Hollywood Jesus, and the professional business of the Church to such an extent that many churches resemble a political machine or a corporation more than God’s culture. God’s culture begins with the family, the home, making disciples through life relationships, reaching and caring for others with the gospel and the love of God.

The true disciples of Jesus are losing the taste for the shallow and superficial, and are separating themselves from those entangled in the appearance of spirituality. Many people have become disenchanted with the Church because of hurt, misuse and abuse, religious politics, and leadership caught up in the things of the flesh. People are looking for depth in the Word and in their relationships, a free flowing move of the Spirit, personal empowerment, and leadership that does not play political games.

Here is a word from the Lord that a prophet friend of mine received in a visitation:

“Do not look at the TV and larger media ministries to try to understand what I am doing in my body today. They have a part to play, but they are the visible to the eye veneer of the body that people see. Those who are carnal and immature see the outward appearance and are impressed, thinking that these are the height of ministry and where the Spirit is concentrating today. But they are mistaken.”

“See what I see, many small churches and ministries investing in relationships, walking in love, pouring their lives into each other; this is where the Spirit is moving today. There is a revolution taking place in my body, a revolution of relationships, discipleship, and love. This will affect whole communities and economies.”

“See what I see, many churches all over the world in which people are accountable to one another, working through conflicts, walking in love, and growing as my disciples. That is where my Spirit is moving today.”

“Many are running to and fro asking, ‘Where is the next move; what is the next season of the Spirit?’ And I say to you that it is under their very noses. They stumble at the supernatural work in their midst and refuse to humble themselves and be taught because they seek the sensational and that which appeals to the outward man. They fail to recognize the true move of God because it must be spiritually discerned.”

Have our minds been corrupted from this sort of simplicity that is found in Christ?

Notice the simplicity of the early Church culture in Acts 2:42-47. Look especially at verses 46-47:

“So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

Their kingdom values, lifestyle, mannerisms, behavioral patterns, common love, caring, and sharing with one another produced great fruit. The fear of God and the power of God were in manifestation. It seemed as if evangelism was effortless as the Lord was adding people to the church daily. Today with all of our technology, promotional techniques, sophisticated programs, and much labor and toil we are seeing minimal fruit. What is the solution? It all starts with reversing our mentality to think from within and not from without, New Testament thinking versus Old Testament thinking.

Let’s tend to the sick horse and forget about the cart.