Thoughts on the Church: Revisted yet again!

This post deals with the gifts of the Spirit; specifically things like prophecy, tongues, healings and the like. I just read a book by Mike Bickle who is one of the pastors of IHOP (International House of Prayer) in Kansas entitled "Growing in the Prophetic." I grew up believing that tongues were something of the past, that God only did miraculous healings in the backwoods of third world countries, and that prophecies were left in the Old Testament. So needless to say, having a good friend who is from a charismatic background coupled with this book has stretched me immensely. There was a lot of ground that the book covered so this post is by no means an exhaustive look at the role of prophecy and the gifts of the spirit within the people of God, but it's some thoughts that have been put on my heart.

I believe that God the gift of prophecy is an authentic gift of the Spirit and that it still does occur today. By prophecy, I mean words from the LORD given to us by the Holy Spirit. These can range from feelings a person get or direct revelation through visions, but all with the main purpose of drawing the people of God into a deeper passion for and intimacy with our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, New Testament prophecy is seen primarily as exhortation and sometimes correction to the Church so that it can grow in its love for God. The reason I've come to this conclusion is because I believe that our God, the God as revealed in the scriptures, is one that care deeply for his bride and is jealous for her love. So in order to win her back or increase her passion for Him, He will periodically speak directly to and through individuals. God didn't just speak to us 2000 years ago when the NT texts were written, God is still speaking to us now and desperately wants to be in dialogue with God's people.

So what does this mean for the Church today, specifically the local church? I think that the church needs to begin to open itself up to the prophetic ministry and needs to realize that it's just that, a ministry. It should constitute as a part of the whole, right alongside corporate worship, the reading the Scripture, and the sharing of the Sacraments. Churches need to realize that there are people in the congregations who have been annointed with this prophetic gift just as there are people who have been annointed to help nuture, lead, and put these gifts in their correct boundaries. If Christ is the head, and we are the body, then we need a good venue for head to body communication.

So do I think that all churches should just drop what they're doing and become "charismatic" churches (if one could even generalize a large and diverse group). Of course not. But that's where I'm stuck. I don't really know how to fully combine what I've learned from my conversations with my friend and this book with my "conservative evangelical" upbringing. I know truth lies within the tension and that somewhere between these two extremes lies a church that I long for and can call home. But until then, let us be a generation and a people who will be on their knees in intercessory prayer for our world. Let us prepare the way for our risen Lord and seek to become holy as the lord our God is holy.

Thoughts on the Church: Take 2

So a lot of my friends have stopped going to Sunday morning services at my home church; and that has made me really sad. Yes, I can understand some of their complaints: the preaching is by no means phenomenal, the worship is predictable and boring at times, ect...but it's really made me think, is that all there is to church? Why is it so easy to just stop going to church on sunday with no second thought? And so here are my thoughts.

Church needs to be a vital part of the believer's life. A center of community. Meaning the believer should be at church multiple times a week doing various activities (food distributions, prayer meetings, small groups, and so on). In this way, church becomes a place of community, a place where those of us who have been freed from the power of sin through Christ's sacrifice can share life together. A church needs to be extremely local. The implications for the local church then is that it must facilitate an environment where it can become a place where believers share life. In other words, it must have prayer meetings, small groups, and food distributions.

When the church is only what we do and where we go on sundays, then it becomes really easy to stop going if the preaching is bad or the worship is boring. But if the local church is a major part of one's life, then not going on Sunday isn't an option. Also, the worship/preaching takes a secondary seat. It's no longer what we focus on because we realize that church is much bigger then sunday mornings. It's living life together and therefore re-presenting the Body of Christ to the world.

Church is not optional. When we are saved we are brought into new relationships, a new family. My prayer is that we as the Church can reclaim that view and begin to realize the huge implications of participating in God's salvation through Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.