The Great Ministry

Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation (II Corinthians 5:18-19).

The ministry of reconciliation is a ministry that is given to every Christian. Once we have been reconciled to God through the cross, it is our basic calling to help reconcile others to Him. The primary way that we do this is through the proof of a life that is reconciled to God. Just what does such a life look like?

The first thing that was lost by the Fall of man was his relationship with God. Therefore, the first thing that should be restored by redemption is our relationship with God. The Lord created man for fellowship, and our primary purpose is to fellowship with Him. If there was a way to measure the degree to which redemption has worked in our lives, it would be by how close our relationship is with God. If we walk with God, we will become like Him, as we are told in II Corinthians 3:18:

But we all, with an unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

We cannot walk with God without beholding His glory. If we behold His glory we will be transformed into His same image. We can therefore ask ourselves: Are we becoming more Christ-like? Are we growing in the fruit of the Spirit? Are we growing in the gifts of the Spirit? All the gifts are aspects of Him. Is this transformation noticeable to others? If so, they too will be compelled to be reconciled to God. When Jesus is lifted up, all men will be drawn to Him. If they are not being drawn to Him through us then we have somehow departed from the course.

This drawing to the Lord can be for Christians as well as non-Christians. There are many who have "come to Jesus" but all that they ever received was a religion. The Lord did not save us so that we could become members of a church. That is one of the benefits, and true church life should be one of the most fulfilling things that we can do on this earth, but we must have a greater vision than that. We do not serve God by serving the church, we serve God as members of the church. There is a difference. If we try to serve God by serving the church, it becomes an end in itself. As the Shulamite maid said to her beloved in the Song of Solomon 1:7:

"Tell me, O you whom my soul loves, where do you pasture your flock, where do you make it lie down at noon? For why should I be like one who veils herself beside the flocks of your companions?"

When we are only content to be in someone else=s flock, instead of developing our own relationships with Him, we veil ourselves. Then we will not be changed into His image, but rather someone else=s. This is why we are told that we must behold the Lord "with an unveiled face" (see II Corinthians 3:18) in order to be changed into His image. There are many veils Christians can put on that distort His image causing them to be changed into a distorted image of Him. One of those veils can be the church itself.

We cannot be content to have a relationship with the Lord through anyone else, or through the church. The Lord does not have any grandchildren. We are all first generation sons and daughters to Him. Ministers are friends of the Bridegroom who are called to help prepare the bride for Him.

When there is a spiritual intimacy between the Lord and His church, she will bear fruit and souls will be born into the kingdom. How would you feel if all of your children looked like your best friend? Why is it that so many Christians are conformed to the image of their church, denomination, or movement, rather than into the image of Christ Himself? It is because they are more focused on these than on Him. They are being changed into the image of what they are beholding.

When the church becomes what she is called to be, there will be nothing we want to do more in this world than go to church meetings. This is because we will be coming together to serve the Lord, and to behold His glory. There is no one in the universe more interesting than God. Just as the highest calling of the priesthood in the Old Testament was to minister to the Lord, the highest calling that we can have is to minister to Him. Ministry to the people was a secondary calling. It is still important, but not as important as the ministry to the Lord.

If we do not draw near to Him we will be little more than a form of religion to minister to people. Our goal should be to stay so close to Him that His glory is reflected from us like it was Moses. People knew when Moses had been with the Lord. Do they know when we have been with Him? It should be said of us as it was the Lord=s first century disciples in Acts 4:13:

Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John, and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were marveling, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.

When we have been with Jesus we too will cause men to marvel. When the church again gives her highest devotion to drawing near to the Lord, she will be changed into His image, and the whole world will marvel.

MorningStar Ministries

The High Calling of God

For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have
been created by Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16).

This Scripture makes it clear that we were created by the Son and for the Son. This is carried a little further in Romans 8:29:

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren.

By this we must ask one of the ultimate questions: Would Jesus have come to the earth if there had not been a Fall? I think so, because as glorious as the redemption of the cross is, the Lord made it clear that He came to do more than just redeem the earth—He came to begin a new creation, which we become a part of after our redemption. Consider Ephesians 1:3-4:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him, in love.

We were known by the Lord before the foundation of the world, and He was crucified before the foundation of the world. The Lord knew the end from the beginning, and He knew that man would fall and require redemption. But there was also a higher purpose for man in God=s heart before He created him. He obviously had the new creation in His heart as well as the redemption of the former one.

This new creation was the intention for man to ascend from the natural realm to the heavenly nature. Man was to be the bridge between the natural creation and the heavenly, or spiritual, realm. Through the Holy Spirit we have this treasure in earthly vessels, but we are called to take on the nature of the spiritual realm. When we are born again by the Spirit we actually become a new species. We walk the earth, but by the Spirit we can now dwell in the heavenly places with Christ.

Even if there had not been a transgression, it was always the Lord's intention for man to partake of a heavenly calling and be united with Him in a special way through His Son. When we are born we are just beginning life; when we are born again we are just beginning the process of spiritual maturity. Our goal is to be like the Lord, and do the works that He did. He was the first born of many brethren. He came to redeem us, but also to show us how to live in the new creation nature. That nature has authority over the things that were the result of the fall, such as sickness, and the host of hell that has inhabited the earth through the gate of hell opened by the fall.

Again, this is in no way to belittle the glory of the redemption that we have through the cross, as it will always be the centerpiece of our very comprehension of the glory and nature of God. The cross is the only door through which we may enter the purposes of God. However, we must also realize that our purpose is more than just being forgiven of our sins, as great as that may be, or even to be returned to our intended state before the fall, as glorious as that may be. Redemption is a gift of unfathomable value, but we must press on to the attaining of our ultimate purpose—to walk in the nature of the new creation. When we do, we will be walking as Jesus walked, which is the calling of every Christian.

MorningStar Ministries

Witnessing to Principalities and Powers

To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things; in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:8-9).

How does the church make known the wisdom of God to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places? First, we must understand the boast that Satan maintains before the throne of God.

When the Lord was about to destroy Israel in the wilderness, Moses interceded by reminding the Lord that if He destroyed Israel now the whole world would say that the Lord had the power to bring Israel out of Egypt, but He did not have the power to bring them into the Promised Land (see Numbers 14:13-16). Satan maintains a similar accusation against God concerning the church. He maintains that the Lord can forgive us for our sins, but He does not have the power to deliver us from our sinful nature, which is, of course, the work of Satan. In this way he maintains that his evil power is stronger than the Lord=s because he controls mankind, even redeemed mankind. However, as we are told in Ephesians 5:25-27:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.

Before the end comes there will be a church that is a worthy bride for the Lamb of God. She will be without "spot or wrinkle or any such thing . . . holy and blameless." She will be a testimony to the entire host of heaven for all time that truth is stronger than lies, and the goodness of the Lord will always ultimately triumph over evil.

The bride of the first Adam lived in a perfect world, and yet she chose to sin. Before the end comes the "last Adam," (see I Corinthians 15:45) Christ, will have a bride who lives in the darkest of times, a most imperfect world, and yet chooses to obey God. She will follow the light, and walk in truth, holy and blameless before her Lord. She loves the truth more than she loves this present world, or the acceptance of this present world. Because of this, for all of the ages to come, she will be known as worthy to rule with the King of kings.

Whenever we choose to walk in the light, even when the whole world follows after darkness, we are a testimony to the power of the light. Whenever we do right, even when the whole world does wrong, we are a testimony of the power of right. That power will one day overcome all of the wrong on the earth.

In this age, the greatest testimony of the power of truth and light is that it is willing to suffer and even die rather than compromise truth and light. The testimony of those who know the truth and light will be to live for that which is eternal, not just for the temporary. The willingness to suffer for the sake of righteousness is the ultimate testimony that one has the ultimate devotion to righteousness. This witness is even marveled by the angels, who will one day cause all to bow the knee to truth, righteousness, and the grace of God—He is the Source of all truth and righteousness.

MorningStar Ministries

Truth in Preaching

Yesterday we studied about how there has been a great perversion of the Gospel in our times. The gospel has been changed from "Jesus came to save us from our sins" to "Jesus came to save us from our troubles." There is an eternal difference between the two.

The preaching of a gospel that implies that the Lord came to deliver us from our troubles often compels us to wait until a person is in desperation before we share the good news with them. Jesus did not send circumstances to lead men to Himself; He sent the Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin. If a person must be in desperate personal circumstances before coming to the Lord, then their purpose for coming to the Lord will be their circumstances rather than the conviction of their sin by the Holy Spirit. Just as those who were called by the Lord when He walked the earth were not in desperation because of personal circumstances, neither should a person's circumstances determine whether they are ready for the gospel or not.

The power of the gospel is not external. Its effectiveness is not dependent on the circumstances we are in, but on the Holy Spirit. If the Spirit convicts someone of their sins, they will bow the knee to the cross regardless of how well or poorly they are doing. If He does not convict them of their sin, and their desperate need for the cross, then they are coming to Christ on a wrong pretense, and a wrong foundation.

Whatever is built upon a weak foundation will likewise be weak. Is this not a primary reason for the weakness of Christians today? Is this not why there is such a meltdown of morality and integrity among Christians today—studies reveal that there is no discernable moral difference between Christians and non-Christians? When there is no moral difference between Christians and non-Christians then somehow Christ Himself is not in the Christian's life.

Could this reveal why Peter was sent to the Jews and Paul was sent to the Gentiles? Peter, an unlearned fisherman, was an offense to the Jews he was sent to. On the other hand, Paul, a "Pharisee of Pharisees" was an offense to the Gentiles that he was sent to. The only way that either of them could be successful in reaching those to whom they were called was to depend on the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit did not come, neither would anyone come to the Lord because of the messengers. All true messengers will be but "earthen vessels." It does not matter what the vessel looks like—what does matter is what is inside. When we have to spend too much time dressing up the vessel it is because of the weakness of what is in the vessel.

In many schools of evangelism there is a philosophy imparted that we must try to identify with those to which we are called to preach the gospel. This has caused many evangelists and missionaries to become neutralized in their work, and I have witnessed this to be the case with many who are in the field. However, if we are to be truly effective we should understand that the Lord will probably send us to those whom we cannot identify with, and who will not identify with us, just as He did with Peter and Paul. Therefore, they will not come to Jesus because of us, but because of Him! They will come because the Holy Spirit touched their lives, not us.

There is a place for studying customs and cultures for the sake of not being unnecessarily offensive to people, but if many of the missionaries I have met spent as much time studying the Lord, the truth of His Word, and seeking the anointing of the Holy Spirit, as they did studying cultures, they would certainly be reaching far more people with the true gospel.

I thank the Lord for all who are in the field devoting their lives to reaching people for the Lord. I have also met many who are doing what I consider to be true apostolic works. Even so, the very fabric of Christianity is being weakened by many, here and abroad, who are preaching a gospel of easy problem solving, or a pseudo philosophy of identificational sensitivity (This should not be confused with identificational repentance for national and cultural sins). If people do not come to Jesus because of the desperation of one thing—their sinfulness and desperate need for the forgiveness that can come from the cross of Jesus alone—then they have come by way of "different gospel" (see Galatians 1:6) and they have come to another god who is not the real Jesus.

But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ (II Corinthians 11:3).

When Jesus is lifted up, on the cross, He will draw all men to Himself. If we lift up any other message for the sake of leading people to salvation, we are preaching another gospel.

True Discipleship

As Steve Thompson related in one of our leadership team meetings, there have been scientific studies made which indicate that the way that we are born can affect our whole lives. One example that was given is a procedure developed called "drug them and tug them," which was to drug the mother and tug the baby out. That generation became the one that turned to drug use in mass. Drugs are used as an escape from the pains of life.

It seems that there has also been a parallel to this in the church. When the gospel of an "easy salvation," or an easy new birth, began to be preached, Christians in mass seemed to become easily addicted to spiritual drugs, or doctrines that make you feel good while escaping reality. This message of an easy salvation was basically "come to Jesus and He will save you from all of your problems," rather than the biblical gospel that we come to Him to be saved from our sin, and to enter a life of radical discipleship and self-sacrifice.

I was given a prophetic word over twenty years ago that "the saved needed to get saved." This word continues to ring in my ears as I have watched a veritable meltdown of morality and integrity in the Western church. The weakness of Christians to stand against temptation and deception continues to grow rapidly. There is something fundamentally wrong with what is generally happening in Christianity today. When something starts going fundamentally wrong, it is the result of a problem with the foundation. We need to reexamine the very foundations of our gospel message, and the method, or lack of one, that is being used to disciple those who are coming into the church.

Because of excesses in the past with shepherding and discipleship, many believers now have a knee jerk reaction just to these words. As I have studied those movements, trying to understand what went wrong, I do believe that the methods that were devised by them promoted weakness and immaturity in believers rather than maturity. I am certainly not proposing a return to them, but there is a true discipleship, and there is a desperate need for true shepherds who will lay down their lives for the sheep, and not just try to use them for their own selfish gain. The

Apostle Paul described the gospel that he preached in I Corinthians 2:1-5:

And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

A question that we must ask is: Are people today really being converted by the cross at all? Are we merely converting them to our denominations, to our doctrines, and to us? Are we even converting them to shallow promises of an easier life and deliverance from their problems? Following Jesus will not deliver us from all our problems— it will even give us some of the biggest ones, possibly even calling for our lives! He did not come to deliver us from our problems, but from ourselves. He did not come to change our circumstances—He came to change us! Jesus is not coming cap in hand begging men to "accept Him." He still calls men to come to Him the same way He called them when He walked this earth.

And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me (Luke 9:23).

When Jesus called His disciples, it was for total commitment. They had to be willing to leave everything to follow Him, and so do we. If He is not the Lord of all, then He is not our Lord at all. As Paul also wrote:

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf (II Corinthians 5:14-15).

Nothing less than this is true discipleship, as the Lord Jesus Himself made clear:

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven."Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness'" (Matthew 7:21-23).

When we modify the message of the cross in order to make it acceptable, we destroy the power of that message to truly save. There are many "gospels" that are being preached today that have made multitudes feel safe in a spiritual condition in which their eternal lives were in jeopardy. Those who preach such a diluted gospel, and who promote such an easy Christian life, may be the biggest stumbling blocks living today. As Paul said, "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void" (I Corinthians 1:17-18).

Before we can preach the true message of the cross, we must be delivered from the fear of man, the compulsion to be accepted by men, or the motive of wanting to receive anything from them. As Paul declared in Galatians 1:10: "If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ."

If we are to walk with Christ we cannot be controlled by the fear of man, or the compulsion to be accepted by men. If we are controlled by these fears and desires, we will not be bond-servants of Christ. We do not preach in order to please men, but to please God. Our goal must not be to get people to respond to our message, but to the undiluted gospel of Jesus Christ. Only when we walk in this way are we truly walking under His Lordship, and only then will our message be true.

MorningStar Ministries

Possessing the Promises

And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end,that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Hebrews 6:11-12).

I am thankful for the great emphasis that many ministries have put on faith over the last few decades. However, as the text above declares, it will take faith and patience to inherit the promises. Isn't it strange that we have this huge "faith movement," but have never heard of a "patience movement?"

It takes two wings for an eagle to fly. If an eagle were to try to fly with just one wing he would only spin around in circles on the ground. The same is true of many people who are trying to soar spiritually on their faith, but have not added patience. These just keep going around in circles, getting more and more frustrated and kicking up a lot of dust. Any truth that we teach without the counter-balancing truth will lead us to frustration, not fulfillment. As we read of Abraham, who is called the "father of faith":

In hope against hope he believed, in order that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, "So shall your descendants be."And without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb;yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform.Therefore also it was reckoned to him as righteousness (Romans 4:18-22).

True faith does not waver over time, but becomes stronger. Therefore, patience is the proof of whether one's faith is real or not.

I meet many discouraged Christians who feel that God gave them promises that have not been fulfilled. If any promise of God is not fulfilled, we can be sure that the entire fault is on our side, not His. He is always true to His word.

So what is it that we could be doing wrong? In most cases it seems that we are confusing faith with an emotion, and not joining it with patience. There are conditions with every promise of God. If we are not seeing His promises fulfilled it is because we are not meeting the conditions. Having faith is one condition—having patience is another. If we get discouraged with the passage of time while waiting for a promise to come to pass, then we do not have the true faith of God. True faith always gets stronger with the passage of time, not weaker.

Between the place where the children of Israel were given the promise of a Promised Land, and the Promised Land itself, there was a wilderness that was the exact opposite of what they were promised. The wilderness proved whether they would trust God, or doubt Him. The same is almost always true when we are given a promise. There is often a wilderness to go through to get to the fulfillment of the promise that is the opposite of what we have been promised. It is in this place that we must choose either to believe God, or give in to discouragement and self-pity.

Self-pity is one of the primary destroyers assigned to keep God's people from walking in their purposes. If we allow self-pity or discouragement into our lives, we will wander in useless circles just as the first generation of Israelites did who left Egypt. If we believe God, we will in due time attain the promise. If we believe God we will even rejoice in the wilderness, being thankful to have been called by God.

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place (II Corinthians 2:14).

MorningStar Ministries

The Path to Fulfillment

As we studied yesterday, the "Great Commission is not just making converts, but making disciples. The word disciple means "student." It also means "disciplined one." Both apply to our lives in Christ.

When we come to the Lord we become a lifelong student. As we read in I Corinthians 2:10, "... for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God." Because this is the Spirit's nature, if the Holy Spirit is leading us we too will always be searching to know the Lord deeper. We will be compelled to know His ways, not just His acts. True Christianity and shallowness are contradictory to each other.

Because the word "disciple" also means "a disciplined one," II Timothy 1:7 declares, "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline." Few think of discipline as a fruit or gift of the Spirit, but it is very basic to the nature of the Spirit that we have been given. If we live by the Spirit we will be a disciplined people. This denotes controlling ourselves with focus and purpose. That is why "self-control" is listed as a fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-24).

In I Timothy 4:7-8 we are told to "discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." Nothing of significance has most likely ever been accomplished without discipline. If we will discipline ourselves in Christ we will accomplish things that will bear eternal fruit. If we want to do anything of significance we must seize and apply the great power that is released through discipline.

I have been told a few times by friends who have known me from childhood that they cannot understand how I ever accomplished the things that I have. I understand their perplexity. Many of them are smarter than I am, and much more gifted, yet they languish in jobs they hate while I am doing the kind of things they dream about. Why? Though I was a failure in school, and seemed destined to a life of failure, when I was born again I was given the gift of discipline. Something gripped me so that I knew there was nothing more important or more fulfilling than getting to know the Lord. While others were out having fun, I stayed home and studied for years. To them it looked like I was wasting my life, but now it looks like they are the ones who were wasting their opportunity to do something significant.

It does not matter how old you are, or how many years you may have wasted, it is not too late to change. All discipline will pay off. Our discipline in the Lord will bear eternal fruit. Many would begin to live lives of great fruitfulness and fulfillment if they took just the time they now spend in front of the television and instead spent it in front of the throne of God, seeking to know Him, giving themselves to His service. The following verses can change lives from one of defeat and discouragement into powerful demonstrations of the kingdom of God. Read them. Ponder them. Pray over them. Obey them.

and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him;For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives."It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness.All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:5-11).

Do not waste your trials. They are more precious than gold. As the Lord said in Revelation 3:19: "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent."

The Great Commission

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:18-20).

We have often confused the good news of our salvation through the cross with the message of the Great Commission. Of course this is included in the gospel, but the gospel is much more than personal salvation. The foundation of The Great Commission is that all authority has been given to Jesus, in both heaven and earth. The Great Commission is not just a proclamation of our salvation, but of His authority.

Of course, our redemption is so wonderful, and the message of the love of God that is established by it is so profound, that it is easy to understand why many have a difficult time seeing beyond it. However, if we are to fulfill The Great Commission we must see beyond it. We were not commanded to go into all of the world with the gospel of salvation, but with the gospel of the kingdom, as we read in Matthew 24:14:

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come."

The gospel of the kingdom is the good news that Jesus is the King who sits above all rule and authority and power. He can at anytime reveal to the whole world that He is the King by peeling back the heavens. However, until the time of His return, He is seeking to call those who so love God and His truth that they will live in His kingdom now, even though they are opposed by the whole world that still lies in the power of the evil one.

We first proclaim Him as our own King by submitting our lives to His leadership and dominion. Then we seek to proclaim the good news of how much more wonderful it is to live under His dominion rather than under the domain of this present evil age. However, our message will be hollow and empty unless we are in fact living under His dominion.That is why the Great Commission was not just to make converts, but to make disciples, teaching them to observe "all" that He has commanded. The most important step in any journey is usually the first, but we must acknowledge that the first step is just the beginning. As wonderful as it is to be born again, when one is born again they are as far from their ultimate purpose as an infant is from being the President of the United States. I use this example of the President because a Christian is called to something much higher than that—which is ruling and reigning with Christ.

The author of the Book of Hebrews laments that he cannot give his readers solid food, but can only give them milk because of their immaturity. Hebrews is one of the deepest theological books in the Bible, with few Christians even comprehending many of its teachings such as that about the Melchezedek priesthood, yet the author says that this book is only milk! (see Hebrews 5:11-14) Where does this leave us? How do we go on to maturity so that we can partake of solid food spiritually?

The Lord spoke something to me nearly twenty years ago that so jolted me that I have since been on a quest trying to understand it. What the Lord said was that many multi-level marketers understand kingdom principles better than the present leaders of the church. An important insight about this statement came to me recently from a friend of mine, who has been one of the most successful multi-level marketers. I asked him what he considered to be the secret of his success. He replied quickly that it was the fact that when someone entered their business they were immediately shown how far they could go, and that each step toward their goal was clearly defined so that they always knew where they were in relation to their goal, and what they needed to do next to go higher.

How many Christians can say that in relation to their purposes in Christ? How many even know the next step toward pressing on to maturity? In poles I have taken in our conferences it seems that less than 5 percent of Christians even know what their own purpose in Christ is. This must be one of the great and tragic failures of the modern church.

When I had the prophetic experience that I wrote about in The Final Quest, I had to climb a mountain. Each level on that mountain represented a biblical truth. As I climbed higher, I received more authority to defeat the enemies who were attacking us, and I also began to see more of the glory of the Lord. Since that time I have sought the wisdom of the Lord as to how to best implement the climbing of that mountain into our ministry and our message.

It is for the reason of trying to impart this systematic spiritual progression that I am writing this kind of book. Even though it is a daily devotional, I think that you can see a systematic progression in it. I am already writing the next one, which I believe can help show the way to an even higher realm on the mountain of the Lord. As Proverbs 4:18 declares, "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day." The light that we walk in should be getting continually brighter.

MorningStar Ministries

The Place of Miracles

For the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power (I Corinthians 4:20).

When the Lord fed the thousands with just a few fish and loaves, what made this miracle so great was that so much was done with so little. The Lord gets more glory when we have less in our hands to do His works with. One of the greatest hindrances to our seeing the miracles of God is when we have too much.

When the Lord calls us to do a task, we must resist looking to our resources for the ability to carry it out, but rather look to God's resources. Having much may actually hinder us from doing great things for Him. When the Lord set about to change the world He did not start accumulating a large treasury for the task. He just looked for twelve men that He could anoint. Even the men that He chose were lacking in the natural gifts and abilities to carry out such a purpose. However, the Lord did not need their abilities. He only needed a few who would be willing vessels for the Holy Spirit.

Years ago the Lord said to me that money was my least valuable resource. It is a resource, and has some value, but it is the least of what we need to carry out His purposes. We need the Holy Spirit. There are a couple of crucial factors about the Holy Spirit that we need to understand if we are going to be used by Him. These are highlighted in the very first mention of the Spirit in Genesis 1:2:

And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

Here we see that in the first mention of the Holy Spirit, He is moving. In almost every mention of Him in Scripture He is moving. In John 3:8 we are told, "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." Those who are born of the Spirit will also be moving. The Christian life is not static—it is always moving, flowing, going somewhere. This is the nature of those who are born of the Spirit.

The second major factor we notice about the Spirit in Genesis is that He brought forth this glorious creation out of that which was formless and void. He still loves to do this. We do not have to be perfect for Him to use us. We can actually be over-organized and over-prepared for Him to be able to use us. The Lord is not against organization, but in our pitiful little human perspectives our organization is often the result of majoring on minors. We want to get things ready, but He wants to get us ready. Our readiness is not dependent on the material realm, but on a heart that loves, trusts, and obeys Him.

It was for this reason that the Lord of the universe was born in a stable, the most humble, unlikely place He could have chosen. The only way that He could be found was by revelation. The same is still true of those things that are truly born of God. The Lord is not waiting until our building is big enough, for us to have enough money in the bank, or even for us to get a certain degree. He is waiting for us to have faith in Him, not in ourselves, and not in our stuff, but in Him.

A Time for Miracles

And when it was evening, the disciples came to Him, saying, "The place is desolate, and the time is already past; so send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves."But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!" (Matthew 14:15-16)

I was told that this coming year was going to be a year of miracles for us, and that we were going to see some of the greatest miracles we have ever witnessed because we are going to need them!

Many want to see miracles, but how many are willing to be put in a place where they need one? Miracles are not given for our entertainment, neither are they given to build our faith. They are the result of our having faith. Almost every miracle was the result of a desperate need. The greater the need, the greater the miracle.

How great would the miracle have been to feed the five thousand if the disciples had hundreds of fishes and loaves, and just needed a little more? It was a great miracle because they had so little in their own hands with which to do what they were asked by God to do.

When we are called by God to do a task, we often begin to look at what resources we have to perform it. This can be the beginning of our fall from the faith that will be required to do the true works of God. It is at the point that we see our resources running out that we will experience the power of God. What we need to do the true works of God will not be found in our own resources, or our own wisdom, but in the limitless resources of God.

We know that "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (see James 4:6). However, there is a false humility that is an offense to God, and can keep us from being useful to Him. It was this kind of false humility that Moses displayed when God first called him at the burning bush.

When the Lord told Moses that He was sending him back to release His people from bondage, Moses responded by saying that he was not adequate for this great task. This seemed humble, but it caused the anger of the Lord to burn against Moses. The Lord was angry because this seeming humility was actually an ultimate form of pride, and an affront to God. Moses was saying that his inadequacy was greater than God's adequacy. He was focusing on himself instead of the Lord. This is the one thing that may have caused more people to fail to fulfill their calling than any other single factor.

We will never be adequate within ourselves for what the Lord calls us to do. In our flesh, which is our natural strength, we cannot accomplish one thing for the Lord. That is why Paul the Apostle told the men of Athens that the Lord is not served by human hands. Only the Spirit can begat that which is spirit. We are utterly dependent on the Lord to do His work. We will never be adequate within ourselves for His work, and if we ever start to feel adequate we will almost certainly be in the midst of a fall from grace.

True faith is not a feeling of adequacy in ourselves, but rather of our focus on the adequacy of God. True faith is not a faith in our faith, but a faith in Him. The greatest faith is that which can see and believe in His provision in the time of the most pressing need. We need to see every circumstance that is beyond ourselves as an opportunity to see a miracle. If we are faithful in the little opportunities, He will bless us with greater ones. And yes, those blessings are trials.

We are about to see great miracles, because He is going to allow us to come into places where we are going to need them. Let us determine now that we are not going to focus on the need, or ourselves, but on Him. Let us prepare for these opportunities by focusing on Him today.
Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God.But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called

"Today," lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end;while it is said, "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me" (Hebrews 3:12-15).

The Zone

"The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in Thee (Isaiah 26:3).

A few months ago I was on a retreat with several dozen NFL and NBA players. Many of them were All-Stars or All-Pros. For years I have studied leadership and tried to understand what enables some to excel while others with seemingly more talent do not do as well. Just sitting around talking with some of these players led to some of the best answers I have received yet to this question.

One term that you will often hear around sports is "the zone." It is a state when mind and body seem to be in perfect harmony, and it allows a player to rise to a level of performance that is beyond his or her usual level. When a player is in "the zone" they seem unstoppable. I started questioning some of these players about "the zone" and they all used the same terms to describe it. To them it was basically a state of mind where they were able to tune out all of the usual distractions and focus completely on their task. When they could maintain this focus, they would have the feeling that no one could stop them, and usually they were right.

I then happened upon a magazine article written by a psychologist who had spent his professional life studying sports, and he too was especially interested in "the zone." He described it as basically "the ability to focus under pressure." The factors that he felt most affected players negatively were interestingly anger and fear. As stated previously, studies have shown how just a moment of rage could sap the same amount of strength as many hours of hard labor. Likewise, just a moment of terror or even thirty minutes of a subtler anger, or general worry, can sap us of the same amount of strength as many hours of hard labor. Therefore, for athletes to enter "the zone" they must stay completely focused on their task without giving way to either anger or fear. To the degree that they can do this is the degree they will be able to rise to greater heights of performance.

This is not just true for athletes. Anger and fear are two of the deadliest enemies of any purpose or task. How much of our energy is being sapped by anger or anxiety? How many potentially great accomplishments were derailed by unforgiveness or bitterness? How many great works of faith were derailed by fear?

Just as an athlete becomes a "superstar" when they perform their best in the biggest games, the greatest acts of faith are the result of being able to focus on the Lord in times of the greatest pressure. This is the result of learning to focus on Him more and more each day. If we do not see Him in the little things we will not be able to see Him in the great ones.

Our goal should be not only to do everything that we do for Him, but with Him. When we live by beholding the One who is above all rule and authority and dominion, when we live our lives focused on the One who is so all-powerful that He upholds the universe with the word of His power, we too will rise above the usual to live in the realm of miracles.

Today while you are on the job, or with your family or friends, and something comes up that could anger or discourage you, look to the Lord immediately. Determine that you are not going to have your life sapped by anger or fear, but that you are going to use every opportunity to grow in faith and the peace of God. Determine that you are going to be a vessel for the Lord to use in those circumstances to impart faith and peace to others. Your life will change. Your performance will rise to previously unknown heights, not because you are staying in "the zone," but because you are abiding in the Spirit.

MorningStar Ministries

Anxiety Versus the Kingdom

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. "Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:33-34).

This passage states that if we are seeking His kingdom we will not be anxious for tomorrow. If we are anxious it is because we have been distracted from seeking His kingdom.

Anxiety is not a fruit of the Spirit, and if we allow anxiety to lead us, the Spirit will not lead us. Anxiety is a deadly enemy. It is one of the primary ways that we are led astray from our purposes. We are therefore exhorted in Philippians 4:6-7:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The peace of God is the counter to anxiety. His peace will guard our hearts and minds so that we abide in Christ Jesus. As we see in this text, His peace is the result of taking our cares to Him in prayer. How would our lives be changed if all of the time that is now consumed by worry wasinstead used for prayer? Most of our lives would be radically different because God answers prayer, not worry. When we pray He changes things. He also changes us. We would see the world very differently if we saw it through the eyes of faith instead of fear.

Isaiah 6:1-3 is now one of the most important Scriptures to me, but when I was a new believer I could not understand these verses. It reads:

In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory."

Of course, I did not have a problem believing that the Lord was holy, but with all of the wars, poverty, oppression, child abuse, sickness, and death, I could not understand how these seraphim could say that the whole earth was filled with His glory. Then one day the Lord spoke to me and said, "The reason that these seraphim see the whole earth filled with My glory is because they dwell in My presence. If you will dwell in My presence you too will see My glory in everything."

Dwelling in the presence of the Lord helps us to see beyond the temporary circumstances to His eternal purposes in His kingdom. This will change the way we see, the way we live, and the way we are.

MorningStar Ministries

Out of Control and Into Faith

Each morning as I pray over the different ministries in MorningStar, I am confronted by the truth that what we are doing is far beyond my ability to control. I could spend all of my time with any one of the eight major ministry divisions and it would not be enough, yet I can only give each one a tiny fraction of my time. I am also challenged by the fact that each of these ministries can have an impact on Christians around the world because of the influence that we have. As I was pondering the weight of this responsibility, I began to think of my family, and how I can only give a fraction of my time to them. The burden and guilt of this was getting heavy on me until I felt the presence of the Lord. It was as if He was putting a hand on my shoulder. He then reminded me that He upholds the universe with His power; this little ministry and my little family are no problem! I have come to believe that all human responsibilities are beyond human ability. That means that there is nothing that we can do right without God. It is because I cannot micro-manage our ministry that it leaves plenty of room for Him to move. It also leaves room for others to grow in the ministry. This is not to promote irresponsibility on my part, such as not spending the right amount of time with the ministry or with my family, but the right amount is found in each of these areas by following the Lord and being obedient day by day. I will not get anything right if I do not get this part right. The Lord said in Matthew 11:29-30:
"Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls."For My yoke is easy, and My load is light."When I first read how the Lord will reward His faithful servants by giving them cities to rule over in the kingdom, I was shocked. That did not sound like a reward to me, but punishment! I did not even want to oversee a neighborhood, much less a city. If I could do just what I wanted to do, it would be to spend all of my time in prayer, study, and with my family. I love the fellowship of the church, but overseeing even a small church is beyond any desire that I have, much less a large ministry with a growing number of churches. However, I have found that it is in the place of responsibility that we can have very close fellowship with the Lord. He is the King of kings, so responsibility is what He does. We are in training for reigning with Him. The reigning may not be the reward, but the fellowship with Him in reigning will be our reward. If we want to abide with Him we must learn to find fellowship with Him in all responsibility, and in all authority. The year of 2000 was a sabbatical year for our ministry. Although we greatly reduced our activities to honor it, I do not ever remember being busier. However, the true issue of a sabbatical is not just resting from work, but it is learning to abide in the Lord and His rest. The Lord helped us to enter His rest by giving us so much to do that we could not possibly do it without Him. I was reading an article on what separates people like Tiger Woods and other star athletes from their peers who sometimes have more talent. The conclusion was that it was their ability to stay focused and to stay calm under pressure. This is also probably a key issue that separates those who bear much fruit from those who are bearing little or none. However, our focus is not just on our tasks, but also on something infinitely greater—the Lord Himself. We are not just trying to stay calm, but abide in the peace of the Lord. Studies have shown that one minute of rage can sap the strength of a normal eight hour period. Just being angry for a few minutes can do the same thing. Worry also drains our energy at an amazing rate, even much faster than hard labor. How much more effective could we be, and how much more energy would we have, if we would abide in the peace of the Lord? Could this be why Paul wrote that "...the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet" (see Romans 16:20)?This is also a reason why elders in the church cannot be "quick tempered" (see Titus 1:7), or given to outbursts of anger. There are few things that can sap our effectiveness like anger, or fear. In contrast, faith releases the power that created the universe. We often think of great faith as something that happens spontaneously so that we can be used for a miracle or healing. However, the greatest faith of all, and the most effective, is to live day by day trusting Him. It is by trusting Him so much that we look at every problem as an opportunity to see His work in our lives. It is not worrying, but rather trusting and abiding in the peace of God that will crush anything that Satan tries to do to us. If the Lord created the world out of chaos, He can easily deal with any problem that we have. I have heard many Christians say that they know the Lord can do miracles, but they just do not know if He will. However, He has said that He always will do miracles if we believe Him. Therefore, as we read in John 6:28-29:
They said therefore to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."Our main job is not to build a church, or a ministry, but to grow in the Lord and to grow in faith. As a ministry we are just now being moved into position to begin our ultimate mission. When we look at the task we will always be overwhelmed because it will always be much bigger than we are. It is at the point where we cannot do it that He takes over. Our goal is not the work itself, but to grow in faith in the One who alone can accomplish it. We have been promised that we are entering a time when we will see great miracles. We need to also understand that this is probably because we are being thrust into a place where we are going to need them. Even so, that is what most of us have signed up for. We want to be a part of what God is building, not men. Let us continue to prepare for our purpose by seeing every problem, every obstacle, as an opportunity to see a miracle. Let us determine to abide in the peace of God so that we can see the God of peace crush Satan under our feet (see Romans 16:20). We must also recognize anger and wrath as the great enemies of our purposes. We cannot allow them to gain entry into the fortress of faith that we are called to build. They are the primary enemies who will seek to drain us of our faith, our focus, and even the physical energy that we have been given.

MorningStar Ministries

The Power of Fellowship

Over the last few days we have been looking at Ephesians 4:11-16 because this is one of the most concise texts in the Bible on New Testament church life. A healthy church life is crucial for a healthy Christian life. When we were called by the Lord, it was to be a member of a body of believers that includes hundreds of millions of others around the world. We have also been joined to the historic church that includes all of the believers who have served the Lord for the last two thousand years. We are not alone!

In verse 16 that we studied yesterday, we are told that the body is built up by that which "every joint supplies." A joint is where two parts come together. The stronger the union of these parts the stronger the whole body will be. As we also discussed earlier, one of the primary burdens of the Lord's own heart is the unity of His people. Unity is essential for the health of the body, and it will be to the degree that we are in unity with the church that we are personally healthy, spiritually and physically. This we see in I Corinthians 11:23-30:

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you,
that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood;
do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner,
shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly.
For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.

Of course the bread and cup that he is speaking about here is the ritual of communion, as we read in I Corinthians 10:16-17:

Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ?
Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.

The Greek word that is translated "sharing" here, and "communion" in other versions, is koinonia, which implies the closest, deepest kind of partnership or fellowship. The word "communion" was originally two words that were merged to form one, the two being "common" and "union." The word "fellowship" that this word is sometimes translated was taken from the phrase "two fellows in a ship," which implied that if they were going to get anywhere they would have to work together.

In these we also see that if we partake of the ritual of communion in an "unworthy manner" we are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, and eat and drink judgment to ourselves. To do this in an unworthy manner is to "not judge the body rightly." We bring judgment on ourselves by trying to substitute the ritual for the reality that the ritual symbolizes. The reality is that we have communion, or common union, with the Lord and His body.

To have communion we must "judge the body rightly." We must discern the different parts and where we fit in. The only way that a teacher can have common union with the rest of the body is to understand that not all are called to be just like him, but that he must learn to relate properly to the prophets, pastors, evangelists, etc. Likewise, prophets must understand how badly they need the teachers, pastors, etc. We must see how our ministries compliment each other instead of conflict with each other.

I know a number of great evangelists who lead many people to the Lord. However, all but a couple of these at least project a mentality that everyone who is not an evangelist like them is basically wasting their time. In the first century church when someone was converted they were "added to the church" (see Acts 2:47 KJV). Today it is estimated that as few as 5 percent of new "converts" actually go on to become part of the church. In the first century the evangelists worked together with all of the equipping ministries. Today very few do, and therefore we have this kind of result. Both the body, and the new converts, are therefore weak, sick, and a number sleep.

How much more fruitful would our evangelism be if prophets went into a place to spy it out and discern both the strongholds of darkness and the spiritual openings in an area before the evangelist came? How much more fruit would remain if after the evangelist left, pastors and teachers came to gather all of the new converts to lay a strong foundation in their lives and see that they were added to the church? Our calling is not to just bear fruit, but to bear fruit that remains.

As the text in I Corinthians implies, the main reason why Christians are weak, sick, and die prematurely, is our failure to discern the Lord's body. As the apostle wrote in I John 1:7:

but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

The Greek word translated "fellowship" in this verse is the same koinonia. Fellowship is more than just meeting together, it is having a union where the different parts fit together properly, and function together properly. It is in this kind of fellowship that His blood, which is His life, flows through us and cleanses us from all sin. We were forgiven of our sins at the cross, but there is a cleansing process that comes through fellowship that is essential.

For the life-giving blood to flow to my hand it must be properly connected to my arm. We too must become properly connected to the body. That is why we are exhorted to not "forsake the assembling of ourselves together" (see Hebrews 10:25). This is not just talking about meetings, but about being assembled together just as the different parts of a car must be assembled together before it can actually be used to go somewhere. What good would all of the parts of a car do us if they were just laying together in a big pile? That is what the church is like at this time.

The church is made up of "living stones" (see I Peter 2:5), but presently our congregations are like piles of these stones which have not yet been assembled into a temple where the Lord can manifest His presence. The assembling together of these living stones into a temple is going to take place. The Lord is going to again send His "wise master builders" (see I Corinthians 3:10) which are authentic New Testament apostles. They will be much more than just great preachers, or even great leaders. They will be used to begin fitting the whole body together just as the Lord designed it to be. They will build the prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers into the teams they are called to be. They will train and release them to do their primary job again, which is to "equip the saints to do the work of the ministry." Before the end, the church will arise to be the glorious body of Christ that it is called to be, with all of the parts working!

MorningStar Ministries

Resurrection Life

John 11:25-26 ->

Have you ever considered that one reason many have a hard time believing in the resurrection is because they look at the weakness of the Lord's own body, the church, with less than 10 percent of its members functioning? Of course the church is given as the most frequent reason why people do not believe the gospel, and this is understandable. However, before the end comes the church is going to be the glorious bride that she is called to be, with a body that functions with a beauty, grace, and power that will cause the world to marvel. Why not now? Today let's continue our study in Ephesians 4

…we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ,
from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies,
according to the proper working of each individual part,
causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love (Ephesians 4:15-16).

To know the next step, we need to know where we are. It is quite obvious that the church today is in a state somewhere between atrophy and death. Many churches only continue to exist because they are on artificial life support, the devices of human mechanisms and programs. Even so, the most revolutionary force to advance the cause of Christianity in history will come when the equipping ministries start equipping the people instead of trying to do everything themselves.

As I recently heard a very gifted Bible teacher say, "Most churches today are one gift churches. Most of the time this one gift is a teacher." He was not stating this to highlight his own ministry, but he was stating it with great remorse. However, it is true. Few who actually call themselves pastors really are pastors. Some are evangelists, others are teachers, some may even be prophetic or apostolic, but it is rare to see someone with an authentic pastoral ministry actually shepherding a church. I too am a case in point.

However, nowhere does it say that the leader of a church should be a pastor. In fact, in all of the New Testament it does not even say what a pastor does, or anything else about this ministry. It is only mentioned in the New Testament one time, in Ephesians 4 where it is listed with the other equipping ministries. So, how did this one ministry that is only mentioned one time in the New Testament come to so totally dominate the ministry of the church? Maybe there are a few other things that we should question while we're at it.

Occasionally the leader of a church will have a second gift such as evangelism, or maybe even a prophetic gift, and they are the ones who week after week practice and grow in their own gifts. However, the New Testament ministry that is revealed in Ephesians 4 is a team of ministries. The church is called to be a many membered body with every member "properly" functioning. The evidence that they are have a true New Testament ministry will therefore be a body of believers who are a living, functioning body.

This is no small task. We cannot expect to get from where the church is today to where we are called to be overnight. I have had this vision for a functioning body for almost thirty years. Our church in Charlotte is now nearly seven years old, and we still have less than 20 percent of the people functioning in their callings. It has been a very slow process for several reasons.

Possibly the main reason why we are still at this place is the fact that we grew from a few people to nearly two thousand very fast. If we had stayed smaller we could have spent more time with individuals who could have sped up the process, but we are called to be a large church. However, we want to use this calling to learn how large churches can do this because we know that this is for all believers whether they are in large or small churches. Sadly, we do not know any smaller churches that are actually doing any better at this than we are.

Second, it has taken a while to change the mentality of the leadership team from just doing the ministry to actually equipping others. Now we have a core of ministries that are devoted to this, but it is still taking time to stimulate and awaken believers who are in a state of atrophy because they have never been allowed to do anything of significance before. However, when just one catches the vision they always wake up many more. When one member of the body starts to function, it releases great encouragement to the rest of the body.

In one of our services this year Robin McMillan started out by saying, "We have ten guest speakers tonight, and none of them know who they are!" He then explained that he was going to choose ten people at random to share five minutes each. Everyone woke up because they knew that they could be called on. The ten who were chosen were apprehensive, but as soon as the first one started the Lord came upon them. They were so anointed that some were drowned out by the cheers of the congregation, many of who were standing on their chairs in excitement.

We now have about four hundred people on prophetic ministry teams. Not all of these are called as prophets, but all have demonstrated the gift of prophecy, or the gift of interpretation, and they are growing in their gifts through exercise. However, even the greatest prophet only sees "in part" (see I Corinthians 13:9). Therefore to get the whole picture we have to put the different parts together. For prophets to function properly they need to be rightly connected to the other equipping ministries given to the church.

If the Lord heals you, or gives you a prophetic word through someone else, it can be a great encouragement. However, it is not nearly as encouraging as when the Lord uses you to heal or give a prophetic word to someone else. There are few things that we can ever experience as encouraging as being used by God, and learning that He had a special purpose for us when He called us before the foundation of the world. There will be few things that can strengthen and bond together your church like when the Lord starts using the members of the church.

Ephesians 4:15 states that the body is built up by that which "every joint supplies." A joint is not a part, but is where two parts come together. We cannot form a joint with another part of the body if we do not know what part we are. The arm has to be joined to the wrist, not the knee, etc. Most churches have people coming and going continually because the people are not properly joined to the body, which can only be done as a functioning part.

In every way, it is in our best interest to equip believers to do the work of the ministry, and then release them with genuine authority to do what they are called to do. The Reformation is not yet complete. The church is still far from the form that it is called to be. The next great wave of the Spirit is going to be the awakening, equipping, and releasing of the whole body of Christ.

MorningStar Ministries

Choosing Life or Death

Today we will continue our study of Ephesians 4 by looking at verse 15,"but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ." As this verse implies, one of the primary ways that we grow up into Christ is by "speaking the truth in love." Jesus is the Truth, and if we are going to abide in Him we must be committed to truth. God is also love, so if we are going to be like Him we must do all that we do in love.

Recent polls and studies have indicated that there is no longer a distinguishable difference between the basic moral principles of Christians and non-Christians. The divorce rate among evangelical Christians has now exceeded that of non-Christians. Studies now show that Christians are just as prone to lie as non-Christians. The most sobering fact highlighted by these studies was that the majority of Christians did not think that this was wrong! Can we not accurately say that the salt is losing its savor? What does the Lord say that He will do when this happens? He will throw that salt away!

One of the basic characteristics of God is that His Word is true! How can we ever expect to abide in Him, be like Him, or represent Him, if we are not devoted to truth? The devil is the father of lies, and when we have given ourselves to lying, in any form or to any degree, we are opening ourselves up to the devil, to be used by him, and to be changed into his image instead of Christ's.

In II Corinthians 5:14 Paul wrote, "For the love of Christ controls us." How different would we be if we were truly controlled by the love of Christ in everything that we did and said? How different would the church be if every Christian were controlled by the love of Christ, doing everything that they did out of a love for Him and the love that He is? The change would obviously be radical, and our goal must be nothing less than this. Before the end comes there is going to be a church that is without spot or blemish. She will be pure in all of her motives and actions. Why can't this be us?

It should be a basic goal of every Christian to walk in truth and love in everything that we do and say. If we do not we will remain the hypocrites that the world thinks we are. We should also keep in mind that the Lord Himself reserved His most scathing denunciations for the religious hypocrites.

We should examine every conflict that we are now involved in to be sure that we are walking in both truth and love in it. Is our position truly accurate, or have we let partial truths, or even lies get in? Once our argument or position in a conflict passes the truth test, we should then determine that it also passes the love test. Then we should endeavor to test all of our words and actions this way.

This means that sometimes we will not say things that may be true unless we can also say them in love. Truth can hurt, and even kill, if it is not spoken in the right spirit. That is why "Satan disguises himself as an angel of light" (see II Corinthians 11:14). This could also be translated "messenger of truth." Many of the devil's most devastating attacks will have some basis in truth. Often it will have a twisted interpretation, or be used to gain entry for his subsequent lies, but sometimes it is just plain truth that is incomplete, or spoken in bad timing so that its effect is to cause division, discord, etc. That is why we must also determine if we are speaking the truth "in love." Satan can use truth as a weapon for evil, but he has a very hard time masquerading love.

Proverbs 18:21 states that, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Our words have the power to impart death or life. When we speak are we imparting life, hope, faith, peace, patience, etc., or are we being used to stir up strife, doubt, fear, or division? As we studied previously in Ephesians 4:29-32:

Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification
according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

MorningStar Ministries

The Maturing of the Saints

"But woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days!" (Matthew 24:19)

This was a warning that the Lord Jesus gave when He was describing the last days. Another way that I think we could phrase this is "Woe to those pastors who keep their people in immaturity!"

Yesterday, we addressed the need for the equipping ministries listed in Ephesians 4 if the church is to function and mature as it is supposed to. I want to now elaborate a little on the next verse in this chapter, Ephesians 4:14:

As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves,
and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.

This verse is a good depiction of much of the body of Christ today. It is accurate to say that most Christians remain spiritual children. They get tossed about by waves and movements, but seldom mature, and few ever walk in their calling. Those who are not tossed about by waves and movements are tossed about by winds of doctrine that carry them from one emphasis to another. These are the ones who are doing relatively well! The rest are captured by the "trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming."

As we read in the previous verses, one of the reasons the equipping ministries are given to the church is so that this will not happen. It will continue to happen, however, until these ministries are restored and given their rightful place of authority and influence in the church.

We begin to feel good about ourselves if we think that we know some apostles, prophets, or evangelists, etc., and that our church recognizes and receives from them. This may be true of some, but if we are to examine the fruit of those who call themselves apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, or teachers, do we see what is described here in Ephesians 4? Is there any church on earth where all of the members are really being equipped for the ministry as it states in this chapter? Is there a congregation anywhere that is really growing up into the measure of the stature that belongs to the fullness of Christ?

I am including the congregations that I have been a part of planting in this assessment as well. We have done fairly well in equipping some of the people to do some things, but overall we too fall far short of this level of ministry that is supposed to be the standard for all churches. I am therefore not writing this to condemn anyone's church or ministry, but rather as a cry that we must wake up. We only have a couple of the equipping ministries functioning in our church at this time. We invite those who would like to visit and help us in what we are lacking, and they do, but not in the kind of depth that it really takes to equip the people to do the work of the ministry.

As I stated yesterday, I only know of a handful of ministries throughout the world who really seem to understand and are committed to equipping believers to do the work of the ministry. Most just think that it is their job to go around performing their ministry, and if people catch on to what they are doing and are able to then do some of it, great. It is apparent that less than 10 percent of the Christians in the church today even know what their calling is, and less than this are actually functioning in their calling. This is a spiritual tragedy.

I watched my father endure a number of strokes until he could only move one arm a little. To see him in this condition for several months has been one of the hardest things I can ever remember going through. How does the Lord feel when He looks down on the church that is supposed to be His glorious bride and she can barely move an arm a little? If we have been trusted with an equipping ministry in the church, are we not responsible for this?

The present form of ministry in the church, as it is understood and functioning, is not accomplishing its biblical mandate. There must be a radical change in our understanding of ministry. As the saying goes, "Unless you change your course you will end up where you are headed." We are in need of a drastic course correction in the very way that church leadership and ministry is now conducted.

Our condition is not just the result of the church failing to understand and accept apostolic and prophetic ministries today. It is deeper than that. We do not really understand evangelists, pastors, or teachers either. It appears that those who have these callings seldom even understand their own purpose in more than just a superficial way.

Jesus is the model of all true New Testament ministry. When you think of Him you must also think of His disciples. Immediately after He began His ministry He started calling disciples whom He could train to do everything that He did. This should be fundamental to all who are in ministry. Whenever we are sent out to do ministry we should have around us those who are not just called to be assistants, but who are there to learn to do everything that we are doing so they can go out and do the same.

There are not many who are secure enough in their ministry to do this. I have questioned quite a few who feel that if they do this then those whom they disciple will end up taking many of "their people." One who is this insecure should not be in ministry in the first place. If the Lord really commissioned our ministry, then He will take care of us. If we do not have this fundamental security in our lives, then we need to question whether the Lord has really sent us, or if we have just assumed a position by our own efforts.

One of the great models of New Testament ministry was actually the last prophet under the Old Covenant, as well as the first under the New Covenant, John the Baptist. His whole purpose was to prepare for the One who was to come after him, to point to Him, and then be willing to decrease as He increased. Contrary to this, church history testifies that almost every movement persecutes the succeeding movements instead of helping to prepare the way for them, blessing and commissioning them. Therefore, almost every new movement that arises to help the church advance also comes with all of the problems of not only being an orphan, but one who had to live in fear of his parents trying to kill him! This must change.

Like the Lord Himself, we must understand that our fruit will not remain unless we help prepare those who are to carry our ministry further and even do "greater works" (see Matthew 14:12). Until we do this, the church is going to continue to be tossed about and subjected to the trickery of men instead of advancing toward her destiny. The encouragement is that there is now a great movement across the earth to recover our basic biblical mandate for ministry. It is time, and it will soon be accomplished.

MorningStar Ministries