The following is a vision, outline, or blueprint for a church being established in a city or region. We believe the Lord will form churches in strategic locations that are covered by His glorious and fiery presence, in order to be places of refuge for what will come upon the earth and the country. A place in which believers will be equipped and brought to maturity, in order to fulfill what the Lord has called them to do. The lord will have a bride prepared for Him, and a people who hunger for His presence above all else. We believe that the Lord will send out some of His disciples from these locations to minister and preach the Kingdom of God. The primary function of these churches will be to see Christ formed in disciples, and believers walking with the Lordly inwardly.
The Church
The Church is made up of God’s people. The church is not a place, building, or ministry. The true church are believers in Jesus meeting together, even in small groups at homes. Membership papers or contracts can never be signed or created. Once a person is born-again, they are a child of God and a member of the Lord’s church. Jesus is all that is needed for membership into the body of Christ. God’s definition of His church (according to scripture) is a group of believers in a certain city or region (not an individual meeting place within the city). The book of Acts and the book of Revelation makes this truth very clear.
Freedom for Believers
Believers must be given the opportunity to sit under the teaching of different ministry gifts such as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. One ministry gift is not capable of bringing believers to maturity or fullness. It is unwise to force believers to sit under the teaching of the same person and same ministry gift for an extended period of time. This has the potential of slowing down the believer’s walk with Jesus and maybe even preventing them from moving on with the Lord. Christians need to hear from different leaders who minister in different gifts. It must be about what is best for the believer, not a leader’s personal ministry. In fact, if a leader’s personal ministry is drawing big crowds, but not bringing believers to the maturity described in Ephesians 4, then that ministry is failing in its most fundamental purpose.
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit must be allowed to oversee the church in a city or region. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Man’s ideas, ways of doing things, and doctrine will dry out a movement very rapidly. The Holy Spirit must be in charge of the leaders, not the other way around. Seeking the presence of the Lord, must be the highest priority. Without the Lord’s presence in and among the people of God, it’s not worth meeting. Why should believers meet if the reason they are meeting is not even present? The Lord’s presence is one of the things that transforms us into His image, and is absolutely necessary. If we can live without the presence of the Lord, then we will live without the presence of the Lord. If we can’t live with out it, then He will give us His presence; and His church will be overflowing with His fullness and glory.
Freedom of the Gifts
In many gathering places, believers have very little opportunity to minister or be involved spiritually. The Bible says that we are to desire the gifts of the Spirit, and not forbid or hinder their use. The gifts simply must be utilized in the proper time and order (1 Corinthians 14:39-40). However, most every meeting place or ‘church’ that I have attended does not make time for the operation of the gifts of the Spirit. What if a regional church held meets once or twice a month, with the sole purpose for believers to prophesy, get words of knowledge, heal the sick, and give tongues publicly with the interpretation? This will create a spiritually energizing environment for the believers in a city or region. Many people in the community would be touched, encouraged, and healed. Believers need to be ministering and growing in the gifts of the Spirit, not just the leadership or the ‘trained’ prayer team. The church needs to be burning with the fire of God, and this is one step in the right direction of getting us to that place.
If these meetings are conducted, there may be some messy stuff that goes on, and maybe even some weird things. Those are all things that mature believers are going to have to tolerate if we truly desire a change, and we want to move forward to fullness. If something demonic or evil were to take place in a meeting, then obviously leadership would address the issue and deal with it (or mature believers in the meeting could deal with the issue). Jesus dealt with many demonic issues during His ministry in public, so why do we have a problem with doing so? A disciple is not greater than his teacher. We should never allow Satan to deter us (through fear) from seeing the will of God come forth in the church.
Waiting on God
Waiting on the Lord is something that must come to our public meetings (Psalm 62:5). Many times we want to have constant activities during meetings, when the Lord wants us to be still and silent before Him. This has been the single most transforming spiritual discipline in my life. When the church is gathered together, there is a corporate anointing. As we wait together, a stronger presence of the Lord will come, and we will behold Him as in a mirror with a greater clarity. Therefore we will be transfigured into His very image at an increased pace (2 Corinthians 3:18). Being with the Lord inwardly is the way that we come to truly know Him. This will be an important key for the Lord’s church in the days ahead. The primary purpose of the church meeting together must be about what the Lord wants, and for the purpose of pleasing Him. Believers’ wants and desires must come secondary to the Lord. The Lord blesses His people when they make their King the priority.
The Glory of God and the Fear of the Lord
When the glory of God was present in the church in times past, great works of power were manifested. This occurred in the first century church and in the 1940’s and 1950’s healing revivals. By ‘glory of God’, I am referring to a thick fiery presence that one can barely stand, or a visible cloud in the room like what Israel experienced when they were led out of Egypt. The glory of God present means that Heaven has come into the meeting and the atmosphere is charged with faith. The Lord wants His people to experience this reality in public meetings, but things will have to change before He can come in His glory. A revelation of the fear of the Lord must return to the church before the glory can come. When the glory of God is among the church, great miracles happen.
However so do shocking deaths (Acts 5). Knowingly sinning when the Lord is manifesting Himself in holiness proved fatal for two believers. Ananias and Sapphira did not have a fear of the Lord. In the Lord’s mercy He is withholding His glory from the church because we are not prepared. Believers could die if He released His Holy Glory now. Apostles and prophets must lay a foundation of the fear of the Lord in the days ahead (which is one of the seven spirits of the Lord). When we are ready for Him, He will come in His fiery glory and reshape us into His own image.
Equipping Center for Disciples
The regional church will be an equipping center. There will be no cost to attend, and the equipping will be standard in every meeting. According to Ephesians 4:11-13, the five ministry gifts are mandated to equip, and bring believers to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. These ministers should never charge a fee to do so, when it is their assignment from the Lord to fulfill this high and holy call. Leaders and movements that do charge money for simply doing what their assignment is, will have to give account before the throne of God at the judgment for their actions. Jesus did not charge His disciples money in exchange for teaching them about the Kingdom of God. We must model the regional church from the way our Master operated. He did not charge to teach or minister. Jesus simply did the will of the Father, and the Father took care of Him.
Discipleship is a major commitment, in which you lose your will, hopes, and dreams in order to take on Christ’s will and purpose. The meetings should not be attended by casual Christians who have not submitted their lives fully to Christ as His disciples. Believers who are living in unrepentant sin (including slander, lies, and backbiting) will not be allowed to continue meeting with the regional church (1 Corinthians 5 and Numbers 19:20). Believers who want to repent of their sins, will be helped to do so. All believers are called to be disciples of the Lord Jesus, but many only choose to be “Americanized Christians” and participate in a religious system. The regional church should only be attended by disciples who are presenting themselves to the Lord as a living sacrifice, and who are under the control of the Holy Spirit. Grace and patience will be shown to those who are new in the Lord, and are in the process of committing their lives to Him as a disciple.
Ministry School
The ministry school will be specifically for believers who are called to be messengers of the Lord. These people must be selected by the Holy Spirit and have a call to ministry leadership. It will be a school of the Spirit for walking with God (the journey, discipleship, waiting on God, the cross-life, intimacy, conformity to His image, the high calling). Not every believer followed Jesus as His disciple, was called to a leadership position. True disciples must recognize this, and only pursue a call given to them by the Master. A ministry call is always secondary to the call to be before the face of the Lord, and to know Him intimately. A disciple who knows the Lord intimately, and that was never called to be a public leader; will be greater in the kingdom than the ministry leader who did not have intimacy with the Lord. Knowing, being with, and being conformed to the image of the Lord, is the high calling; not being a ministry leader. The ministry school is only for those who are committed to following Jesus all the way to the crucifixion, which will cost everything. The Lord requires more from His leaders. Entrance to the ministry school will be by invitation only. The ministry school will be free of charge.
Freedom of Movement and Giving
Pressure must not be put on believers to attend meetings. They should have the freedom to come to meetings without pressure or manipulation. If the Spirit of God is moving then most people will come by their own free will. The Lord wants us to gather based on love, not obligation. Obviously we should attend if the Lord tells us to, but believers need to be free to attend other gatherings or meetings in different locations. The true church leadership will not attempt to control believers. Believers should also be giving financially to the Lord in order to help fund the church. However leaders should not be applying any kind of pressure or manipulation on people to give money. This will help keep leaders free from any entanglement with money in their hearts. Believers need to be free to hear from Lord, and they should have a right heart attitude before giving.
It’s interesting to note that when the rich young ruler asked Jesus what he needed to do in order to inherit eternal life; Jesus told the man to give all his money to the poor (Mark 10:17-27). This rich man’s wealth could have funded the rest of Jesus’ ministry and possibly a good portion of the apostles’ ministries. Why didn’t Jesus tell the man to give all his wealth to His own ministry? Would some leaders in the current church tell this man to give everything to the poor, or would they tell the man that he needed to sow the wealth into their ministry so God’s Kingdom could spread? Jesus was being an example to us, and showing His leadership how to keep their hearts free from the love of money. Jesus didn’t need to ask for the man’s money. He trusted the Father to supply finances for His ministry. The regional apostolic church must do the same.
Revelation from a Prophet
Jesus gave John the prophet a revelation to give to seven regional churches in the book of Revelation. Not all of it was positive, but it was necessary understanding that each church needed to survive and thrive. The current church must have the same revelation from a prophet that the Lord calls to serve the regional church. Without knowing what the throne of God is saying, the church will most likely not attain to the high calling. The church will continue down the same path and be mediocre and lukewarm. In fact, it may dissolve as other regional churches have throughout history. Things must change very soon, because the current state of the church is not what the Lamb of God was sacrificed on the cross for.
The Foundation
A true church must be built upon and can only be built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets (Ephesians 2:20). Pastors do not have authority to lay a foundation for Christ’s church. Only living apostles and prophets can lay a living foundation for living stones to be builded upon (1 Peter 2:5). The only foundation that can be laid to sustain God’s holy temple (the church) is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11). A revelation of Jesus Christ must be imparted to God’s people for a true foundation. This includes a deeper understanding of Christ, intimacy with Him, the fear of the Lord, and the life of the cross.
The Five Ministry Gifts
All five ministry gifts must be present and operating in the regional church, if we are to step into God’s full measure. These ministry gifts must be present until we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers must all be functioning in leadership in order to bring believers to maturity, perfection, and to prepare them for ministry (Ephesians 4:11-13). Pastors alone simply cannot fulfill this role, and the church will never reach maturity by only being influenced by the ministry of a pastor (though the ministry of a pastor is crucial). The current model must be corrected, and the apostolic model which the word of God demonstrates in the New Testament, must be embraced. We must trust God’s word for our blueprint of how New Testament Christianity is supposed to be, instead of believing in the doctrines of men.
Leadership
Apostles are first among leadership. Prophets are second, and teachers/pastors are third (1 Corinthians 12:28). This is God’s will and blueprint for His church. This structure is the only way that the church can become what the Lord intends her to be. Apostles have been given a grace from the Lord to oversee believers growing, maturing, and being builded together (1 Corinthians 3:10). They are the wise master builders to whom the Lord reveals the overall picture of how His church needs to be in a specific city or region. Different regions will require different blueprints form the Lord. The Lord will equip and prepare certain leaders for specific cities or regions.
Elders
Elders are simply the leaders of a church in a region. The Bible also refers to them as bishops, overseers, superintendents, and presbyters (Acts 20:17,28). Elderships must be made up of apostles, prophets, and teachers/pastors. It is out of God’s order to appoint elders in the church that do not have a ministry gift commission (Acts 13:1; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Acts 15:1-2; 1 Peter 5:1; 2 John 1:1). In scripture apostles have authority to appoint the eldership in a regional church (Acts 14:21-23; Titus 1:5; 1 Timothy 5:17-22). Elders should never be elected or appointed by ministry boards. Ministry boards should not be over leaders, as this is unbiblical. American culture must not dictate how the church is run. Only Jesus does that.
The Three C’s of Leadership Qualifications
Character. A leader must have the proven character that is found in the scripture (1 Timothy 3; Titus 1). How can a leader be proven in these areas who is 21 years old and fresh out of Bible college? The Lord has given us His standard of approval. Cross. A leader must have taken up his/her cross and followed after Jesus as a disciple. This will entail many years of hardship and crushing under the hand of the Lord, as He strips the leader of self-will. Self-will must be devastated if the Lord is to have His way. Otherwise it will be all about the leader’s ministry and vision. Commissioned. Many are called but few are chosen. There is a great difference between being called and being commissioned. This usually entails years or decades of learning, growing, suffering, loss, hardships, and crushed expectations. How a person responds and if they continue on the journey with the Lord will determine if they are approved by God and commissioned by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:1-3).
Preparation for the End Times
I believe that certain regions highlighted by the Holy Spirit will be havens in the turbulent times ahead. I believe these will be places where the Lord will prepare His church and transform her into the bride. He can keep His bride safe in His chosen places of refuge. The Bible tells us that a time is coming when no one can buy or sell anything, unless they take the mark of the beast (Revelation 13:17). It would be wise to listen to the Lord closely in the days ahead. Where would He have us live? Would He have us store food and supplies? Noah obeyed God by faith. Even though Noah didn’t see a flood coming with his natural eyes, he saw it coming with his spiritual eyes. Therefore he prepared an ark for the saving of his family, and it was accounted by God as righteousness (Hebrews 11:7). We have been warned by God of things not yet seen just as Noah was, so will we act in faith and prepare for our families just as Noah did?
The Lord’s Church
The complete revelation or blueprint for the end times church has not yet been released. It will only be released when the people and leaders in a certain region are ready to steward such a movement. The Lord will release the full understanding to the apostles and prophets He has called to a certain regional church, as the church is beginning to come together; and as it is progressing. The Lord is preparing people and leaders for this level of movement right now, and He is in charge of when it will form. Without proper preparation, the movement will fail. Leaders must be commissioned and sent by the Lord, not just called. The hearts of believers must be prepared in a region for this kind of change.
Church as we know it will come to and end. We will cease from going to church, and become the church. We will live our lives around fellowship with Christ, and one another as the first century church did. There will be nights of prayer and worship in which the whole church gathers together. Believers will be meeting in their homes, and having revival meetings together where the Holy Spirit is moving in great power. Believers will be given access to the public meeting place, so they can come gather even when ‘official’ meetings are not being conducted by leadership. It might be that believers want to minister to tormented people, and need a place to take them; or it could be they simply need a place to go so that they can come and be silent before the Lord. Regardless, things must change. Believers are the church, and must be able to be the church without micromanagement or control.
Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers will be working as a team to ensure the Lord’s bride is prepared for Him. These ministers will not be focused on ministry, position, money, recognition, or influence. Their primary focus is the Lord Himself. Their secondary focus is seeing that God’s people are being conformed to the image of Christ, and are coming to the full measure of the stature of Christ. They minister to the Lord first, and allow Him to minister to His people through them secondarily. They live for the secret place, not the public. These leaders minister to people because they were called and have been approved. They operate out of an assigned function, not a title.
These ministers will not run the church as if it were a business. It is not theirs, but the Lords’. These ministers run the ministry by doing what they see the Father doing. They are not trying to gather more people, and build something big and successful. They realize that the true measure of success can only be determined by the measure of Christ that is coming forth from the believers they are influencing.
These five ministry gifts will take turns speaking and ministering, because they realize that is takes all five ministry gifts to perfect the saints and bring believers the the unity of the faith. These leaders don’t shame people into coming to meetings, and they don’t manipulate people into giving money. They simply usher in the Glory of the Lord, and people want to come back to encounter Him. They stick to their ministry purpose, which is bringing a revelation of Jesus Christ. They long for people to know Him intimately.
These ministers take time in meetings to wait upon the Lord, and wait in His presence. They are true leaders who lead by example. They are legitimate spiritual fathers and mothers. They spend time with those who the Lord chooses to be their spiritual sons and daughters. In other words, they spend their time building people as Jesus did, instead of making a name for themselves building a ministry. They live for the approval of God, not the approval of man. This true leadership of God ministers from house to house, just as Paul did (Acts 20:20). They are not removed from the basic fundamentals of Christianity, because they have been broken and don’t think too highly of themselves. Paul the apostle followed his Master’s example by teaching in small homes in the regional church. Many ‘big-named’ ministers today would never teach from house to house, because of their ‘high status’ in the church. They only speak in meetings of thousands. This will change as the Lord releases His true ministry gifts into the church carrying the fire of God. His ministers will be truly humble and minister as He did.
Leaders who want to be apart of the Lord’s church must be willing to lay down their own personal ministry. Their personal ministry must cease for the Lord’s church to come forth. Leaders’ true colors will show in the days ahead as the real church emerges. Is it going to be about the will and vision of the leader, or the will and vision of the Lord? Do pastors want to hold on to ‘their’ church, or do they want the Lord to have His church? Will pastors and believers be willing for the Lord to appoint apostles and prophets first and second in the church, or do we want the current religious system to continue? Do we like the old wine better than the new?
If we choose now to follow the Lord and His word, we can have a church the scripture describes. We must be willing to follow the Lord and move to the location that He tells us to move too. His will and Kingdom is coming. We must pray and contend for His will and fullness. We must stay awake and hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
Please click on the following teaching for additional information on places of refuge, how to choose a place of refuge, the building of Christ’s church, and a description of glorious burning fire that will rest on the church when the Holy Spirit fully dwells upon her: Places of Refuge|A Canopy of God’s Glory Fire.
