A few years ago I became dissatisfied with
the Church. While everything was going well in my life and my
ministry, I longed for more of God. I hungered for His Church to
operate in the full manifestation of His power and authority. So I
started asking myself some serious questions: “Is this all that
there is? Is this really all that my Heavenly Father has for me? Is
this all God has planned for His Church, the Body of Christ? Is
there not more? Is it just me? Am I just bored, or is this truly a
divine dissatisfaction crying out for God’s will and plan for my
life and His Church today?” In February 2001, after years of intense
seasons of fasting and praying, God gave me a prophetic dream that
would eventually lead me to the answers I was looking for.
In the prophetic dream, I was standing behind the podium of a local
full-Gospel denominational church. As I began to minister, I
realized that I was wearing a hat. I quickly removed it. When I
turned back to read my text, I felt that something was just not
right. I was surprised to look up and see the bill of a cap. Sure
enough, there was another cap sitting on my head. It seemed so
familiar and the fit was so comfortable that I was unable to
recognize its presence until I saw it.
Embarrassed, I quickly removed it. But before I could continue my
message, to my dismay, I became aware that yet another cap was
sitting where the first two had been. Where did those caps come
from? Why did I not realize that they were there? I solved the
mystery by turning to see a familiar man standing behind me. This
familiar man was slipping another hat on my head each time I removed
one.
When I woke up the next morning I realized that this was a prophetic
dream. As I meditated on its meaning, my dissatisfaction became so
great that I told my wife, Geraldine, “I need Jesus to come and talk
to me. I have so many questions and I need some answers. If only He
would just come and sit down beside me and help me understand.” At
my office that day, while I was praying in tongues and reading the
Book of Acts, the Holy Ghost spoke to me. He said, “Son, you have
accepted church the way it was handed to you.” Those words were the
key to unlocking the meaning of the dream that I had the night
before. I realized that the familiar man in the dream was a man I
actually know in the natural. He is a good man. A very good man. But
in the prophetic dream he represented the church system of past generations.
In the
prophetic dream, he was slipping hats on my head that represented
layers of religious thinking I had embraced through the years. As I
took one layer off, another was lying just beneath. Though I would
never consciously wear a cap while ministering in the church, this
man successfully and repeatedly placed them on my head while I stood
in an office of ministry. He did this without my awareness. Wearing
a cap was so familiar to me that I could not even detect that it was
on my head.
I have always taken pride in thinking I was free from religious
tradition. Yet, in this prophetic dream God showed me that with each layer of
religion I had shed there was always another layer that replaced it
– without my knowledge or recognition. I was so comfortable with the
tradition that had been handed down to me that I did not even
recognize how out of place and inappropriate it was when compared to
God’s Biblical pattern.
This is true for not only me, but also for the Body of Christ.
Although various moves of God over the years have broken through to
greater truth, often another form of religious tradition and error
has taken the place of the last. We have remained unaware of God’s
true Biblical pattern for His new apostolic church. The last generation, or the
last move of God, for example, handed its model of church to our
generation. We accepted that hand-me-down model of church without
question. We adopted the familiar, comfortable model as the standard
for church without a second thought. We did not stop to look closely
at the development of that standard. We never even considered that
the model might be less than perfect. After all, it was good enough
for the saints that have gone on before; why would it not be good
enough for us? Think about it for a moment. Where did you get your
understanding of what church is supposed to be? For that matter,
where did each local church learn it’s structure and pattern?
It is easy to see that our understanding of church has come from
what we have seen, heard, and experienced for ourselves. The
structure for each local church comes primarily from the form
presented by the preceding generation. As individuals and as
churches, we have learned our image of “church” by embracing the
pattern that has been set before us. Yes, for the most part, we have
accepted church the way that it has been handed to us. But that day,
as I considered the prophetic dream and read the Book of Acts, the Holy Ghost
spoke to me a second time to give me more understanding. I heard Him
say these words: “The pattern for the New Testament Church is in the
New Testament.” Now who would have ever thought to look there?
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For many years, I had compared the Church of today with the apostolic Church
described in the New Testament. I read about the tremendous
miracle-working power that the saints of the early Church walked in
and I marveled at the extraordinary increase as the Body of Christ
grew and multiplied. However, when I looked at today’s Church, I saw
few similarities. What was wrong? Why were there so few
manifestations of God’s power and increase in our churches today? As
I continued to meditate and study, the Holy Ghost, my teacher, gave
me more insight and revelation. I came to understand that God
originally established His New Apostolic Church according to a very specific
pattern. Just as the Holy Ghost told me, that pattern is the one
established in the New Testament.
God does everything based on a pattern according to a principal. In
Psalms 127:1, the Bible says, “Unless the Lord builds the house,
they labor in vain that build it.” God intends for His New
Apostolic Church to be
built one way – and that is His way. Thankfully, God loves us so
much that He will visit us in the houses that we build by our own
design. He will even bless us to the degree that He can, but He will
not fully occupy our houses. He will not move into a house filled
with religious traditions or one built on the philosophies of men.
Only with the restoration of the God-ordained pattern in the Church
will He fully move in with His power and increase.
After the prophetic dream, it was clear to me that I was no
exception. I realized that instead of going to the Word of God to
discover His pattern, I too had relied on the familiar pattern
handed to me by the denominations that shaped my Christian walk. I
was unaware that past generations and former moves of God had
limited me. Instead of believing what I read in the Word, I read
what I believed. I, like most others, interpreted the Bible based on
a familiar well-known pattern that I saw and experienced rather than
the Biblical pattern of the New Testament Church. In fact, I was
taught that we are not to pattern the local church after the New
Testament. I was told that the New Testament Church was in its
infancy and that today’s Church must come to maturity. Well, I don’t
know about you, but as far as I am concerned, if the pattern brings
the power and glory of God, I desire a church in its infancy.
We must understand that the pattern for the New Apostolic Church was lost during
the Dark Ages. Rules and rituals replaced everything from salvation
by grace to the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The Catholic Church
shaped and set forth the pattern for the Body of Christ during those
years.
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Church history reveals how each generation, beginning with Martin
Luther and the Protestant Reformation, prayed and fasted and sought
God until some piece of His plan was restored to His Church. I thank
God for the saints of each of the mighty moves of God who paid a
price to receive revelation for our generation. In each one of these
moves, the Body increased and the power and anointing of the saints
grew. However, some in each movement were satisfied once they
received new revelation to stop there. They camped out around their
revelation and built denominations and ministries and went no
further. But God always has a remnant in each generation that is
hungry and thirsty for more of Him. There are always those in the
Body with the spirit of Nehemiah who will not be satisfied until
God’s house is fully restored. This remnant presses onward to the
revelation of the next piece of God’s plan. Even now, as I think of
how Nehemiah must have felt, it causes tears to come to my eyes. He
heard the report that the people were discouraged and living in
fear. The walls of Jerusalem were torn down and they had no
protection from their enemies. The city was in bondage and the
nation that God called His own got no respect. The news brought
Nehemiah to tears and he could not hide his pain from the King.
Because he had such a desire to restore the city and bring hope to
the people, the King gave Nehemiah favor and aid to rebuild
Jerusalem. Nehemiah did rebuild the city in spite of its enemies.
Today, in this generation, somebody has to be like Nehemiah and have
a heart for the Church. Somebody has to care about the plan that God
has established. These men and women of God must not be afraid to
have their foundations shaken. They must not fear the persecution
that comes to those who are willing to press forward. They must be
willing to lay down their lives in order to see the Body of Christ
mature.
This is where we are today in the Body of Christ. The Spirit of the
Lord is asking us to build His church. He is calling us to break
through religious mindsets and the customs and tradition of men
until the foundation is sure. Jesus declared, “I will build My
church.” He is calling us to lay down our lives, take up our
crosses, and finish the work that He began.
Where are the miracles, Holy Ghost power, and New Testament growth?
Churches are full of people that are cast down, sick and oppressed.
Ministers stand before people and struggle to bring them hope. We
are the ones God desires to use for this mighty restoration of His
church.
The apostles are rising up today to proclaim the restoration of
God’s pattern for His Apostolic church. The Body must recognize, identify and
reestablish each of the five ministry gifts found in Ephesians 4:11,
especially the ministry gift of the apostle. This is the beginning
of a fresh move of God. This move is about the equipping of the
saints so that the work of the ministry is completed and the Body of
Christ is edified. This move is about the Bride of Christ, the
Church, coming into her full glory and maturity.
The Body of Christ must identify and unify the five-fold ministry
for we need each other in order to be complete. Every believer’s
desire should be to see the Church come to its rightful place of
glory and power. Together, we can restore the church to its New
Testament glory.
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