Are you a practicing Christian?

Ive been thinking around the issues surrounding 'church' and what that means in light of scripture. One recurring phrase is whether someone is a practicing Christian. The general idea is a 'practicing Christian' goes to church and that is the difference between practicing and non-practicing. I disagree with the terms and definitions.

A Christian is someone who has decided to follow Jesus. In doing so they have repented of sin and having been cleansed by the blood of Jesus, restore their relationship with God. How they relate to other Christians is important as we are in one big family. However, it is not the interaction with other Christians that defines any part of the status of 'Christian.' Someone who has become a Christian doesn't have to do anything to verify, clarify, ratify or amplify their faith. It is positional, a factual thing. Its like saying your relatives, sisters or brothers have to do something to make it a reality.... they just ARE your sisters or brothers, its a fact!

Its important to stress that I believe people should be part of a church if they can. I believe church should be practised a particular way for Christians to grow and prosper the way God wants them to but that doesn't affect their status as Christians, just growth, maturity etc. Increasingly the issues of church attendance are being cited as evidence of your Christian status. So long as we tell people that their faith is not the central issue in Christianity, we promote religiousness. This robs life and the potential for people to be genuine salt and light. Sad day for the lost. A sadder day for Christians who are relying on a bunch of people in a room on Sunday for their Christian experience!

God: co-pilot or auto-pilot? - reasoning together 1

Jesus was both fully man and fully God all at once! This is known in Theological terms as 'the hypostatic union.' To attempt to explain how this occurs is impossible as it delves into the nature of spiritual beings, something we know little about.

One thing is certain, we are spiritual beings and when we become a Christian God dwells within us. I want to point out the danger and error of thinking that this becomes a fusion, the same type of union Jesus had within himself. It wasn't the Spirit of God 'coming down like a dove' that made Jesus become both entities. It was his identity, his intrinsic person as the Son of God that made this occur in fullness. If we think that when God comes to live in us when we become Christians it is the same thing we could encounter dangerous errors that can lead to all kinds of misunderstandings. With Jesus, the Holy Spirit came upon him, not within him. He WAS God so already contained the Spirit - his Spirit. With us it is obviously different.

We get indwelled by God's Spirit when we truly get born again. When we are baptised in God's Spirit, that is when the Spirit comes upon us. If we make the mistake of thinking the indwelling Spirit fuses with ours then it is a short step to thinking that everything we think of is , by definition, of God. This is dangerous because as we reason this out, it follows that a person believing they have a fusion of God and their own spirit, they have no way to gauge where their own thinking stops, and God starts, and vice-verca.

I offer the following description of how the indwelling Spirit works with us:

1) We have a spirit inside us, this is your own spirit, created by God but not God. It's you!

2) God comes and dwells within us by His Spirit when we repent and are made clean

3) The Spirit of God's role is to challenge our behaviour/motives with the aim of transformation

4) We are also led by the indwelling Spirit and given choices to follow or resist

5) In no place in the Bible do we find the Spirit losing His own identity, or us becoming robots

If a person assumes that theirs and God's Spirit is fused or somehow combined then they are struggling to find this in scripture. Such a person also runs the risk of confusing what elements of their thinking, decisions, direction or invention are themselves or God. If they assume that their own existence is fused with God, then they can never be wrong! It means that their outworked plans are, by definition, God's work! End of!

If we live in a correct mindset about how the Spirit dwells in our being yet separate from our own spirit, we can begin to find how we work with God on earth. The bible tells us we need to be living according to the Spirit (Rom 8). This means in our thinking, decisions, direction or invention we are open to prompts, leading, nudges, commands or demands within our inner being. Assuming we are open to this we can, step by step do God's will in God's way. It also gives us the latitude to be mistaken or wilfully do our own thing. It is entirely possible then to have an idea of what God wants (to see people saved) but outwork it in our own way (go and take a church model that is in contra-distinction to the scriptures). If however, you believe God is your auto-pilot and what you feel led to do is God, then you are in error. God is our co-pilot. he assists us but we have the controls and we always have the choice to follow his direction. I also believe that sometimes God can take over the controls. I also believe he lets us crash sometimes! You remain you, and God remains God. As stated, I have no clue how this occurs within us! I just know it is my yielding to God that will see Him able to work through this life.

As with everything, I would welcome comments on this!

Essential Bible Teaching by Beresford Job

This is possibly the clearest case for returning to a simple, home based, none-hierarchical family based meal for church!

Biblical Church - Part 1 from CCF on Vimeo.

Does church structure matter to Christians?

I was led to post this after a stimulating discussion. I was challenged with being over concerned with structure. Here I would like to explain a couple of ways the structure of church, what we do, directly affects Christians who are in the structure. I hope it explains why I am concerned.

Social Conditioning
Since being children we have a few invisible 'rules' imprinted on our lives. Hierarchical structure is something that is introduced increasingly from the age of 3. Through School, College, University and the work place we grow accustomed to this system of organisational leadership. Organisational leadership is vital to make armies, schools, business and hospitals for example, work well. When a person becomes a Christian and enters a church there is no need to question why there is a similar tiered approach to leadership. People expect to see a prominent leader, a few understudies, managers, supervisors etc and it is likely in peoples minds, because of the imprinted pattern of this hierarchy, they see the higher ranked person as their 'superior.' Even if a church leader does not demonstrate superiority, it is resident in the social conditioning of the people who are following the leader. When we see the clergy/laity divide it isn't always the leader who is promoting him/herself. Structure affects us in this way because {the bible teaches} we are brothers and sisters. In Mark 10:35-45 Jesus tells his position seeking disciples that authority structures are "Not so among you." Paul underlines this as he corrects the Corinthian Church in Chapters 1-4. To bring superior/inferior paradigms into the church does two things:
1) Diverts the individual to place undue status or importance on a person thus diverting their 'followship' by varying degrees from Christ onto the leader: 1 Corinthians 1:¹²What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ."
2) It dis-empowers those under the leadership because we all know that people in higher positions are there because they are more able/talented/skilled. If that is the case, I am 'less able' by evidence of my positioning. This forces brothers and sisters into being more like members of a company than a family.

Institutional Environments
As well as being trained for most of life to respond to ranked leadership, there are also the auto-responses created by how we physically meet. Most people have sat in a classroom for almost all their childhood. We grow accustomed to what it means to sit on seats facing the front. At some point the teacher is going to appear and teach us. This means fingers on lips, don't shuffle on your seat and for goodness sake, DON'T try to offer any insight into the talk! Paul the Apostle however tell us in 1 Corinthians Chapter 14:26


What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.


This isn't going to happen if we are sat in a classroom with our institutional programming! So.... structure denies the church input from 99% of the people, something God felt was vital.


King David
It is crucial that we understand the two ways in which God related to King David. David had a heart after God's own. This meant in his father/son capacity God saw David had a good heart. This did not mean that what David partied to was always approved by God. In fact God had David become King of Israel, a position that represented the rejection of God (1 Sam Ch 8). There was never a time when God suddenly decided the pagan system of Kings was all fine and dandy. So David's 'being' was approved but his 'doing' was a system that amounted to God's rejection. God had David fulfil this role as it is better to have a listening man in a bad system. God does not want good men in bad systems. It was a compromise. God wants good men in his plan! Check previous blogs to see how today's church leaders occupy the kingly position in God's family. In the New Testament their issues were not altogether different from ours. They had the input of the Jews and the Greeks. These were the social conditioning and institutional environments of the time. In view of the fact that all kinds of weird and wonderful wisdom and philosophies would beset all kinds of cultures through the ages, wouldn't it be sensible to have these elements to counter the spirit of the age...

1) Small groups in family settings to promote 'God's extended family' - our 'in-Christ-ness'
2) None hierarchical leadership to allow Jesus to be head of His church
3) Equal and open sharing demonstrates everyone has an important contribution
4) A meal containing the bread and the wine as part. "THIS do in remembrance of me"

So... with people, food, and a dwelling, people could have church. Unimpressive? Weak? Foolish? Pathetic? Unworkable? Some say this about a man hanging on a cross.


Gary Ward

OR DATIOUS? How new is new church?

Just a quick one to ask questions over some of the new church projects shouting (about themselves) being some daring, couragious approach to 'doing church.' You can call your vision what you want and some people will follow the promise of 'new' and 'bold' but to be any of these things you need to ...er... to be new and bold? Most of todays church outreaches are following the same old formats that have seen only a percentage of long term disciples made compared to the amount of money that is piled into salaries and resources needed to make it 'work.' The formats we see people merging to seem to follows the Hills success in Sydney. Essentially these follow buisness formats where leadership is tiered, following one visionary leader.

The bible is clear about what church is and also what it isnt (read 1 corinthians). Anyone doing works to further God's Kingdom has a definate thumbs up from me for sure, but "IN WHOSE NAME" is a growing concern among bible believing Christians. Read 'the numbers game' on this blog for more about the myth of 'filling halls for Jesus.'

I would like to arrange a meeting with several church leaders to discuss the bible's version of church and theirs. Sadly over years public discussion has been avaoided by such *extremely bold or daring; recklessly brave; fearless* leaders. Funny that!

The Numbers Game?

Recently I saw footage of a church that had grown numerically relatively quickly. The leader(s) were vocal in equating the growth with God's overall approval of what they do. While on one hand being able to tell many people about God's love can only be good, in the long run is counter-productive to God's overall aims and objectives for people.

Whatever is preached and however support systems are employed, God still wants people to be in families, not organisations. Filling halls with people is not difficult. Muslims do it every Friday, football stadiums do it routinely and Rock bands can draw the thousands to the gig. For sports or music a big crowd is an indication of the success. when the concert or game is over, the gates are closed and everyone goes home. The product is assessed by the size of the paying customer. Islam has a religious obligation to meet in the Mosque. So with church, which is it?

If people meeting in a church is for religious obligation then no leader can take credit because the reasons for gathering lie in the obligation not the personal achievement of the leaders involved. If the reason for gathering is because of 'product' then what is the product that people are investing in? Most leaders in churches will say that people gather because the Lord draws them to their more genuine or special anointing. More honest leaders will admit they are offering church to the masses to fit with what people want in terms of entertainment, bling and easy listening. Even the most challenging message is ineffective in an organisation style church because it is anonymous. In a family, a challenge is personal and pertinent because you are known on a deeper level among brothers and sisters.

God's long term aims are to see people transformed into being like Christ and be salt and light to the people in their lives. While the slick program, trendy auditorium and articulate front - men may tell people the component parts of living an authentic Christian life, it is the environment that is missing. It doesn't matter how many people are in the church, it doesn't matter how successful the evangelistic mission is, what matters is that people are being anchored for a lifetime relationship transforming into the image of Christ. Sadly, statistics show that despite the budget, gifting, worship band being the best in the world, the 10 year turnover is consistent in every church that relies on marketing and product.

The 10 year turnover shows that apart from a core group, usually the people the leader gets on with best or simply live locally, a person will take around ten years to either:

1. leave the church discouraged and disillusioned

2. leave the church to pursue an authentic christian experience

3. wander around other churches, never finding a family

4. stay in the church, lie down and accept the 'way it is'

5. stay in the church in the back third, disillusioned and discouraged

6. become one of the inner circle by swallowing and following

7. decide to never question the leaders and hope you 'get picked' sometime

8. throw the entire idea of God away and pretend it never happened.

9. stay in church and commit to a life of arguing and questioning

10. pursue 'biblical church' and find out how Jesus leads his church.

Authentic Christian living has never relied on numbers to somehow validate the experience. God wants people to be being changed so this dark world can not just hear about a living God but see God's work IN those who say they follow him. That will change a world, not just fill a hall.

The Gary Ward school of discipleship

As if....

Can't Jesus still disciple people then? Does he need my help? Not likely.

He is risen, alive and more than able to disciple you in the normal course of day to day living. Jesus instructed his followers to make disciples. this doesnt mean do the discipling. It means bring them into a position where they can be discipled under Jesus. How can a man know the inward workings of the heart? They can't but Jesus can, and does.

Dont be fooled by organisations who offer internships and courses. Sadly, many rely on your money to pay for over budgeted projects that originated to provide some blokes' salary and make him look good. You may not be aware of this but some churches offer you to pay for courses from Open College Network Style training AND recieve money from the college bodies when you complete!

I guess this isnt wrong if the project tells you that this is an education facility but many pass this lucrative business off as a spiritual aid to discipleship.

You need your bible, a dialogue in prayer, your fellowship of believers and someone who can answer your questions.

And time.

(that can be a tough one!)

Look at the parable of the seed that grows all by itself in Mark 4. This is like someone who comes to Christ and through the normal day to day running of life, the Holy Spirit can bring about all the discipleship that is needed.

Discipleship is spending time with Jesus. Most discipleship programs act as if Jesus is not alive and is incapable of doing his job with his people. Sadly, there are those whose discipleship programs are actually control mechanisms to keep people attending and giving. This is another example of the problems relating to institutionalising the church.

'Radical' Thinking

Ok, lets clear something up. Radical does not mean a fashionable type of Christianity with lights, a smoke machine and punk youth leaders praying the Lords prayer in a Michael Cain voice. Radical means to go to the roots of something. If you were to get radical about a tree, you would look at the seeds and the way the tree grew from there. Seeds, roots and beginnings all speak of 'radical. 'If we were to get radical about Christianity, we need to go to the place where it all started.

With this in view, we are offering some radical thinking on the church and how we are to practice Christianity. in short, we are attempting to be true to what the Christians did at the time. If we take away the things that were added to the church over history, we find a church to be an altogether different thing than what we have today.
Organic Church
The biggest difference is the nature of the church. Somehow we've got all messed up with the mission. It's understandable really. This world is a dark place and God makes it clear that his heart is for the lost to return to him. Today, many take to the streets armed with the gospel message. They have been told that the lost respond to this message and accept Christ as their saviour. While that is true, it is not exactly what the New Testament says is the way people are switched on to God. A closer look at what Jesus said and what Paul wrote would reveal that it is changed people who change the world. At some point a gospel message will be shared, but firstly the gospel must have changed the individual. "The parable of the egg" shows this subtle shift in understanding clearly.
Christ like before Christ talk
So the transformation in our lives must first impact individuals before they want to know God by their own choice. then they will ask what the truth is about God. This seems clear and many would agree with this premise. However,
evangelistic mission and church gospel meetings cannot possibly work to this premise. Why? because the nature of both assume that a message is the key. If people are in continual relationship with others and their transformed lives are making an impact on the individual, why do they need a preacher to tell them about Jesus? Why cant the individual do this on site, in the mall, at the gym, in the workplace?
Ready for mission?
Ive done tons of street evangelism where I thrust leaflets in people's faces. At one stage we entered the arts and did drama. Although a little more entertaining, it still amounted to anonymous faces receiving just information. If the leaders in a church believe that the message alone is the means of salvation, they will gear all their comings and goings to having people spread a message. This is not a bad thing by any means. People do act upon information. But if the church geared itself to making sure people are built up and encouraged in the Lord, then maybe more people could have effected more people, not just confident, trained experts.
Christ, not mission centred
The New Testament speaks of a gathering called 'ekklesia.' It was based around a full meal where each was able to share openly with each other. For more information on the why's and whatfors of how the church became how it is today go to www.century1.co.uk This form of gathering supported by the writings of Paul the Apostle in 1 Corinthians Ch 14:26-40 especially, indicates that the radical, first Christians were more concerned about being Christ Centred before evangelism ever entered their heads.
What about.....
There are of course scriptures that seem to show that we are to go and simply spread a message. Jesus told his disciples to go and preach the gospel in all nations. We see this at the end of Marks gospel. These were Apostles. If you are an Apostle then nothing will stop you preaching in all nations. Also be aware that if this is the case, nothing will stop droves of lost people coming to the Lord wherever you preach. If you are preaching in the towns and city streets and people aren't coming to Jesus, you are simply annoying them. I know of big mission organizations that spend time, finance and resource producing elaborate gospel presentations. The result? little or no impact. If you aren't an Apostle then simply live life, be changed and witness to people when they ask. One bloke in Acts got someone baptised after explaining the scriptures to him. He was an evangelist and especially gifted in this area. There's also the instance where Peter preached to large crowds and loads got saved. If these were standard ways to get people saved, Paul and the other contributors to the New Testament would have made a very big deal out of it. What did they do? Instead of glorifying the few examples where people came to the Lord by a sermon, they wrote of what is was to be in Christ and encourage one another.

The disciples and Paul had seen Jesus, they had walked and talked with him. Paul was somewhere inactive for 14 years before doing and writing what he did. This doesn't mean don't do anything, its more of an appeal to honestly examine whether it is just a message that challenges people or a life lived with Christ as centre, being transformed daily.

Please, please, tell people about Jesus but make sure your church environment is authentic. It should be helping produce Christ centred transformation in your life, not a program of evangelistic events pushing Christian propaganda!!

Spiritual Abuse

"Abuse" is a very strong word. In every case of abuse the central factor is the misuse of power. This is the context in which the word is used.

No-one would condone abusive situations when confronted by the realities. Abuse becomes a stark reality when you are the one involved. We reel in disgust at the story of the child who has been abused or the wife who displays bruises from her husbands fists. These are issues that must be acted upon as they all spring from a disregard for God's word. There is another form of abuse that is largely unseen and occurs all over the planet all the time. This is spiritual abuse. Because it is something intangible we ignore its seriousness. However this is a problem that claims the spiritual life, and sometimes the physical life, of many Christians. The fact that God appears to condone the ministerial treachery many experience is just too much for some. What is the truth behind spiritual abuse?

I believe that the systems and structures most ministers party to in their work are to blame. It is true that some ministers know that they are devastating a life but most are following some procedure that they see as 'scriptural'. If Christians do not understand this, they can forever remain a seeping wound. It is easy and often feels good to pin the blame on individuals who were involved in 'what happened'. However, to properly deal with the problem of spiritual abuse, we need to see what is behind it. It will be no surprise to learn that the way church is erroneously practiced is largely the problem. Men who place themselves in a tiered leadership structure in church are asking for trouble. In industry men can do their work in these ranked systems as constitutional boundaries protect those under these bosses. If there is an infringement, unions can represent the employee and ensure the correct procedures are administered. With this knowledge, those in industry generally work towards getting the 'product' out of the door to the people. Each are rewarded for their work and most of the time everything runs smoothly. In church it is different.

Ministers automatically slip into a ranked structure for a three reasons. Firstly, the Early Church Fathers erroneously began ranking church leaders. This practice remains in the church today yet is entirely opposite to scripture. Secondly, it appears logical to create an organisational structure with divisions and sub divisions to get a job done. However, the bible has no church directive to get a job done. We know there is the desire to see lost people become Christians, this is God's heart for those still bound by darkness. But this is not described as a job or a 'product' that the Church should aim towards. rather, it is more a natural consequence of being in Christ and meeting biblically. The church should meet for encouragement and upbuilding but mission has become the drive for most. Thirdly, the truth remains that the heart of man will relish the opportunity to be over other people. It is a biblical and historical fact that when man has anything from kingship to a leadership position in a local church, he is in great danger.

The heart of man is not capable of leading the spiritual life of others. Spiritual life bears no resemblance to organisational/project/industrial life. Spiritual life needs family and the warmth of brothers and sisters. Spiritual life needs the Lord of life to be central to what they do, not a mission or a vision-based end product. With these considerations we can begin to understand how the church has been playing into the hands of unhelpful situations. How can a man manage spiritual life? He can't. Only Jesus Christ can do that. What we see today is mere men making decisions about the lives of spiritual people. It ends in problematic situations.....sometimes misuse of power. Those who swallow and follow the papal directives from thousands of pulpits risk an even bigger problem. They become so convinced their elected Man Of God is their spokesperson that the leading of the Spirit always comes from that person. The result is people who are living their life with two mediators. They have their church leader and then Jesus. Jesus has always been and always will be your leader. A time comes when you either choose the leading of God or the leading of the church leader. Many church leaders react by assuming the church member is rebellious or has attitude problems. While this can be the case, most are being led by God and should obey.

Those who even today experience the darkness and depressive hangover of an abusive situation can find answers and understanding in these truths. If it is possible to see what happened as God's way of setting you free from the hierarchical leadership, you will begin to be healed. Men do act in atrocious ways towards each other to serve their own purpose but behind this is an erroneous system that flies in the face of biblical directives.

Our fight is not against flesh and blood. If you need any more help with this contact us. If you want to know more about how to live as a spiritual person in God's plan for church, contact us.

Understanding the Bible

When we learn that the Bible is God's word, it's little wonder that we try to take on as much information from it as we can. It is right and good to chew over God's word, examining the characters and learning a new mindset (Rom 12:1-2). The word of God can reveal more of God to us, his nature and his being. We can stand in awe at the incredible work that he has done, especially in sending Jesus to secure eternal salvation for those who will follow. While a healthy intake of the word of God is bound to help us immensely, we must not forget the reason why the word of God is given to us. It has been brought together to introduce us to the author: God! It is in this context, being in the presence of Almighty God, we can better understand the Bible.

In our institutional/hierarchical worlds we can easily fall into the mistakes that have beset many well meaning Christians. This world tells us that the more you know, the more superior you are. We see this in most institutional systems on this earth. With the bible the exact opposite is true: The more you know, the more humble you are! As God is revealed to you through the scriptures it is no ticket to swank around with a head full of Greek declensions. True revelation brings about humility and a heart that is ready to truly serve our brothers and sisters and those beyond 'our own'. Like John the Baptist when the Lord came into his ministry, we want to become less to make way for his work.

Revelation is not about knowledge that is stored in the mind. It is about how the person of Christ is given dimensions in your life. True revelation changes and transforms where knowledge alone simply provides and stored information. As the truth about Christ and the salvation he has gained permeates our beings, we begin to see how fickle and temporary this world is. We begin to see how we are often anchored here in this world when we can be anchored in Christ. As we live our lives, the Holy Spirit helps us to become sourced in Christ, not in this world.

With this in view, it is vital that we approach the bible without a view to gain knowledge, rather, be transformed. Today's church structures don't help with this. Tiered leadership produces a natural rank. Those with genuine contributions to make are silenced by the system that places the educated on platforms. the temptation is then to see education as a way to express a genuine gift. This is how we can approach the bible with a information mindset rather than having transformation as our reason for enquiry. We must remember, whatever our circumstance, our purpose in Christ is transformation, not to seek out position. Unfortunately many who know they have a spiritual gift wander around looking for a place that will allow them to express it. Ministers often call this insubordination, and sometimes the accompanying attutudes are less than impressive. However, they are also called into question as they party to an unbiblical system that has made spiritual gifts into a specialized science.

This is among many reasons why God wanted the church to be open partcipationary style, not pulpiteering or heirarchical. You, no matter who you are, can share Christ.

Who is your Preacher?

Everyone on the planet has a source through which they live their life. 'Information' is the biggest issue around because we act upon information. Subsequently, what we do affects ourselves and others. Music, media, politician, religious spokesperson, personal hero, pastor or celebrity; all can provide information on how we are to be or what we are to do. For example, masses of people want to look like a particular version of a human being. The right shapes, clothes and attitudes have neglected the simple and profound truth that you are unique! Theres only one of you! The need to be accepted and 'fit in' came from information pumped into the media. It is all usually geared around product and money making.

We have the ability as free thinking individuals to manage the information we recieve. Most of the time we do not consider ourselves to be recieving information when we actually are. So many things we come across in everyday life contains information. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can identify the 'usual suspects' in the information war. We usually treat certain areas in life with care, rightly managing the info that comes from the source. There can be ways in which the Holy Spirit is unable to help us identify potential dangers. These areas involve our permissions and levels of permission.

No-one should live without the help and advice of others. It is dangerous to close our lives to all human counsel because the Lord can use others. The body of Christ, when free from the institutional rank-and-routine format, is vital to our growth in Christ. When we take the advice or counsel or guidance of other people and elevate its importance we can go astray. When we give certain respected, educated, revered, talented, wise individuals too much scope in our lives, the Lord is crowded out of that area. Even the smallest degree of permission in an area can hand control to a man or woman. Can it be argued that the Lord, should he desire, can speak louder than any person on earth? Is it true that we can 'have an ear to hear' the voice of the Lord over that of our trusted mortal? Maybe so, but when we give permission in our lives to a person on earth we begin taking on their mindset, philosophy and their own version of their Christian experience. A time may come where the two voices conflict. Sadly, many experience this and because they have accepted the 'clergy culture', they default to flesh and render more control to the Pastor, Vicar, Priest or Pope. I am convinced that this is how the system of clergy and laity becomes control, manipulation, containment and stagnant religion without anyone lifting a finger..... it's just the way we are wired. That's another reason why God designed church to be safe, free and Christ centred.

Their information, even if you pray over it and 'lay it before the Lord,' is in danger of replacing the Lord's leading. The body of Christ is their to help you grow and act as a 'voice' of sorts. We must be clear on a few things about other Christians before readily accepting their 'leadings,' 'prophecies,' or 'things they feel.'

• There are no Christians more informed about you than you.
• No one except Jesus can know your heart.
• Jesus is alive and able to lead without any help.
• The appearance of God's 'special anointed' is unbiblical.
• You must outwork your own salvation.
• People have different functions but not levels of superiority.
• Sometimes 'helpful' people (including leaders) need to be needed.
• God uses people but the interaction always gives you a choice.

It is far easier to rely on people to deliver the 'word of the Lord' than embark upon a Christ-led Christian walk. We can go all our lives never facing the reality of who we really are. The pseudo world of minister, leader or author led Christianity can never delve into the heart attitudes that lurk within. We can even construct a world where everything is manufactured as 'real Christianity.' This inauthentic way to live is caused by the systems and structures readily accepted in Christendom today. The aim of the Lord's work is to cause change in our lives. We are changed into Christlike attitudes and actions follow. If these changes are driven by any outside information influence then we miss the real change Jesus intends within us. This change is sourced within, in the heart of the individual. Christ alone through the work of the Holy Spirit can cause this to occur. Today we see so many ways to change our christian walk, our witness and our worship yet most deal with technique, formula and prescription. It is the inner life that truly makes us salt and lighte. If you cannot accept that we need to return to Christ centred meeting then go the whole hog and buy a tee shirt saying 'SALT and LIGHT' on the front. This is about as much use as living in the artificial man-serving kingdom of NOD that sends millions to hell every waking day. WHO IS YOU PREACHER?

Gary Ward

Reasons for reform 2

Jesus opposed the practice of tiered leadership, rank and hierarchy in Mark 10:34-45

James and John were wondering if they could sit on Jesus' throne alongside him in glory! This caused problems with the others who were following Jesus. This occasion reveals a fundamental problem with the heart of fallen man even while in the direct presence of the Lord! James and John felt they deserved some kind of special reward for their sacrifice of following. These two said to Jesus "We want you to do for us whatever we ask." While it is ok to ask Jesus to do things for us, we must have the right perspective about who Jesus is. We are his disciples, not the other way around.

The heart of man is vulnerable to seek rank and figure in tiered leadership. To be over other people, in charge of something or be 'the boss' is a desirable position. The world system has rank and tiered leadership and uses it in its functions. When God's chosen people rejected God (1 Sam 8:7-21) Samuel was instructed to tell them what would happen if they had a king like the other nations. The resultant warnings showed how the king would become central to the flow of the land not God. It is here we also see rank introduced to the nation's structure. This came about as man rejected God! This biblical fact does not change over time! Attempts to defend the position of being 'over' other believers in 'spiritual Israel' is highly questionable in light of the historical debacle of choosing 'Kings.'

Rank and hierarchy belong to the 'other nations' and had no part of God's spiritual leadership of the nation. In the light of this it is no wonder the Church struggles to impact and influence society. It has taken on the structure and system of the very thing it attempts to contrast! Even the most Christlike Christian cannot be fully used while partying to the system!

Paul never included rank or hierarchy in his epistles. He only ever wrote to 'brothers and sisters.' Leadership was a crucial function in the ecclesia but was not hierarchical like the world's was. Today we see leaders in prominent tiered leadership positions. When challenged, many claim they are serving the people in their leadership to fall in line with Mark 10:42-45 and they need to be in authority. They say that although they are over other Christians in rank, it is a 'relational rank.' If they have leadership gifting then it will be apparent without an office. True authority does not come from labels or position. Uniform of any kind is enforcement not endorsement. Jesus left official positioning and ranked structure when he separated from the synagogue (Luke 4:19f). Rank of any kind works against the spiritual Lordship of Jesus Christ. Paul and the other authors of the New Testament epistles do not describe a system and structure, simply a way for those who are in Christ to meet. What this meeting has become hinders the work of the Holy Spirit through believers.

Feeling Forgiven

For various reasons people can have problems feeling that God may not forgive them. Faith is about taking on God's truth no matter how strong you feel otherwise. Over time we find faith replaces doubts and we find it easier to accept incredible truths that Jesus has done what he has done. No matter how holy others seem or make themselves out to be no-one will ever be up to scratch! Our responsibility is to respond to our shortfalls with repentance, putting plans into place to not go down the sinful route. We all want to be perfect and one day we will stand before the Lord whole, with no inclination to sin.

Jesus is our advocate, like a lawyer before God. He deals with it all. Sometimes there are deep rooted reasons why we feel like we are some 'special case' who never seems to be able to stop sinning. The truth is that everyone is struglling in some area of life. Sometimes we meet people who seem 'oh-so-perfect.' We can feel intimidated by their super Christian life and how they seem victorious over all sin. Here's a fact: If you live your life without being aware of some area that needs the Lord's work then you are deluded. Of course you could live in isolation from the world, couped up in a safe room with no outside influences to challenge your life. If this is you then you are not living your life to the full. Holiness is important but we cannot wrap ourselves in cotton wool in order to appear sinless! get out into this world, be salt and light and allow your own shortfalls to be made known to you. This is God's grace at work!

Some Christians don't understand Jesus words in Mark chapter 7. In short Jesus was saying that we should not assess the status of our righteousness by the amount of evils we can see in this world. The fallen heart of Man is capable of making anything into a river of sin! So as we live our lives be sure that there will be new challenges to deal with as time goes by. This is not an indication of your weakness, but a sign that you are living a Christian life sensitive to what is right and wrong. There are three types of righteousness:

Made Righteous: God made you righteous through Christ's finished work

Self Righteous: Your own actions are right.... because you say so!

Traditio-Righteous: You make up additional stuff based on man's wisdom

Sadly many of today's clergy have their own traditions as sacred as God's word. About three months after getting married we were expecting our first child. The pastors wife was less than happy for us. The reason was because it was considered 'wise' to wait 2 years after marrying before considering children! A fair comment I guess, but this had become more a law than general advice! Advice is all well and good as long as it doesn't become a commanding voice.

A story of the history of the Church

God says eggs should be poached

God says we should poach eggs because when
we eat them, they make us fit and
healthy in a world full of sickness.
That's it. Call off the search! It's
God's word so that should be enough.
Everyone understands this so those who
believe in egg begin to poach eggs and
eat them. Healthy people exist among a
world full of sickness. The sick see
the healthy people and ask them why they
are healthy; they answer... poached
eggs! God says we should poach our eggs
and eat them. The sick person asks "how
can I poach eggs?" After a short
discourse on poaching eggs, the sick
person goes away and poaches their own
eggs. They become healthy. Job
done!

Over time some of the leading egg
poachers decide that it would be better
if we made an omelette. These are
thrown together quicker, have more
ingredients and taste better. Soon
everyone is making omelettes! They eat
them, they taste nice and you can even
have your favourite ingredients in the
mix. Strangely those who are sick seem
unconvinced of this omelette lifestyle.
Generations live and die enjoying
omelettes yet confused as to why only a
few sick people ever get well.

Some study this phenomena. They examine
the ingredients.... eggs and stuff.
What can be the problem? We're not
missing anything out! The things we have
with eggs are harmless cultural
variants. Could it be the pan? The
heat? The omelette eaters? The
Antiegg?

Time goes on. Some experienced omelette
makers are employed to provide cuisine
omelettes. The leading omelette eaters
defend their omelettes as being the
best. Some question these eggsperts but
soon learn that those with more eggs
have more eggs for a reason: God trusts
them with eggs. Experienced omelette
makers continue to dish out the goods
weekly as the Omelette of God. Some
cook, most eat. The cooks become
revered. How special is it to be the
maker of omelettes? Eggrachies emerge
to reflect the level of eggcellence in
cooking omelettes! Generations learn to
never question the omelette or the
cook.

The omelette becomes sacred and holy.
Convinced that omelettes are the way
forward, some translate the word 'poach'
as 'omelette.' Some write books on the
best ingredients for effective
omelettes. Purpose driven omelettes,
the prayer of omelettes and the Alpha
omelette all become standard works
regarding omelette eating. Still, only
few sick people become omlette eaters.
The reason still revolves around the
antiegg and the deggle, the unseen evil
whose destiny is to burn in heggl.

Omelette groups emerge. Some like one
ingredient with their eggs and some like
others. The groups meet together and
their favoured ingredient is
celebrated. Omelette eaters go to the
street offering omelettes to sick
people. Few take the omelette. Those
who do often quit omelettes soon after
trying them.

One day an omelette eater decides that
he is quite capable of making his own
omelettes. After a diet of the same old
ingredients, he begins to question why
the omelette is not making people better
as it should. He consults God's word and
is shocked to find that eggs should be
poached and eaten by each person. He
tells his cook that he wants no more
omelettes and the cook gets eggstreamly
irritated. He leaves the egg-house and
pursues the poaching discovery. The
cook, in true eggressive fashion, tells
the other cooks that this ex omelette
eater has gone bad.

After a while he meets others who have
discovered that God said we should poach
eggs and eat them. This was eggciting
news for this poached pilgrim. He began
a wegg site and wrote a book, begging
people to re-eggsamine the word of God
regarding poaching. After consulting
fellow poachers over his findings
regarding poaching and the like, he
began asking questions why we need cooks
when we can all poach eggs and eat
them. He began asking why we need the
house of egg when the egg is in us all.
He found that the first poachers left
poaching instructions and the way fellow
poachers can help each other. None of
this involved the ingredients that were
to constitute omelettes. In fact, the
way the egg is prepared was the very
centre of all what would bring about
egghouses, cooks, omelettes and sick
people remaining sick.

Having eaten and sometimes even prepared
omelettes for people, he could
understand how omelette eaters remain
omelettized. However, poaching is God's
way and that's that. Those who have
eggxited the omelette way and taken on
poaching can confirm that they are
getting more healthy day by day. When
more people begin poaching it could have
an effect on the sick people in the
world. That was eggsactly what God
wanted.

Maybe some day we can all realise that
God wanted eggs to be poached and
eaten. Omelettes, no matter how well
cooked, do not have the desired effect.
Poached eggs were supposed to change the
eater and that change was to be seen by
those who had no egg. Eggs and poaching
instructions could be passed on to those
who saw the effect of poaching, but
omelettes could never do this.

Omelettes remain the egg of choice and
are offered to the eggless on a daily
basis. Stop making omelettes and get
back to the poaching that God
instructed. Then you will be able to
show people how to poach their own eggs
and be changed themselves.

Gary Ward
self declared egg poacher of the year

Reasons for reform 1

Tiered leadership structure is unbiblical, as pointed out in 1 Corinthians chapters 1-4

Paul the apostle confronted the Corinthians with a few issues concerning how they were following men because of gift and function. This had led to Paul himself being subject to their judgment as they questioned his apostleship.

There were divisions in the church based on how one considered another leader in, or associated with, the church. Paul could have simply told the church to make sure they follow Christ but instead goes on to underline the true nature of the Corinthian problem.

It is not worldly ability that makes them able to see the powerful message of the cross, yet the Corinthians had returned to esteeming and hankering after those with such abilities. These divisions had caused quarrels amongst the brothers just as it had when James and John asked to sit with Christ on his throne (Mark 10).

Having pointed out the problem of elevating people because of gift and function, 'as the world does' Paul appeals to the Corinthians to have no differences between them.

Chapter four ends the general rebuke before going into specific issues occurring in the church. In this chapter he writes with some irony, >"you are already rich, you have all you want. You have become Kings!"

Like the Corinthian church, everyone knows that kings preside over other people. Paul tells them of his own lifestyle as an apostle, clearly showing that he lived a life of pauper proportions. This contrasts the attitude of the Corinthians. They were happy to make the gifted, educated and talented into 'kings' and those with these attributes were happy to be regarded that way! Paul is reminding them that there will be a time when they will be kings, but at that time all God's people will reign with Christ in his coming Kingdom.

He recommends Timothy to them because he will remind them of his 'no divisions' lifestyle. Paul uses the language of relationship when describing his association with Timothy. Calling him his son again underlines the fact that there are no ranked divisions between himself and Timothy even though Timothy was learning from Paul.

This initial rebuke ends with Paul asking them if they want him to come to them biblically with gentleness and love or in an authoritarian rank - with a whip!

Today's Church are happy to lift up certain gifts and functions. Not everyone has a Corinthian attitude of reigning as Kings, but still function in tiered rank. Paul called this structure worldly. It also caused divisions and arguments. This is what we find today in the denominations and infighting within Christendom. It also accounts for the weak and insipid effect that Church has on society as ranked leadership makes people anything but Christ-centered.

Sadly, many do not recover from the spiritual abuse caused by 'Kings' in ranked leadership structures.

This is why Century One exists: to stand for truth, righteousness and justice when it's easier to do the done thing.

The 9:23 Decision

Luke 9:23 and following verses are about the cost of following Jesus. The Lord used the illustration of someone carrying thier own cross to describe what he was saying. Someone carrying their own cross had been sentenced to death and on their way to the place where they would be crucified. Being a disciple of Christ was like being on the way to death. This death is a death to self, our own lives and works out over the span of our lives as we journey with Christ.

Today the gospel is spoken from platforms to people who have come to recieve information. Sadly, much of what is spoken is half the story. Through the illustrations, jokes and 'around the houses' methods of communicating these truths, the hearers are left with a choice. What should be communicated is that they are to die to self. It appears that the 'death' message isn't very popular in these days. It has been interpreted as not wanting the big home, the flash car or the stash of cash! While this may be a by-product of living an authentic Christian life, the 'death' message speaks of something internal - something in the depths of the heart.

One of the consequences of sin is that people tend to lean towards self in the comings and goings of life. It is easy to identify the areas where we can stop doing something or replace selfish thoughts and actions with kindness, gentleness etc. This is good but the whole point of Christ being within by the power of the Spirit is that we change. This change genuinely stops us from being self-orientated instead of 'painting over rust.' overcoming issues in life often causes much wrestling and struggles. This occurs because the motivation to change came from expectations to live the Christian life and not the inward death. Expectations, checks and measures come from a variety of sources....your self, the Pastor or vicar, other 'more perfect' Christians or those famous christians we meet in books, TV or music. We can spend a lot of time dissapointed, feeling like a substandard Christian because of the so-called 'challenges' we hear in sermons. These elements breed religious responses while all the time there is a genuine way to die to self.

Luke 9:23 tells us we must be in the process of going to our deaths and that is the condition of being a disciple. A constant, continual process of rendering our own flesh to the cross. For all who die to self there is a conclusion to carrying your own cross and that is being on the cross! Being aware of what needs to be done is not a proof that God has instigated the change. There is a biblical principle that Christians know as repentance but is a much more effective tool than we have believed.

In the Old Testament Samuel went to God because the nation wanted Kings, 'like other nations.' God, forever abiding with the will of Man allowed this, declaring it as their rejection of him. From this point, despite some good Kings in Israel, the spiritual climate went from bad to worse. Eventually God sent Elijah to be his voice in a land of apostacy. Elisha comes later and they eventually exit the land. There is good reason to believe that this exit from the land was done to mirror the entery into the land. If we compare this to our lives we can see an overall comparison: God had an idea that the people live in a land flowing with milk and honey. This was rejected by God's people and their own environment became contanimated with sin. This is like our lives if we do not do God's will. The provision of God for the people of the land was to have Elijah and Elisha go the other way. they went out the same way Joshuah came in. There was a cost, Elijah was taken but it meant Elisha was twice as effective. It also meant the curses of Deuteronomy had ended as a consiquence of sin. This is the principle of repentance being established.

We need to decide to live a life of death to self. This means by truly repenting. Here are the important observations of the exit from the land that constitute true repentance:

• Elisha and Elijah embarked on a purposed journey
• Elisha had to choose to follow even through discouragement
• They headed to a place that represented decision making, the desert
• God will take away 'the old thing'
• God will make you able to re-enter that area equipped and empowered
• It is 'a difficult thing'

So repentance has a much more powerful effect when we discover that it has an establishing element in the Old Testament. Someone once said that the Old Testament is the movie and the New Testament is the script. This certainly fits with the story of repentance and the way we die to self.

Jesus the Trouble Causer

Have you ever used the phrase, "I don't want to upset the apple cart?" I have used this several times when I don't want the 'done thing' to be affected by my input. In recent years however, I have seen it as my duty, and sometimes joy, to make sure that apple carts are duly upturned!

Is it anarchy or some sense of angry reaction to authority figures? No, it's a calculated response based on a simple yet profound truth: apples were not meant for carts... they were meant for trees!

Apples, when assigned to the said cart, are in the process of being handled. Their destiny is to be distributed to the masses. They may be delivered to a market or grocery store for sale to the health conscious customer. Wouldn't life be different if we all had an apple tree in our garden? Apples would never see a cart and best of all.. they would be free!

So what has this got to do with anything? The answer lies in the way the Church has presented herself to non-believers. Most people, when approached with the ultimate question, "do you believe in God" are willing to divulge a tentative 'yes' based on the concept of a higher being. Even if these stirrings take the form of the Christian ethic of the Saving Messiah, most do not want to become a part of the people who also believe this truth. Why is this?

From family to industry
For years the Church has labelled people with a faith of sorts who do not go to Church as unable to repent from sin. They like the hedonistic lifestyle too much so cannot cope with the concept of a Holy God. There is some truth in this. People do choose hedonism over responsibility. However, there are also reasons why the notion of attending a religious building with all the rank and file procedures leaves many with a bad taste in their mouths. The reason the church has this affect is because apples were meant for trees, not carts.

Christianity was never supposed to be handled in such a way that it needs to be appealing to the masses. It was never supposed to be 'sold' in the marketplace of choice. When someone takes people who believe in Christ and organise him or her as they see fit, they are in effect placing them in a contrived system that has no roots in the bible. Christians were never supposed to become part of an organisation that tells you how to be, what to do and where to do it. Like apples, they appear naturally in the place where they are growing.

The Church needs to apologise to a world that truly longs to see an authentic expression of Christ on earth. This body of people existed in the first century. Today, Church leaders do not wish to take the biblical directives and see them as instructive. Christianity was becoming a global apple cart as early as 95AD. In the 4th century Emperor Constantine made this pseudo Church and state one and the same. The religious buildings, pope-like preachers and subscription-type giving was all a result of this awkward marriage. Martin Luther did much to adjust the wrong biblical thinking behind this but nothing was adjusted in terms of practice. We still see, even in the most modern approaches, institutional structure. Those who dearly wish to follow the living Christ are actually following the directives of a dead Emperor.

Institutional-lies
Why, in the face of biblical data, poor outcomes and historical interference, do we still meet in this style? The answer is in the fact that 'apple cart' organisation is all we know. Also, for some, the lure of picking, assessing, placing, polishing and shipping apples is just too much to resist! This affinity to be over people and 'in charge' is not only a problem in the Church. Every organisation, without exception has the marks of 'institute.' Even if it is not apparent, all establishments that have an end result, a product, bow to the institutional system. Most will say they have a team in charge but there is always an individual who is the decision maker. There may be several ranks under this individual or team. In the end there are usually a tier of people dealing with 'the product'. The ranked organisation, leader led, product driven establishment are the three simple marks of institution. When we engage the institute in our school, education, training or work life, we can see the benefits of organised structure. Simply: It gets the job done! It is at this point, when considering the Church, we run into the problems. Church was never supposed to bear the marks of the institute. Yet it is this system and structure that drives those with spiritual questions away from the doors of the Church. But doesn't the church have a 'product'? Isn't the spreading of the gospel a 'product' of sorts? The answer is 'yes' but the purpose of the Church is not primarily to do this. Apple carts were not the way to make this happen. The tree, with juicy fruits hanging from the branches was sufficient to catch the attention of the one searching for spiritual nutrition.

Now here's the science..
The first century Church also wanted to do the done thing by making an institution. Jesus had clearly opposed the gentile systems and structure of hierarchy in his conversations with James and John (Mark 10). He slammed the religious officials of the time (Matthew 23) with their hierarchical structures; apples were flying everywhere when Jesus spoke! Paul the Apostle also warns the Corinthian church not to take on the 'wisdom' of their culture by having divisions between them. An objective look at 1 Corinthians chapters 1-4 will show that their divisions were not horizontal but vertical. They were following the men who had outward displays of gift/talent/ability. This is exactly how our institutes work. We place those with higher levels of ability in a higher position... institutional rank. The Church was to be different. 'Not so among you' came Jesus command to flee the gentile system of hierarchy. It was not the people that were subject to Jesus' disdain, it was the system. We cannot conclude then, that hierarchy is a problem with individuals. It is itself a problem as a systematic approach to organisation in Church.

The primary reason that institutional formula was not to be present among the Church was because the factor that placed you in the Church was of spiritual nature. The Christian has had a spiritual revolution in meeting the living Christ. Therefore how the individual relates to, and is related to by the Church must be spiritual first and foremost. The uniting factor then, with Christians is not belief itself, but their spiritual position. 'In Christ' is the bottom line. With spiritual position as the foundational consideration in the lives of Christians, therefore the Church, it is absolute folly to impose a rank of any sort in the body of believers. How can spirituality have rank? We are all created spiritually equal! Our abilities and talents are acquired in this world after our life is given to us.

An argument to this could be that we all have diverse spiritual gifts. This is a good consideration but we need to understand the nature of a gift. It is true that a gift is given to us by God but do we also understand that the gift to us is not for us but to be passed on to the body of Christ? There are no gifts that are meant for the benefit of the one who gives it! Yet when labels are placed on the gifted person ownership is taken of the gift. At Christmas the Father gives his child a bike. Because he has given the bike doesn't mean he is now 'Bike-ist!' In the Church the Vicar or Pastor for instance is so-called because of what they are gifted by God to give. In doing so they have become Tesco's! All who need care and support...go to the Pastor. The biblical answer is not Tesco's. The answer is to go to God and he will lead you to the appropriate tree and it's fruit. That way we can be helped by God's answer, not the answer of a contrived system.

'In' the world but not 'of' it
With this in view, when we rank spiritual gifts, it is placed in a format that is devastating to spiritual function. Those who are searching after spiritual answers, or even the God who created them, have a sense that the institutionalised Church is somehow wrong to mimic the systems and structures that have contained and suppressed them for years. They are right! The Church is entirely wrong to endorse the system. Spiritual people deserve to be in an environment where all are equal regardless of gifts/talents/abilities. When a person begins to live from their gifts/talents/abilities it is a short step to disaster. Their concerns go from meeting the needs and requirements of the people to their own position, possession and progression.

These three considerations constitute the basis for every single case of strife, injustice and warring on this planet today. Christians are supposed to be outward looking, yet the institutional structures they find themselves in, forces this inward assessment. Today's Christian leader wrestles with the passion and desire to be outward and facilitating, and the inward leanings towards position, possessions and progression. Christendom is heaving with 'how to' formulas. 'Be a good leader, have prosperity, be purpose driven' are today's Christian catch cries. These are not present in the New Testament. What we find is chapter upon chapter of how to 'be' in Christ. There's little on what to 'do'. Even the instructions for meeting are given in the simplest of terms. Meet like a family, have a meal where you remember Christ and share your gift. What is the purpose of this meeting? Answer: Encouragement and building up of the Christians! How complicated can we make this? 'Very', it seems! The institute can get things done but does not allow the freedom to be who you are. Jesus leading his Church towards affecting this dark world depends on you being you with no artificial controls or additives. The Bible has no record of institutional Church, the experts all agree that the first century Church met in the simplest of formats, and let's face it... It's not exactly working the way Jesus said it would.

Beat the System!
Jesus upset many apple carts. Having left what had become a religious system in the Old Testament, he went on to point out the corruption. Even when leaving the temple where he was brought up, Jesus couldn't help reminding the officials that God doesn't always work for the benefit of Israel. They wanted to kill him there and then! At every opportunity Jesus flouted the traditions of the religious officials and even taught his disciples to do so. They were furious and threw every accusation they could at him. However, Jesus knew what God's word said, so all the man made traditions that had become a ring of steel around the people should never bind the people again. Because we have the similar traditions and man made religious fences today, I have no problem following Jesus in his apple cart ministry. Like our Lord, I want to see righteousness more than I want popularity. I want to see this world witness an authentic, biblical Church upon this earth more than I want status and profile.

Next time you go to Tesco's and see the pretty apples all lined up in a row, remember they have been handled, treated and manipulated to look that way. The lights shine upon their polished skins. They all look the same. While we can all polish ourselves and present a flawless image, most of us know we aren't really that person. If we're honest, we all have maggots! We all have areas of blemish and sourness. We are not all the same.

Can you dig it?

The story of Elijah and Elisha is an incredible story. I believe the elements of 2 Kings chapter 2 constitute one of the most important events in OT Biblical History yet it is rarely seen as important. I will unpack the relevance of 2K2 in subsequent blogs but here I want to highlight Elisha's walkabout with the Kings. This happens in 2 Kings 3 when the kings join forces to defeat the Moabites. The assembled armies soon run out of resources in the desert on their way and they look to 'the man of God' for assistance. In the Old Testament there was a system where people were allocated by God to fulfil certain tasks. These tasks were often accompanied by signs and wonders and they would be recognised as someone God accompanied, thus becoming 'the man of God.' Today there is a clamour to be seen to be 'the man/woman of God.' In these New Testament times God still leads people to fulfil certain tasks but there is no system of 'haves' and 'have-nots.' If someone seems to be accomplishing in forwarding God's Kingdom today there are a few guidelines I would recommend:

1. Check that people involved are not claiming they are superior or special. In the New Testament no-one has special or superior status. They didn't in the Old Testament but as in those days we still lift the 'famous christian' high.

2. Is this work genuinely and miraculously showing God's accompaniment or is it a business method at work? Receiving money from people for product or passion is not a miracle. It is business. God can guide giving but as paul said it is not under compulsion... free will.

3. Is there a human benefactor taking money or status beyond 'wages' or reasonable respect?

4. How are people treated by the work? Ask people who have left!

5. What are the roots and shoots? in other words, who do they associate with and are these Godly people etc?

Elisha told the kings that he wouldn't even look at them if it wasn't for the presence of the Godly. We should take that advice and weigh even the renown Godly ventures before throwing support their way. Elisha went on to demonstrate a vital principle that applies to us today. Having worshipped God he told the people to dig ditches. The self important kings had work to do! When the water came the capacity to hold the water was increased by the ditches. Today many place themselves as kings of organisations and churches. God's ways are always consistant, his work is to excavate our lives in order to make us more like Jesus. If we elevate ourselves we can only expect a man-made experience. If however, we hold back on self promotion and personal notoriety, we will be better placed for God to make us more and more like Christ, the central purpose of our christian life.

There are many organisations and churches who do not seek notoriety, fame or claim miraculous intervention over a collection plate. It is the way they have accepted a business or institutional structure and constitution that suggests they encourage hierarchy and superior/inferior paradigms. Because the human heart LOVES to be special and superior, often those involved in structured churches and organisations succumb to behaving this way. The answer isn't to just 'guard your heart,' it is to repent of our associations with anything that fosters self-ism or even the dangers associated. Here is a list of Biblical charachters God used and the status they recieved on earth:

Jesus: man of sorrows, rejected, beated, crucified, left position to do God's will

Paul: beaten, imprisoned, rejected, traveller, left position to do God's will

John: beaten, rejected, exiled

Isaiah: outspoken, sawn in half

Jeremiah: Just read it!

Ezekiel: Just read it!

Moses: Criminal, exile, overworked, undermined, missed opportunity