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Thursday, September 23, 2010

Out of the Box, Out of Control

http://www.donnorisr.com/blog/2010/09/23/out-of-the-box-out-of-control/

We live in an environment created by our own choosing.

 We like this environment because it is safe for us.

 We think we may lose our identity if we allow ourselves to think out of the box.

 We evaluate what is around us, who we think we are, what others say we are, what the world says we are, We look at where we live, how much money we have, how much money we think we can earn. We look at our education, our skills the opportunities we have.

 From this list and from many more, we decide who we are and how we shall live. We create our own environment of living.

 I call this environment, our BOX.

 Each one of us live in a box of our own construction. The walls, the bottom and the lid to this box are made from the limitations we have put on ourselves or the limitations we have allowed others to put on us. 

Limitation’ is relative term. Limitation is also defined as our belief system. This belief system defines who we are.

We are taught to evaluate circumstances and make a decision based on how we interpret those circumstances with the five senses.

 It connects us to some. It separates us from others. Of course, we are right. Everyone else is wrong.

(We also pass this box down to our children.)

  My personal EXAMPLES:

  High School: Others said I would accomplish nothing

(Others tried to build a box for me)

 Giving my life to Jesus

(Religion will build a box for you)

 Starting Destiny Image;

(Well-meaning friends will build you a box)

How do we move out of the Box we have made for ourselves?

 This is where the true work of renewal and revival begin.

 Renewal is not fire or wind or a River, it is Him, it is Jesus drawing us to Himself, pouring his incredible love upon us.

 Our yielding to God’s Love and acceptance is our only hope of coming out of the box we have created for ourselves. 

  He is our identity. I am free to do and be anything if I have my identity as HIM!

 His Love for us is more than we can imagine. His Plan for us is greater than we could ever hope. His provision for us is greater than we could ever afford because it is not purchased with money.

 GOD HAS DREAMED A DREAM FOR US THAT NO MAN CAN TAKE AWAY.

THAT DREAM IS OUTSIDE THE BOX WE HAVE MADE FOR OURSELVES.

We must simply let Him love us to softness and repentance.

  GOD HAS TAKEN HOLD OF US FOR A PURPOSE

  Things of the past always want to keep us in our box, away from the calling God has for us. 

  Truly Pentecostal, truly spirit-filled people walk by the Spirit and allow God to say things to them that they have never heard.

 God speaks to us out side the box.

  (Gal 5:25 NASB) If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

  Move God!!! Pour out your Spirit!! The Lord says the same thing to us, but we can’t, because God is not out of control!!

This is the day of all-God- He is moving us to Himself, to the holiest place of all, His Presence.

  Vision of the fires and the rising Son.

Do you want food or do you want seed? The religious can't keep up with a God out of control.

 Religion of Jesus' day wanted:

 * A distinguished prophet to introduce to the bishops, instead they got John the Baptist wrapped in camel’s hair who the bishops snakes.

 * A king born in riches, instead they got a poor boy wrapped in rags.

 * A God to righteously condemn a prostitute, instead, they got a Jesus who forgives and restores.

 * Respectable healings, instead, they got mud made from spit and packed onto a blind man's face. They got a prophet who healed on the Sabbath and sat with drunks and tax collectors. Sinnfaers!!

 * They wanted to give Jesus a tour of the temple, instead, they got Jesus' wild encounter with the moneychangers. He was out of control.

 * A king to overthrow Rome, instead, they got a man nailed to a cross.

 Who would have predicted that God would deliver His people with frogs, locusts and blood splattered door posts?

 Who could have guessed that He would part the sea, rain food on their heads, give them water out of a rock?

 Would you have imagined a pillar of smoke and fire, shoes that never wore out and clothes that grew with them?

  This is where the true work of renewal and revival begin.

Our yielding to God’s Love and acceptance is our only hope of coming out of the box we have created for ourselves.

 

 

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Monday, September 20, 2010

Do You Fear the Presence of God, or Do You Love the Presence of God?

http://www.donnorisr.com/blog/2010/09/20/do-you-fear-the-presence-of-god-or-do-you-love-the-presence-of-god/

Sounds like a trick question, but it isn't. The question can also be asked in another way. "Are you a Levite, or are you from the priesthood of Melchizedek?" Another way to ask this question might be, "Can you minister in His Presence, or must you fall in His Presence?"

 When Solomon dedicated the Temple, the Scriptures say that the cloud of glory was so great that it spilled out of the Most Holy Place to the Holy Place, where it was technically not supposed to go. The Levites, who ministered in the Holy Place, were accustomed to the Presence behind the veil. They did not know what to do with the Presence when He did not stay where He was supposed to stay. They were therefore overcome with fear. When the Lord was behind the veil, He was contained. The Levites knew what to expect from Him as long as He stayed there. The Levites could get away from Him by staying in the Holy Place, with eleven layers of curtains separating them from their Lord. But when His glory spilled out into the Holy Place, everything was different. None of the rules seemed to apply anymore. Certainly God was not following the rules He Himself had established. His Presence was no longer limited, or shall I say, no longer controlled?

 Since the Levites were not accustomed to the Presence of God in their sphere, they fell on their faces with fear, unable to do the work of the priesthood. They loved to do the work of God in their own realm, under the control of the five senses and according to very defined rules of engagement. But this was something else altogether. God was moving out of His own parameters. Unlike Melchizedek, the priesthood of the Presence, the priesthood of the Believer, you and I, the Levites could not become accustomed to sensing His movements and changing their plans as the Lord moved among them.

 The Levites were not and are not the priests of the Presence. They didn't know what it was to abide in the Presence of God. Since they did not know Him, they never could have imagined that He wanted only to be close to the ones He loved. This was a most compelling foreshadowing of David's Tabernacle and the tabernacle of the Lord within the hearts of His people under the New Covenant.

 Only Melchizedek, the priest of the Presence, you and I, can stand in the Presence and worship in the Presence. Melchizedek represents the only priesthood that can minister in the Presence of God without fear. In fact, this priesthood ministers in His Presence with joy unspeakable! His Presence brings strength and peace. His Presence brings wisdom and sonship. But here is the best news. Melchizedek is the priesthood of the New Covenant. It is for everyone. There is no one turned away! All may freely enter and experience His manifest Presence moment by moment.

 There will emerge a generation of Melchizedek who minister in His manifest Presence. The world, as we know it now, cannot be won with the charismatic parlor tricks by which the faithful are so easily amused. If the world is going to be won, and it will be won, His Presence will manifest Life through a people who can freely walk in His Presence and minister His Presence to a world now in the grip of the enemy.

 Before Christ, the Melchizedek of God, came, the Levites had to do the work of the Most Holy Place, for He had not yet appeared.

 The Levites did the work of a priesthood that was not their own. No wonder they were filled with fear when they had to enter the Presence. They feared the Presence, for they were not called or anointed to do the work that is required there.

 But Melchizedek loves His manifest Presence. Because Melchizedek was and is the Priest of the Presence, He freely entered the Presence, not out of obligation but out of the sheer joy of experiencing His appearing.

 The fear of death also haunted the Levites who attempted to enter the Most Holy Place. They did not belong there. They were in a dimension of Spirit for which they were not prepared to live. So death was a real fear for them.

 Melchizedek, on the other hand, was not afraid to die because He had already died, and rose from the dead. He belonged in the Presence. He was at home in the Presence. He was and is a friend of the Presence. In fact, Melchizedek, once entering the Presence, never left but took His seat at the right hand of His Father, on the Mercy Seat, where He ever lives to intercede on behalf of you and me, who are also seated there with Him.

 I love His Presence. I covet His Presence. I am part of the company of priests that forms a new royal order of believers under the banner of Melchizedek. But this is nothing special, for the Blood washed everyone and prepared each one of us to be seated with Christ within the veil of the Most Holy Place.

 If you chose "I love His Presence," you are probably living in the Most Holy Place.

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Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Why Pray in the Name of Jesus?

http://www.donnorisr.com/blog/2010/09/14/why-pray-in-the-name-of-jesus/

 In the past, when I have gone to the Lord in prayer, my prayers were somewhat different. The first ten minutes were ususally spent in a counseling session. I wanted the Lord to understand what the problem was and what I wanted Him to do about it. Then I followed this counseling time with a plea for Him to accept my analysis of the situation. Then I asked Him to do what I had decided was the correct course of action.

 We clutter the air with prayers born out of frustration, fear, and uncertainty, as though He needs our wisdom and advice on how to deal with an issue. Then we pray all these things in the name of Jesus. We are certain that if we pray in the name of Jesus, He will do exactly what we want Him to do. After all, we did pray in His name.

 But the name of Jesus is not a magic word. His name cannot be used to invoke the power of God to do what we want.

 When you pray in the name of Jesus, you are praying in the name of the King. You are praying as a messenger of the will of the King. You are announcing something to the world, both natural and spiritual, that the King wants to happen.

Those who pray in the name of Jesus, the King, are like medieval criers who walked the highways of the kingdom announcing the will and intentions of the king who rules the kngdom. "In the name of the king, vacate these premises, for the king will build a new castle here!"

 Everyone believes the crier because he comes in the name of the king. 

  "In the name of the king, all subjects must be on the castle grounds for the coronation of the new queen. In the name of the king, all are expected to attend!"

 The one who pronounces those words represents the king. He knows the will of the king and is announcing the king's will with authority and assurance. He is not coming with his own message, he is voicing the desire and intentions of the king. 

 " I come in the name of the king" is the testimony of the medieval crier.

 For the most part, we live in the Holy Place, that is, the place of selfish desire and personal greed instead of the Most Holy Place, the realm of selfless surrender and the realm of all God. In the Holy Place, our fantasies are in constant conflict with the will of the King, who will always put His plan above our own. For He knows that His plan will lead to life, peace, and personal fulfillment beyond our wildest imagination, but our selfish, fleshy plan will only leave us short of His glory.

 The Holy Place is a place of personal struggle. It is where we develop our doctrines according to our own hidden desires. These personally contrived beliefs give us assurance that we will be certain to get what we want, at least among men. In the Holy Place, the will of man burgeons out of control, financed by weak and volatile believers who have no strength of discernment or wisdom within themselves. Of course, these Holy Place kingdom-builders count on ignorance to succeed. If true discernment broke out, they would be out of buisness in a moment of time.

 There is only one way the crier can come through town announcing with confidence in the name of the King. He must truly have been in the King's presence. He knows what he is supposed to say because he heard it from the King's lips for himself. Those who have heard the King for themselves will recognize His voice in the words of the crier, and they will be quick to respond to the message he brings them.

 When you hear the voice of the King, you can announce His will with confidence.

 This is the secret to having every rayer you utter answered. Listen carefully to hear what our Lord is praying. Then join in His prayer to our heavenly Father, who is waiting for the prayers He will most certainly answer - His own.

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Thursday, September 9, 2010

Will You Risk a New Beginning?

http://www.donnorisr.com/blog/2010/09/09/will-you-risk-a-new-beginning/ 

  There is a new beginning to those who are willing to say ‘yes’ to get out of their box. The box of religion, the box of traditional bondage. Get out of guilt and the box of fear, their box of comfort. Sometimes our life is hard but it is comfortable because we know what to expect. We know what will come today and tomorrow. It is boring, it doesn’t fulfill God’s plan for us but it is comfortable and it is a very small box to live in. The Word of the Lord today is ‘Get out of your box.’ Get out of your box

and take a risk. Risk hearing what God is saying and then risk doing it.

The harvest is ready now and when the harvest is ready it means that people are hungry. People are hungry for the spiritual; they are hungry for inner fulfillment. This prophetic word swept the nation and no body did anything. Today there are more than fifty million people in the new age religion in the United States. The new age people went in and took the harvest. God put hunger in the hearts of people so that the church could reap the harvest. We did not go into the fields, but somebody did. Now their granaries are filled, their silos are full and the Christians are standing around complaining about all of the new age people. And it is our fault. The harvest is ready in this country. You must get out of the box to harvest it. You must be willing to change anything that is needed to change so that your light can truly shine. You must be willing to let God test everything in your life and I dare say everything you believe to be sure your heart is open to what God wants to do.

We are always used to building walls to separate people but God is not a separating God, God is a gathering God. “Come unto me all you who are weary and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for my load is easy and my burden is light.” Boy, that doesn’t sound like our religion. Light burden, easy burden, that doesn’t sound like us. We must be willing to let Him change us from the very heart of who we are because He wants to shine His Love through us. Religion says, “Just be good.” But Jesus says, “Let me live my life through you. Let me shine through you. Let me Love through you.” You have a great opportunity directly in front of you. Let’s get out of the box

so we can do the will of God. 

Pray with me…

Lord Jesus thank you for Your Love, thank you for Your Word, thank you for Your care. Lord Jesus we confess that we live in a box that we have made for ourselves and we repent of it. We do not want to live a self-centered life we want to live a Christ-centered life. We repent of living in our box, we repent of letting our fear our sorrow our bitterness our tradition and our religion of keeping us in the box. And now Lord Jesus, thank you for forgiving me and I step out of that box. I step out of the box and I pray not my will but Your Will be done. Open my ears open my eyes open my heart so that I can hear things that are being spoken from Heaven and then give me the courage to do it. All to Your Glory in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thursday, September 2, 2010

Beacon of Glorious Light

 http://www.donnorisr.com/blog/2010/09/02/beacon-of-glorious-light/

Do you know that the only hand that God has is your hands? The only eyes He has are yours? The only smile He has is your smile? The only hug that God has is your hug? The only hope that people have is the hope that you bring them. There is a call of the Holy Spirit. There is a move of the Holy Spirit to come out of ourselves and into Him. Out of our concern and into the Spirit. You know as Pentecostal people we have a great advantage over everybody else, but we have turned our Pentecostal experience into a legalism that is worse than anyone else’s. We are more concerned about the physical things than we are about the Spiritual things. We are more concerned that our arms are covered than we are hearing the Spirit of the Lord. Sometimes we are more concerned about having a tie on than we are concerned about being touched by Him. We worry about covering about heads but don’t care about having our hearts covered with His Presence. Our Pentecostalism has turned into a legal death trap. Instead of being a life giving fountain of glorious love we have turned it into a list of rules and regulation that makes us wonder if we are even saved.

Who will have the courage to step out of that and become the glorious witness of His Spirit that we are intended to be? The city set on a hill that cannot be hidden is a city that explodes with the Light and the Love of Jesus. That is the city that the nations will run to. They are not going to run to a list of rules and regulations, they are already condemned, they are already living in death, they are already burdened with guilt and fear, they don’t have to come to Christ to experience more of it. They need to come to Christ to be freed from the pain and the suffering that the world has put on them. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free and we should not come under again a yoke of bondage. Most of this nation as all of you know lives in incredible darkness there are only a few flickers of light, you are part of that light. God wants to take you out of your box

, free you from the bondage of religion so you can become the beacon of glorious light that the nation will run to. If the nation is not running to our light there are only two reasons why:

1. The gospel is not true; the bible is not true. When the prophet said the nations will run to your light, that is simply not true…OR…

  1. We are not the light that we think we are.

I wonder which one it is? See, if we always do what we have always done we will always be what we have always been and what we have been is not working. I am sorry to say this to you. I love you but I say this to you because I can see the plan of God in your heart. I can see His love for you. I don’t have to give you anything you already have Him in your heart. I just want to pop the corks so the spiritual champagne can fizz out all over the nation. But it will take courage and it will take honesty and it will take persistence. Courage to change what needs to be changed. Courage to risk being something different. Courage to attempt things that have never been done and to hear things that you have never heard. It will take courage to see things you have never seen and it will take honesty to admit that ‘yes, I am not the light that I know I should be. Yes I have to change. Honesty to know there is something more than I am experiencing. And it will take persistence everyday you wake up and your confession is simple, His Mercies are new every morning, this is a new day, this is a new day to serve Him. Whatever I did yesterday the Lord forgives me. Today I am free; today I will serve the Lord. But many of us wake up with fear; many of us wake up with great uncertainty. There is a prayer that a friend of mine used to pray, he would say this to the Lord, “Lord today I am doing pretty good so far I have not been angry with anybody. So far I have not committed any sin, I have not raised my voice to my children, I have not cheated. I have not lied, today I have done pretty good but in a few minutes I am going to get out of bed and things are going to get tough so help me.” That is not the way to start the day. We start the day with, “His Mercies are new…” Do you know how His Mercies are new every morning? Because we live in repentance when we fail we repent. We don’t blame the boss; we don’t blame the police or the government. We don’t blame our wife or the dog. We blame ourselves and we repent and when we repent our slate is wiped clean it is as though we have never sinned. He takes away the guilt so we can go on and serve Him. His Mercies are new every morning when we remember to live in repentance the day before.

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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Imagine the Unimaginable

http://www.donnorisr.com/blog/2010/08/31/imagine-the-unimaginable/

Sometimes our children do wrong things. Many times they do wrong things but are they still my children? Yes. They never come to me and wonder if they will be able to still live in the house. They are still part of the family. They do things that are wrong but they are forgiven. So they continue to be in relationship with Mom and Dad. God wants us to understand that He loves us far more than we even love our own children. And if we take care of the needs of our children how much more will God take care of our needs.

 Don’t be afraid to come out of your little world. Don’t be afraid to come out of the box, for there are things that God has for you that are far beyond anything you could imagine. I don’t know about you but I can imagine quite a bit. Anything you can imagine, God want to do greater things. But, we must let Him do those things for us. And we must get out of the box. We must say yes to Him so that we don’t have to spend the rest of our lives being self-centered, being consumed with our own needs. God’s plan for us is out of the box it is beyond our little world. The greatest fulfillment of your life is outside your little world. There is an entire world that God wants you to touch. It is hard to imagine, it is hard for you to believe it, but we serve a God that is far bigger than we are and He wants to empower you and give you vision so that you can do the Will of God.

   I have said this statement to you before; if you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you always have. And who is satisfied with that? See, religion teaches us that we must seek and seek and seek and seek but never really find. But Jesus teaches us something different. I remember Jesus saying, “Seek and you will find, knock and the door shall be opened, ask and you shall receive.” It is a far different picture than we have about ourselves. Seek and you will find. There is a finding but that finding is not in our world, there is a better way to say it, it is not in our box. It is in the Spirit, it is in the Spirit, it is outside ourselves. It is outside our needs, outside our personal desires.

 It is one thing to let God out of control, to let God out of the box - but it is a completely different thing for us to get out of the box as well.

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Friday, August 27, 2010

God is Out of Your Box, Why Aren't You?

http://www.donnorisr.com/blog/2010/08/27/god-is-out-of-your-box-why-arent-you/

We must change completely the way we think. We are used to thinking about ourselves. We live inside our own worries. We live inside our own problems. We live inside our own fear. We live inside our own anger. We live inside our own tradition, our own religion, our own doctrine. So we have built for ourselves, a box. It is a very small box and that is where we live. We are afraid to come out of the box. We do not know what life will be like outside of the box. So we do not come out of the box. We live our entire lives inside the world we have made for ourselves. Now if you have a lot of religion and a lot of doctrine, a lot of tradition, it is easy to live inside the box because then we can blame the smallness of our box on what we believe what God has said. So it is easy to live in the smallness of our own world. Struggling from day to day. Worrying from day to day. And never fulfilling the reason we were born. But we were born for a reason and that reason is outside our little world. It is outside of that little box

we have made for ourselves. The scripture says, “Eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, nor has it

entered into the heart of man all that God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit.

With our natural mind we will never understand all that God has prepared for us. But by the Spirit we can understand it we can see it and we can experience it. God wants to break into our little worlds. He wants to jump into our little boxes and He wants to show us why we were born. This is good news. We do not have to spend the rest of lives worrying about our own condition. We must trust our condition to the Lord so we can go and do His Will. It would be very foolish and very unusual in most of our families if our children could not be sure they would be taken care of. When I come home from work in the evening my children never come to me and ask me if we are going to have dinner. “Are you going to feed me today? Am I going to have enough to eat? Daddy am I going to have a bed to sleep in tonight?” NO, why? Because our children know the love of their parents. they know that they will be taken care of. Instead when I come home in the evening my children come up to me…”Daddy what are we going to do tonight? Can we go outside and play ball? Can we go for a walk in the woods? Can we take a horse ride?” They are not worried whether they will have clothes. They are not worried whether we will let them sleep in the house. It is absurd, they know they are our children and they will be taken care of. That is not a problem. They only want to be with me, they want to do what I am doing, go where I am going because they love me and want to be together. It is the same way with us and our Lord. Jesus said, “Seek Me, come to Me be with Me. Everything you need will be provided. Don’t worry about those earthly needs. Trust those needs to Me, I will take care of you. As for you serve the Lord.”

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Tuesday, August 24, 2010

To Wait, Or To Be Waited Upon?

http://www.donnorisr.com/blog/2010/08/24/to-wait-or-to-be-waited-upon/

Sometimes we get tired of hearing God’s plan there are too many things to do. There are too many problems, too many troubles; it is just too hard to live day by day. We do not have time to think about God’s plan. But thank the Lord that He has time to think about His plans. And thank God that He is not too busy to use us. He is not too busy to bring us to wholeness so that we can be part of what He wants to do. Many times you have heard me talk about God out of control. God wants to be out of our control. He wants us to say yes so that He can do what He wants to do. We do not have to be afraid of God out of control because He knows exactly what He wants to do. And when I say God wants to be out of control you know what I really mean. He wants to be out of our control. He wants us to stop telling Him what to do and He wants to start telling us what to do. He does not live for us we live for Him. Jesus said, “Seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness and everything you need will be taken care of.” But that is not what religion teaches us. Religion teaches us that God lives for us. Religion teaches us that God is waiting, to wait on us like a waiter in a restaurant. He has got a white towel over His arm “What can I do for you today?” No, no, no, no! We are His servants! We wait upon Him. We trust Him to take care of all our needs so we can do His work. The most sorry life is a life that is centered on ourselves. The most boring life is the life that is centered on ourselves. The most unfulfilled life is the life that is centered on ourselves. It is an amazing thing; the more we do things to try to please ourselves the less we are satisfied. The harder we work to please ourselves the more we want. That is because we were not made to serve ourselves. We were made to serve the Lord. We were made to do what He wants us to do. We were not made to be self-centered but that is what religion teaches us to be self-centered. And for all that we have been taught and all the time we spend worrying about ourselves and all the time we spend being concerned about our needs we are no better off. We are no happier. It is because our greatest joy will come when we learn to serve the Lord and to do the things that please Him.

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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Discernment, Spirit and Faith

http://www.donnorisr.com/blog/2010/08/18/discernment-spirit-and-faith/

Tuning fork—when pianos are tuned to the same fork, they are in harmony. When two come together who have been tuned by the same fork, there is instant harmony.

  Blessed are those who have heard the joyful sound. when we agree, we walk together.

  Indecision keeps us from our destiny. Learning to discern is the secret to moving out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land. 

  Learn To Discern

  Now we must begin to understand how to discern, or receive and interpret the things we hear in the spirit. 

Discernment is the ability to understand the root cause or the intention of a person’s decisions.

  Discernment must have more power in your life than your personal passions and desires. It even be greater than the call you have on your life.

  Who do you trust your future to? Who do you trust who will give you clear counsel totally in your best interest?

  Teach me good discernment and knowledge, For I believe in Thy commandments. (Psa 119:66 NASB)

  For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; (Prov 2:3 NASB)

  Then you will discern the fear of the LORD, And discover the knowledge of God. (Prov 2:5 NASB)

  Then you will discern righteousness and justice And equity and every good course. (Prov 2:9 NASB)

Most of the decisions and opinions are formed in the realm of spirit. These things are deeper.

  Live in the Spirit, then walk in the Spirit. Discernment is only in the Spirit. The 5 senses cannot discern the Spirit, cannot discern a situation, nor discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. Put no confidence in the flesh.

  (Phi 3:3) for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,

 (Phi 3:4) although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:

 Have God’s view of the world. (Driven by His emotions) The world does not take care of itself. Trust God for your salvation. Religion has us self-centered; worried about our imperfection and problems while the enemy runs rampant in the world.

Salvation belongs to the Lord and to His people! 

  Faith in God…Remember who you are!!!

 Every time I talk about faith, it seems that I should re-assure us that God loves us and really wants to bless us.

 “Why have faith? Am I too messed up for Him to bless me?”

  We are born of Jacob…the one who does not deserve God’s love but gets anyway. God loves and forgives and cleanses Jacob. The God of Jacob does not disqualify us. He forgives us and encourages us to go on.

  Ps.146 :3 Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.

Ps.146:5 How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the LORD his God;

  Patience allows you to love in peace, anticipating the purposes of God in your life.

Col. 3: 12 And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

  Faith gives us the ability to allow the free flow between the natural and the spiritual. Faith moves us into the spirit and moves the spiritual from eternity into time and space.

 Everything God is and does is spiritual. His existence is in the dimension of spirit. Our faith moves what is in this dimension into the realm that we live in. 

  FAITH WORKS IN TWO DIRECTIONS:

 1. Faith is the part of us that reaches into the spiritual to receive all God has promised for us.

 This action of faith takes care of the physical part of us so we can respond to the Spirit.

2. Faith is also the part of us that allows us to live in the Spirit, see in the Spirit and move in the Spirit.

 This action of Faith allows us to dwell where He is and function in the spirit realm.

  Faith is the energy that causes the inter action between God and man. Faith causes us to move outside ourselves and embrace what is not seen by the human eye. God intends this to be our lifestyle. Faith can move in us and through us every moment of every day.

Faith causes us to move…to do something…to respond to faith.

 Today, we need to release our faith to believe God for the interaction between man and God that He wants for us. He loves us.

  He will give us discernment and understanding into His plan for us.

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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Growing in Discernment

http://www.donnorisr.com/blog/2010/08/11/growing-in-discernment/

Ephesians chapter four beginning with verse fourteen the scripture says, “We are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men, the craftiness and deceitful scheming.” Now wait a minute, isn’t it interesting that every time somebody has a criticism to make that criticism limits the Power of God. Hello? We make fun of the Roman Catholics because they keep God in a box in the front of the church. We are just a little more crafty than they are. Our box is in our minds, we know better than to put it where everybody can see it. We keep our box where no one can see it. You must be very, very concerned about anybody who says, “God didn’t, can’t, won’t, hasn’t,” anything that will limit God. He is an ever expanding God. God is not satisfied until everyone is saved. He is not satisfied until we are all healed. We must step out of the way and let Him do what He wants to do. We must be strong enough in our spirit and mature enough in our hearts to discern the work of the Holy Spirit and to let His Spirit flow. There will be men and I believe from this room there will be men and women who will stand in the gap and they will begin to say, “Wait, we will not let you limit God like that anymore we have seen Him and we have heard Him.” The apostle John said that which we have seen and heard and handled of the good Word this is what we declare to you. We don’t declare theory. We don’t declare theology. I’m talking to you about what I have experienced I’m talking to you about the God I have touched. And I am telling you that God wants to move in a new way. But there needs to be men and women in this country who will rise up, and once and for all, silence those who are resisting the Holy Spirit. Who will rise up and resist such antics, such activity of carnal men. God is looking for people who will do just that.

 Now we get discernment in a very simple way. Discernment grown in us by the time we spend in His Presence. The more time you spend in God’s Presence the more discernment you have because you learn how His Presence feels. You learn how His Presence moves and how He thinks. That makes worship a very, very important part of your life. Listen, the world and the religious system wants you to believe your five senses more than it wants you to believe the Holy Spirit.. The religious system wants you to trust your senses more than you trust the Holy Spirit. It wants you to trust reason more than it wants you to trust His Presence. Jesus Name. Do you understand what I am saying? Who is there among us who will be committed to growing in discernment? 

  But I am telling you we need to commit ourselves to worshipping Him. Whether we are worshipping here or whether you are in your car or at home or at work, where ever you can put worship music on put it on and worship the Lord. Continually invite His Presence into your lives. Continually say “Yes” to the work of the Holy Spirit. We have said “yes” to the devil long enough. We have said “yes” to our own flesh long enough. It is time to say “Yes” to Jesus.

  Tonight I come with that simple message, God is looking for people who will grow in discernment and who will have the courage to stand up for the discernment. To have the courage to be the wall that prevents religion from crushing the beautiful thing God wants to do.

  You know what is right. You know what you have experienced. You know how God has touched you. For you there is no argument. You must make your stand. 

 Praise God, could we pray? Thank You Jesus. Hallelujah.

  Father we thank you for Your Mercy tonight. Oh, we thank you for Your Love. And Jesus we commit ourselves tonight to grow in discernment to quit acting like mere mortal men and start acting like the spiritual men and women You have made us. In Jesus Name we commit ourselves to be spiritual people, spiritual people, spiritual people. Come up hither out of the flesh and dwell in the Spirit in Jesus Name, in Jesus Name. Hallelujah, Thank you Jesus…….

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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

What is your Father doing?

http://www.donnorisr.com/blog/2010/08/09/what-is-your-father-doing/

The Holy Spirit said to me concerning His church, “It is time for the church to grow up and trust God’s Witness within you.” It is not the intellect that changes the world. If intelligence could change the world we would have a perfect world. We really would! There are many, many, many very intelligent people but intelligence does not change the world. We need to know what God is saying to our inner spirit. And we must be mature enough that when the Holy Spirit says something that our thinking does not like we must say “Yes” to the Holy Spirit and “No” to our thinking. When the Holy Spirit wants to do something that our tradition doesn’t like we must say “Yes” to the Holy Spirit and “No” to the tradition. The Holy Spirit will often want to do things different than our order of worship. Everything is going to change; God is coming in a powerful way. We are going to see things we have never seen; we are going to experience things we have never experienced. God is going to come in our church and He doesn’t care what is in His way, He is going to come down. You have to be careful not to be holding onto the wrong thing because if you are holding onto the wrong thing you will go down with the system He is going to tear down. There is nothing sacred in our buildings there is nothing sacred in our order of worship, there is nothing sacred in how we worship. The only sacred thing is His Manifest Presence. Hallelujah! 

  And when His Manifest Presence is evidenced in the church you won’t care about anything else. You won’t care what time it is you won’t care if there is something cooking on the stove. You won’t care how long you have been jumping up and down and dancing and singing, when God is in the house all the focus is on Him. I was just in Kentucky and I was supposed to teach six times. I taught all of the pastors in the morning to get ready for God to move in. I said when God is in the house you don’t even have to preach. My God! Not preach! Will we backslide? So I said get ready, little did I know that that very night the Presence of God exploded into that auditorium. His Presence was so mighty that there was never one word spoken from the microphone. No one said welcome to the service. No one said Don Nori is here. No one took an offering. No one led worship but the worship of the Lord arose in the building. I looked at the pastor and he could hardly stand up and I said, “Pastor I don’t think I should preach tonight.” He looked at me and he said, “Don’t preach tonight?” I said, “Pastor when the Man is in the house, this man has got nothing to say.”

  We watched people cry out to God. We watched children getting saved with no one leading them to the Lord. There were angry pastors who came in the back of the church to watch what was going to happen. They looked amazed as their wives began to dance and shout in the Presence of God. By the end of the night, everybody was dancing and singing. People began to go home four hours after the meeting was to start and nobody said one word from the microphone. It happened four nights in a row. I went there to preach and I couldn’t preach. But who wants to hear me when God is in the house. Now there are times we need to teach there is a time for everything but over the past several hundred years we have made no time for Him. We have made time for our preaching we have made time for our order of worship but we have made no time for Him. The Lord is going to take His church back to Himself. Jesus said I’ll build my own church and the gates of hell won’t prevail against it. So us pastors, we just need to be the assistant pastor to Jesus. We just need to do what He says to do. In fact He is the one who started it. He is the one who said whatever I see my Father in Heaven doing that is what I will do. If I don’t see my Father in Heaven doing it, I ain’t doin’ it! I’m not going to do it.

  Do you remember when Jesus was at the pool of Bethesda? There were hundreds of sick people there. Jesus only saw His Father healing one, that’s the only one He healed and then He walked away from the pool of Bethesda leaving hundreds of people still sick. Why did He do that? I have no idea. He is God and He does what He wants to do and He is looking for people who will love Him enough who will do only what He says to do whether somebody likes it or not. It doesn’t matter if somebody likes it or if somebody doesn’t like it I’m not here to please man I’ve got to do what God says to do!

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Friday, August 6, 2010

People of Discernment

http://www.donnorisr.com/blog/2010/08/06/people-of-discernment/

  Listen, if we always do what we have always done, we will always get what we always have had. If we always do what we have always done, we will always get what we always have had. And I don’t know about you but I am not satisfied with what I have always had. Are you satisfied that there are only fifty to a hundred people in each church? Are you satisfied that there are so few people healed? I am not satisfied but we continue to do the same things we have always done. God is about to show us a new way which is really not a new way, it is through His Word. We just haven’t seen it before. I believe that the bible is the Word of God. You will never do anything to violate His Word but He will always violate what I think His Word says. He will always challenge my doctrines, He will always challenge my tradition, He will always challenge the way I have always done things, because He has no respect for our old traditions or for a religion that denies the Power of God. 

   Now I come to you with a word and that word is this: I am to challenge you to be a people of discernment. I am to challenge you to seek Him like you have never sought the Lord before that you may begin to discern the things that are God and the things that are not God. Listen to what the apostle John says in First John chapter two, “These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.” The Lord does not want us to be deceived. He doesn’t want us to be overpowered by the words of man who only try to convince us with reason. Let us continue in verse twenty-seven, “…as for you the anointing which you received from Him abides in you and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.” Now this is a verse we don’t have to be afraid of, it does not mean we do not need teachers for I am here teaching you. It means there is a spirit of understanding that dwells in each one of us and the Witness of God’s Spirit should flourish in our hearts. And that Witness flourishing within us is teaching us right from wrong. The best thing we can do for our children, for example, is to teach them a Spirit of Discernment. Teach them that the anointing abides within them, the anointing like we have always thought, does not come from Heaven. The anointing abides within us. Do you remember when Mary went to visit Elizabeth? As soon as Elizabeth heard the voice of Mary the babe leaped within. See the Spirit of Discernment is the spirit of John the Baptist. That anointing abides within us and every time we hear something that is from the Holy Spirit the babe leaps within us, so to speak. The Holy Spirit says, “YES” and when something evil is said the anointing inside is very quiet and we must know that when that happens it is something evil. The anointing within us teaches us.

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Wednesday, August 4, 2010

New Fruit

http://www.donnorisr.com/blog/2010/08/04/new-fruit/

I might say some difficult things but I have an urgency in my spirit. God wants our hearts open and ready so that whenever He does what He is about to do, there will be people all ready to say yes to Him. And while confused men argue among themselves in the corner the army of the living God will rise up and do the Will of God. I am not interested in the arguments of man anymore. Jesus said you will know my disciples by their fruit. Matthew says that every good tree bears good fruit, but bad trees bears bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit anymore than a bad tree can produce good fruit. In other words, Jesus is saying don’t look at what they say look at what they are producing. Anybody can sit in the seat of the scornful and criticize and rebuke and find fault. But it takes men and women of courage who will not listen to those voices but who will give themselves to the Spirit of the Lord and examine the fruit to determine the Will of God and to determine His activity.

 Anytime I pray a prayer in the Name of Jesus…is there anyone else who can answer that prayer? When you pray in the Name of Jesus, who answers the prayer? Can the devil answer the prayer? No! No! So if my brother is sick and I lay my hand upon him and I pray in the Name of Jesus and he is healed…Did the devil heal him? No, Jesus healed him. If I can not trust the Name of Jesus that He is the one who heals the person I prayed for then I cannot trust Him for anything. But we can trust Him for everything. We trust the Name of Jesus. Listen, Paul demonstrated God’s Power not words. Listen to this in First Corinthians chapter two. Paul says, “…and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom but my preaching was in the demonstration of the Spirit and of Power. So that your faith wouldn’t rest in the wisdom of man but rather in the Power of God.” He goes on to say this, “…we do speak of wisdom however, but we speak wisdom among the mature, a wisdom that doesn’t come from this world. It is not a wisdom that is passing away but we are speaking God’s Wisdom a hidden wisdom, a wisdom that none of the rulers of this age understood. For if they would have understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. But just as it is written, things which the eye has not seen or the ear not heard, things which have not entered in to the heart of man, God has prepared for those who love Him. And God revealed these things to us by the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things even the depths of God.” Listen again to verse nine, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, things which have not entered the heart of man, God has prepared for those who love Him.” If they are things we have not seen, if they are things we have not heard, if they are things that have never entered into our heart before, then they are new things. They are things we have not experienced before. If we are going to go on in the things God wants to do we have to trust Him that there are things we have not experienced before that we will begin to experience. We do not live in the box; we do not live in the sealed room. In fact the bible says that we are looking for a city made without hands whose builder and maker is God. We are looking for a city made without hands; we are looking for a city we have not seen before. We are looking for the Love of God in ways we have never experienced.

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Friday, July 30, 2010

God Out of the Box

http://www.donnorisr.com/blog/2010/07/30/god-out-of-the-box/

 I am here to talk to you about what I believe is a very important topic on the heart of the Father. We hear all over the world about how the Holy Spirit is moving anew and afresh. But we also hear all over the world how there is opposition to this. It is important that we understand the difference between what God wants to do and what man wants to do.  God will do what He wants to do without our permission. He does not need to ask our opinion. He only asks our cooperation. This trip to Italy was a very important and wonderful trip. We had a great time in Bologna and Pescara. In fact the very last night of the meeting, I think the pastor said, “I think the Toronto Blessing has come to Bologna. But I said, “No, this is the Bologna Blessing.”

And then in Sicily at Messina and Agrigento we had a wonderful time. It is important that I talk about these cities because the pastors in these churches that are in these cities are the gatekeepers of the Spirit. They are the gatekeepers that determine what gets into their church and what gets into the city. If the pastors see something they do not like, it does not get in. But if the pastor sees something that is of the Lord, then the blessing of God falls. But when something unusual happens it is important that the people have a discerning spirit to know what is from the Lord. The church that will change the world in these last days is the church that will be able to hear from the Lord themselves. We alone carry the responsibility for the Word of the Lord to our hearts. We must have a spirit that can touch the Spirit of God. We must have a spirit that can discern what is happening in the realm of the Spirit. So that as God moves we can agree and say yes this is something that God is doing. The months and the years ahead are going to be extremely challenging. We are going to need God’s Presence and Power more than we have ever needed it before. The level of power we have had in the past will not withstand the onslaught the enemy will bring us. But God’s Power is not the problem He will send as much Power that we need to overcome the enemy. The problem is never God’s Power; the problem is our ability to let God to show Himself in new ways. The problem is our ability to say yes to the Lord even when it goes against the traditions we have experienced. We spend too much of our time being controlled by carnal angry men who have never experienced the Presence of God. They come and talk to us and say things to us and we say to ourselves, “We don’t know, this must be true.” We are like people that are tossed in the waves of an angry sea. We do not know where we are going. We do not know where we came from and we do not know what is stirring the sea. But God is looking for a people in this generation who will not allow themselves to be persuaded only by the words of man. But rather to be persuaded by the spirit of discernment in their heart.

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Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Discernment of the Spirit

http://www.donnorisr.com/blog/2010/07/28/discernment-of-the-spirit/

Eccl. 11: 4 He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap.

 We love externals. We love to be told what to do when to do it. That is why the Old Covenant is so enticing. But in Christ, everything is not as it appears. Everything is backwards.

 To win you must be last;

to be rich you must give everything away;

to be seen of God you must hide from men.

To be promoted you must promote others.

To gain favor you must cease your labors.

To be strong to must be weak.

To live, you must die.

To lead you must serve

Christ in you, is the hope of Glory—whose glory? And what really is Glory?

 Whose hope? The one who needs the Lord that you run into everyday.

 GLORY- anything in you that convinces someone that Jesus is Lord.

 Sol. Temple-when the glory spilled out of the Most Holy Place, even the priests fell on their faces so that no one could minister. This is a type and a shadow of what flows out of our hearts that causes others to cease from their fruitless labors to please God and simply accept the free gift offered by Jesus Himself.

 No one could minister-the flesh could not do its thing. REMEMBER the Holy Place is the flesh’s last stand. It is the flesh’s last attempt to shine. To show that it is good. But in the Presence of God, it can only fall at the Feet of the King.

 But there will be priests of the Presence that will be able to minister in the Presence. They will be able to co-labor with Him. They will have no fear.

 Ps. 65:9 “The stream of God is full of water.”

Ps.59:19 So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream, Which the wind of the LORD drives. 20 "And a Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob," declares the LORD. 21 "And as for Me, this is My covenant with them," says the LORD: "My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring's offspring," says the LORD, "from now and forever."

Is. 66: 10 "Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her, 11 That you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts, That you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom." 12 For thus says the LORD, "Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; And you shall be nursed, you shall be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees. 13 "As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem." 14 Then you shall see this, and your heart shall be glad, And your bones shall flourish like the new grass; And the hand of the LORD shall be made known to His servants, But He shall be indignant toward His enemies.

 Jer 17:7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD. 8 "For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit.

 RAIN

Hos.6:1 "Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. 2 "He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day That we may live before Him. 3 "So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth."

 Joel 2: 23 So rejoice, O sons of Zion, And be glad in the LORD your God; For He has given you the early rain for your vindication. And He has poured down for you the rain, The early and latter rain as before. 24 And the threshing floors will be full of grain, And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil.

 

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Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Jesus‘ purpose for coming to earth

http://www.donnorisr.com/blog/

The purpose of Jesus' coming to the earth was to bring Heaven's experience to earth. The wholeness and health of Heaven was to come to you. The rule of God, the Lordship of Jesus Christ in Heaven was intended to be an experience, not just in Heaven after death, but of life right here on earth.

That is why, when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He taught them to say, "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven." As God's will was always being performed in Heaven, His plan was, and still is, for His will to be fulfilled in your heart. Union and wholeness are available in the Person of God Himself in this life. In fact, they are not only available, they are God's intention for humanity.

 Jesus did not come just so you could go to Heaven. He did not come only to offer a future hope. Jesus did not even come merely to answer meager prayers for help and safety. He came so that you might experience the fulness of God, all Heaven has to offer. His Kingdom is to be established in the earth...starting within you.

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Friday, July 9, 2010

The church Jesus is building builds the people, who are the church. Her pastors are the tools to bring this about. (cont.)

http://www.donnorisr.com/blog/

A school is a perfect picture of the role of the local church pastor. His goal, his fulfillment, his joy should be in the training and release of the people God gave him. Some will then leave, some will stay to work through the church. But they will all be equipped and released into their purpose. For some, their purpose will be to work in the church in the preparation and release of those whose destiny will take them far away. In any case, the people will know their role and feel a great sense of satisfaction and fulfillment in that they are doing what God has them to do.

  This not to say that local pastors cannot have an international ministry, but when the local church is merely a financial crutch and personal work force that sustains the personal ministry of the pastor, these saints are being misused and robbed of their own purpose on God.

 It is too easy to dismiss those who are frustrated as rebellious and stubborn. If the truth be told, it is often the pastor who is more concerned with holding onto those who should be ‘graduating’ and God is sending away that causes much of the problem. 

  How absurd would it be for the principal of a university to refuse diplomas to those who had completed the course? How long would he have his job? How many new people would come to a university that never graduated its students? The church Jesus is building is a way-station, a school, where God sends His people to be prepared to go change the world. But we have made it into a Black Hole, where no one gets out, except in pieces. But that is another blog.

  The pastor needs to decide whether or not he is really a pastor. Of course, a local congregation is good financial security for the pastor who really has another burden, another vision, another calling. It is easier to exact a salary and travel expenses for a local church than to do it the old fashioned way---earn it. 

  The pastor needs to do what is on his heart to do. Is he a pastor? Then his time, energy and anointing need to be centered upon the people he is called to prepare. Maybe the pastor’s calling is to win the world for the Lord, maybe it to minister to unwed mothers, Christian education or political activities. Maybe he is a prophet or a church planter. Any of these callings and passions are awesome indeed, but when they are confused with the real mission of the New Testament pastor, the people are the ones abused and sidetracked from their basic need: to be equipped into their calling and launched into their ministry.

  The vision of the New Testament pastor should be to build the people to do the work of the ministry God has called them to do. Where there are true pastors, there is a flow of people through the church, coming in to be prepared and going out to change the world.

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The church Jesus is building builds the people, who are the church. Her pastors are the tools to bring this about.

This most sacred institution of the church is about to change. Not by man, for he will resist every notion and attempt to alter the role of the local pastor. Nonetheless, the Holy Spirit, whose role is to magnify and unveil Jesus in the hearts of God’s people, is at work to release both pastor and people into the glorious role God intended for them from the beginning.

I know, everything inside of you is probably so tired of the continuous drone concerning the following few verses. I personally do not need one more Bible study on the five-fold ministry. I would much rather see a demonstration of genuine love, mercy and compassion toward God’s people, without hidden agendas, which would, by the way, be much more convincing than all the studies (and books) that exist to this point.

But give me chance. I just might have some words that can truly set you free from so many false expectations and wrong assumptions of the role of the pastor.

(Eph 4:11 to 13) “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

 It is amazing to me that the role of the pastor has so much diversity from denomination to denomination. However, a few things are predictably the same: Win the neighborhood, the city and world for Christ; keep the people coming; keep them working; keep them giving. This ultimately insures the continuation of the local congregation as well as the national bureaucratic behemoth that grows up to “take care” of the local churches. The primary goal is the continuation of the denomination into the next generation. Thus, the methods employed are intended to provide the smooth transition as the leadership baton is passed on.

 The value of the people, in this denominational/personal agenda model is determined by their contribution to the over all vision and desires of the pastor and/or larger organization.

I wonder if we are willing to look carefully at what the vision of the local pastor should really be.

Other than these responsibilities, the pastor has the freedom, in most arenas, to build his own dream with the people coming along to finance and work out the details of what God has shown the pastor to do.

But this is not New Testament pattern.

The pastor’s role was to equip the saints, not use the saints. The New Testament pastor is to encourage and empower the saints, not drain them of their resources and sap them of the anointing God gave them, using them for his personal plans and dreams.

I know that the local congregation can provide a good base of operations. It has incredible potential to finance whatever personal ministry the pastor seems to have beyond the local work.

But the New Testament pattern is much different. This pattern has the focus on the preparation and release of the people. It focuses on discovering the dream and the anointing God has for His people and preparing them to respond to Him in that dream’s fulfillment.

Please stay with me for a minute. The pastor is much like the principal of a school. The principal understands that the students come to go. They come to be educated and equipped and then sent to the four winds to do what burns on their heart to do. The real fulfillment of the principal is the release of those who come to be prepared to go. The highlight of the principal is releasing those whom he has touched, counseled, strengthened and encouraged to go after their dream.

The principal lives to see the students released to change the world. His reputation as a principal, indeed, the reputation of the school depends on the successful release of the students into their dreams.

The true work of the school can only be fulfilled when the principal’s undivided attention is given to those in his or her care. If the principal has any other ambition than the preparation and release of the students, he is really not a principal at all. The students, the school and the world all suffer. The lack of premium education that can only be accomplished by the leaders’ undivided attention becomes an extreme point of frustration to the students.

The church Jesus is building is no different. But in the man-centered church system, success is measured, not by those who graduate and move on, but by the size of the church and the pastor’s ability to fulfill his own destiny.


(...to be continued)

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