War Awakening

Since the horrific attacks on Sept. 11, all of us Americans have passed through the stages of shock, grief, and anger. We have watched our nation battle fear, show compassion, exemplify courage, and have seen our government's resolve to prevent its recurrence and to execute justice. The evil mastermind of the plot has spoken out, encouraging more fanatical assaults against America. Our president ordered a military response, seeking to prevent further attacks. Overnight in America, we were transformed from a people at peace to a people at war.

The reality is that the world was already at war. But most of us had been ignorant of it or naive about it. We now know that this plot was hatched years ago. It took hundreds of people and perhaps half a million dollars. The war didn't start on September eleventh, it just broke out into the open on that date. The invisible war suddenly became very visible. America had a wake up call. But more than that, the church's long childhood has ended.

Since the 9-11 event, I have been asking the Lord to show me how to pray. What weapons of warfare can we bring against our enemy? I am talking about spiritual weapons, the arsenal which Christians are authorized to employ against Satan and his works. We need to know how to pray, because the real war is fought for the souls of men and women, not with bullets on a battlefield.

We have entered a new season and we need to discern the times. Our prophetic intelligence apparatus has to be fine-tuned. This current attack and America's response offers clues to a dramatic spiritual shift. What has been going on in the spiritual world? What has changed?

First, understand the present season. All over the world, millions of Christians have been praying for the 10-40 window, the area of the globe which is least evangelized. This area also happens to be the stronghold of the Muslim religion. Inside these Islamic nations (with few exceptions) there is no freedom of religion. In these countries, it is a crime to preach the Bible or to attempt to convert people to faith in Jesus. What were we praying for? We were praying for the salvation of millions in the grip of deception. Why were we praying? Because God loves lost people! Unless Muslims are saved, they will die without forgiveness of sins or the gift of eternal life which Christ purchased by His death on the cross. God wants Muslims to be saved.

In the light of this global concert of prayer for our oppressed neighbors, the true nature of the battle has been exposed. God has taken the wraps off the real spirit lurking behind the tyranny of Islam. We can now see the evil power which has hijacked much of the Muslim religion. The evil force which is behind Islam has showed its ugly head. And it is a murderous, frightening spirit.

We see the nature of this spiritual entity in the fruit of its dominion. Islamic radicals, once they take over a nation, use the power of the state as an agent of sorcery to control peoples' thinking. They use intimidation, manipulation, and domination to keep people from hearing the gospel and making their own choices about God. The Taliban oppress women, brainwash children, bring an end to freedom of speech and freedom of worship, and prevent the free exchange of ideas.

Let me summarize briefly the major differences between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We need to understand how these religions differ. They are similar in that all three are monotheistic, they believe in one God, not many gods like Hinduism. Muhammad originally referred to Christians as "people of the Book." All three religions honor Abraham. Jews trace their ancestry to Isaac while Muslims trace theirs to Ishmael. The three big differences are: How do you deal with sin? What is the written Word of God? Who was Jesus?

Jews and Muslims have a method of salvation that depends on keeping the law or doing good works. Muslims have five pillars of faith which they must do. The first is to recite the creed, "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger." Christianity offers salvation by faith based on the finished atonement of Jesus on the cross. Christianity believes the whole Bible. Judaism believes only the Old Testament, plus they add the Talmud, the commentaries on the Law. Islam's holy book is the Koran, supposedly dictated to Muhammad by an angel. The Koran is considered their perfect and ultimate word. The Jews do not believe Jesus was the Messiah, just a teacher. They rejected Him when He said "My kingdom is not of this world." Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet. Christians believe Jesus was the Son of God, the Word made flesh, our Lord and Savior who died for the sins of the world. Muhammad died in A.D. 632 and was buried. Islam's teaching says Muhammad supercedes all other prophets, including Jesus. But Muhammad is dead and still in the grave while Jesus was raised up and now lives forever!

Muslim clerics often declare jihad or "holy war." Let me talk for a moment about the nature of religious violence. From lessons of history we know that fanaticism can infect any religious system. Religion can become a breeding ground for demons and war. Not long ago a Japanese cult following a self-appointed guru released deadly sarin nerve gas on a subway. At one time, ancient Indians in Central America offered human sacrifices to their sun god, cutting out peoples' still-beating hearts. In the dark ages, European kings sent Christians on militant crusades against both Jews and Arabs. Protestant and Catholic Christians have bombed and killed one another for centuries in northern Ireland. Over the centuries, Muslim crusaders have killed huge numbers of civilians who resisted their forced conversion to Islam. And modern Jews have committed atrocities against their Palestinian neighbors. None of us have clean hands. How can this happen in the name of religion? Isn't religion supposed to be about goodness and kindness?

The Bible says, "If anyone hates his brother, how can the love of God dwell in him?" Hatred perverts religion. If we nurse our grudges long enough, if we fail to forgive those who hurt us, if we harbor anger persistently, then the spirit of murder can get into our heart. Jesus told some angry Jews, "You are of your father the devil because you seek to kill me." (John 8:37-44) When we harbor hatred, we switch allegiance from God to Satan, no matter what creed we declare.

Any time we want to kill someone because of religious intolerance, we have left the kingdom of light and become agents of the kingdom of darkness. Satan is a murderer. Satan entered into the heart of one of Jesus' followers, Judas Iscariot. The doorway for the devil to enter Judas was jealousy regarding the money (he was the team treasurer) and political extremism regarding his hated for the Romans. Nationalism corrupted his heart so that he betrayed the Son of God.

The devil can hijack any religion when hatred is preached or practiced. In fact, unclean spirits, operating in a religious setting, can energize misguided zealots with an unholy anointing to hate even more. The devil gladly empowered Adolf Hitler with a diabolical wisdom to try to exterminate the Jews. The devil filled Saddam Hussein's heart with lust for power so that he has murdered Kurds and slaughtered thousands of his own people. It is blasphemy to credit a holy God with this kind of evil venom. The origin of hatred and murder is not God but Satan, using sinful people. When people entertain sin, Satan has the right to enter their hearts. Only Jesus can free people from bondage to sin and Satan. Either we surrender to Jesus or we serve Satan. When we repent of our sin and put our faith in Christ, His blood can set us free! Jesus sets people free from hatred and fear and then as we follow Him, He fills our hearts with love and faith.

For me personally, the timing of the attacks on the World Trade Center occurred when I had been searching the Scriptures and inquiring of the Lord concerning apostolic ministries. I know that the church is just beginning to understand the apostolic task in our day. But I have discovered this fact: In the Bible, the appearance of genuine apostles and the outbreak of spiritual warfare was a synonymous event. There is no reason to believe their restoration today will be any different. Indeed, apostles are built for war.

Why should war be unfamiliar to us? Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, not coexist with them (1 Jn. 3:8). We live amidst kingdoms in conflict. Jesus taught that the expulsion of evil spirits signaled that the kingdom of heaven was at hand (Mt. 12:29). Before anything can be expelled, it must first be exposed. God is now exposing wickedness. All of our hearts are being exposed-- Christians, Jews, and Muslims. God's judgment on the works of Satan is near. God's advancing kingdom upsets Satan's realm. He reacts, knowing his time is short.

The apostle Paul was no stranger to spiritual warfare. He said that our fight to undo Satan's oppression was not a battle against flesh and blood, but one using spiritual weapons. This is written in the New Testament in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. He described our fight as "warfare." The Greek word he used, strateia, is defined by Strong's Dictionary as "the apostolic career, as one of hardship or danger." The root of the word indicates a military campaign. So the process of performing the apostolic ministry includes warfare.

3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:3-5 NIV)

Apostolic warfare uses mighty weapons (such as prophetic prayer, proclaiming God's Word, or prophesying God's will) to pull down fortresses or strongholds. Strongholds are fortified lies (erroneous beliefs) deeply entrenched in peoples' minds. Ignorance, violence, and oppression are characteristics of evil strongholds. I submit to you that the barbaric oppression of women under the Islamic system exemplifies how desperately these precious people need liberation from bondage.

All of Satan's lies (demonic conceits such as the spirit of rejection or shame) are usually guarded by strong emotions and prejudices. These ideas come from two sources: the devil, or deceived people. It matters who you listen to!

The text of this Bible verse uses two phrases which are variously translated high things (NIV- "arguments") and imaginations. (NIV- "pretensions"). It is helpful to consider these two aspects of the devil's propaganda. These are the major ways Satan controls peoples' thinking to keep them from the knowledge of Christ. One is religious, the other is secular.

High things refers to spiritual barriers to the truth of God which alone leads to repentance and faith. These barriers are ideas which substitute for Biblical salvation by regeneration. They offer religion without inner transformation. These ideas originate from high ranking lying spirits called principalities and are mediated through false prophets and occult writings. These deceits may begin with an "angel of light" appearing to a gullible liberator, someone eager for influence but not knowledgeable of the Bible. Examples are cults or sects, usually religious in nature, which incorporate extra-biblical revelation in addition to or as a substitute for the Bible (such as the Book of Mormon). They also offer salvation by works instead of by grace, follow egoistic cult-like leaders who don't want their authority questioned, and promote idolatry in some form. Thier fruit reveals their root.

Imaginations refers to secular philosophies that cloud peoples' minds, thus obscuring the truth of God. These are lies that affect cultural values. Modern examples are: totalitarianism, such as "The state owns everyone and everything" (atheistic communism); evolution as a religion, such as "Creation did not have a Creator" (scientific rationalism that excludes First Causes); religious pluralism, such as "All roads lead to God" (tolerance that denies any one way is right or better); or secular humanism, such as "What I do with my sexuality doesn't matter" (deification of self). Usually we are unaware that we have these paradigms. But we all have them to some degree, at least until our minds are renewed by the Spirit of Truth and by knowing the Word of God.

So the warfare is ideological and it is also spiritual. We need to understand the real nature of war or else we will become casualties. War is also a time of unique opportunities. There are battlefield promotions. War is a time when new leadership emerges and weak leadership falls. God's war against Satan results in carefully crafted apostolic generals being prepared, raised up, recognized, and released. There is also such a thing in God as wartime prosperity. The Lord spoke to me once using the delightful image of Daddy Warbucks in the musical Little Orphan Annie. I saw that when God's leaders will go to war to liberate the oppressed, the Lord will provide the resources for their effort. "No soldier goes to war at his own expense." Maybe we are lean in our provisions because we have never left the camp!

War is more than a fight between individuals. It is more than a police action. War is when one government launches an attack against another government. War seeks to either liberate or dominate a people, therefore it wants to replace their seat of power. War is about power. War is often fought to gain control of strategic resources. War is fought to obtain oil, land, or other wealth. Thankfully, America has never gone to war to dominate, only to liberate.

Let's shift the discussion away from civil governments and think for a moment from a Biblical world-view, from a kingdom mentality. We need to ask ourselves, Does God have a government? How is it led? Who are its leaders? The obvious next question is: Does Satan have a government? Can his evil empire have human personifications and commanders? Sometimes the invisible war which begins in a spiritual realm can break out into a material and human realm. Frank Peretti's classic novel, "This Present Darkness," is an illustration of this reality.

If war is a clash of governments, then it involves a campaign which lasts over time and affects many people. War is about resolve, the exercise of resolute will power. The will to win is a prerequisite to victory. Winston Churchill was an example of a man who understood the nature of evil and its impact upon nations. He had the will to stand against it. While others wrung their hands and practiced appeasement, Mr. Churchill took an unwavering stand against Hitler. War requires single-minded focus. Disunity makes any kingdom collapse. The power of agreement, offered freely by followers and by an administration's staff members, is what gives a leader the ability to lead into battle and win.

Biblically speaking, agreement with God is positive, while a conspiracy is negative. A conspiracy occurs when people agree together to stand against legitimate authority or government. Jesus said, "If you're not with Me, you're against Me." The church must make a decision: Are we in agreement with our Head, the Lord Jesus, or in a conspiracy against Him and His end-time purpose? Jesus is a Liberator. He wants every believer to help deliver the oppressed. His kingdom is the place where He works out His will against His enemies. We are in active service with the "Lord of hosts," the Lord of armies. Therefore to be passive or to practice appeasement during war is actually to conspire against our Lord.

I have been fascinated, I think by the Holy Spirit's illumination, with the apostle Paul's campaign through various cities in the Book of Acts (For more on this topic, see my teaching outline on our website entitled "How Apostles Affect Cities").

Paul used military strategies as he grew in his understanding of how to liberate cities by the gospel from Satan's power. His life's work culminated in the liberation of Ephesus from Diana worship. It was a successful campaign that took years to accomplish and affected other cities in the region as well. It involved preaching the gospel of the kingdom, training new leaders, ministering the baptism in the Holy Spirit, developing neighborhood prayer-cell groups, practicing spiritual warfare against sorcery, and an apostolic team acting in concert over time.

Paul was a radical. He was a bull in a china shop. He was an unlikely recruit for the church. Yet Jesus personally appeared to him and saved him. Why did Jesus save this man who so busily tormented true believers? And it happened by direct divine intervention! I imagine the church was praying fervently for relief from this persecutor and murder. But Paul was not converted by a preacher. Paul, still Saul of Tarsus, was evangelized by Jesus Himself. Jesus revealed Himself to Saul on the road to Damascus. This account was recorded in Acts 9. Paul referenced it again in Acts 22 and in Acts 26. It was the turning point of his life. Because of this encounter, the church's arch-terrorist became a powerful messenger of Jesus and the gospel. I believe concerted prayer by the persecuted church driven underground by fear led directly to the conversion of Paul. Satan lost his best agent and the kingdom of God gained its best proponent.

God used a terrorist to awaken the church. The result was a new cycle of powerful apostolic ministry that reached the ends of the earth. Could history be repeating itself?

Before Paul was converted, he was a religious terrorist (see Galatians 1:14, Acts 7:58-60, 9:1). Paul was like an Osama Bin Laden. He was breathing out threats and murder. He stood by as a witness of young Stephen's stoning. He plotted how to imprison Christians. He eagerly assented to their torture and killing. He knew he was right and they were wrong. He believed God was pleased as he happily killed these saints. There was not an ounce of sympathy in Saul toward the followers of Jesus. In his mind, he was defending the Jewish religion against heresy. He believed the institution of the divine Law including all of its traditions governing Jewish society had to be preserved even if he had to go to war to make it happen. He was orthodox and they were infidels. He felt justified in killing them. He had the official approval of his religious leaders to carry out his personal jihad. He was admired and applauded by those who felt intimidated by this new "Jesus movement." Paul was destined for political and religious greatness in his relentless campaign of terror against the young church.

It was at the peak of his animosity that he was interrupted on the trail of terror by a personal encounter with the Risen Lord, the One he denied and hated. In this experience, Paul was changed from a hater of Jesus and of the church into a lover of Jesus and of the Body of Christ. He was recruited for God's army, called to be an apostle, given instructions for what he should do next, and led by the hand, blind and humble, into the city. Can this still happen today?

I have often wondered why the Lord, after telling Paul what his assignment would be, also said, "I will show him how much he will suffer for Me." (Acts 9:16) Here is both God's wisdom and impartial justice. Paul was a terrorist who had meted out suffering and death to innocent saints. In his calling to the ministry, the Lord would allow a divine payback, causing him to taste some of what he had given to others. "What you sow, you reap." "Those who live by the sword, die by the sword." He would be driven to discover God's grace in the midst of his personal tribulations.

Besides this, God's general needed to have the stalwart resolve that would carry him through tough times. His character had to be forged in the fire of adversity. No sissies allowed! Later, Paul would write about his teammates and the battle-hardened companions who traveled with him. He called these men (and one-third of his team were women) "true yoke-fellows," "fellow-solders," and "fellow-workers" in the gospel. They endured hardship as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. And like real soldiers, many lost their lives in the battle. They were heroes of the faith.

Now let's move on to a key component, Paul's secret of successfully waging spiritual warfare. This has applications today in the spiritual conflict splitting the world into factions.

We know from Paul's epistle to the Ephesians that he considered the highest and most effective activity which any Christians could engage in was to wrestle and struggle against invisible evil forces. We know this because he culminated his letter with instructions for how to fight and how to stand (Eph. 6). Paul's letters typically moved from doctrinal foundations to practical applications. In Ephesians, he discussed the blood of Jesus, redemption by faith, the riches of grace, the unity of the Body of Christ, Ascension ministry offices, personal holiness, and then moved on to practical things such as marriage, parenting, employee relations, and finally, spiritual warfare. Notice, winning the war through prayer was the epitome, the peak of practical concerns. Everything else laid the foundation and was preliminary for successful spiritual warfare by the saints.

That is the point to which we have arrived today. The curtain is being drawn on the stage of planet earth. The real actors are now being shown. We are in a new age of war. It is an apostolic age in which God will conclude human history with the crowning of Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This age both demands and produces generals, specially commissioned "sent ones," ambassadors of the King who carry the Lord's highest authority to liberate and to govern. They are sent to people groups, to nations and territories, and to spheres of authority given them by the Holy Spirit. Their credentials include God's anointing to deliver the oppressed, divine wisdom to build, and unrelenting perseverance in the work. They are not afraid to die for their cause. They are spiritual fathers who raise sons in the faith. They act like Jesus. They are worthy of our prayers and our partnership and our support. Indeed the battle lines are drawn.

There are two major keys to waging war against the principality of evil which has enslaved over a billion souls through Islam. The first is this: love your enemy. The second is this: Use the prayer of agreement, two or three standing together in the name of Jesus, against dark powers.

No one can intercede for another without deciding to love them. We love people who are made in the image of God and for whom Christ died. We hate Satan and the works he perpetrates to enslave humanity. As Christians, our battle is not with flesh and blood. Civil government "bears not the sword in vain" and has authority to use force to keep the peace and to punish evil doers. But Jesus told Christians "turn the other cheek." How radical this idea is in the light of vendettas that have gone on for generations!

Love people but hate the devil's work that hurts people. Love those who are ensnared by evil power and pray for them. What does it mean to love people? A vital aspect of real love is forgiveness. You cannot love someone whom you refuse to forgive. You cannot love and have prejudice. You cannot love and harbor grudges. You cannot love and hate at the same time. Satan would delight in so offending Christians that we can no longer forgive. When Jesus hung on the cross, He interceded for His tormentors. He asked for forgiveness for those crucifying Him. He released overwhelming grace by forgiving. When Stephen was being stoned to death, he prayed for those who were killing him. He saw the glory of God and found grace to forgive his enemies. I am certain this action affected Saul of Tarsus, who was a witness of this murder.

Forgiveness is the standard of God's love. Hatred cannot be defeated by more hatred. It can only be defused and defeated by forgiveness and love.

God is a just God. He listens to the cry of the oppressed. When someone is offended and hurt, they have legal standing before God's Court, the seat of all authority, the Throne of the universe. The injured party has a right to appeal to the God of justice based on God's will and God's Word. Will they appeal for revenge, or for mercy? They can bind murder or loose grace. Satan accuses us before the Throne of God. He wants our sins to mount up into a vicious cycle of retribution and more violence. But Jesus intercedes for us continually!

As Americans, we are injured. Now what will we do? I can come before God as an offended American, demanding my rights, demanding justice, wanting revenge. But is that the way of Christ? What is God's higher purpose right now? Should I accuse or intercede? I believe a higher purpose can be served if I come to God as an agent of Christ's kingdom. By God's grace, I can decide to represent the interests of Christ in my prayers, not just American interests.

We want the rampage of hate and murder by evil doers to be stopped by force if necessary. There is a time for war. But I believe the best revenge (if you can call it that) is for millions of Muslims to be saved and converted to faith in Christ Jesus. Radicals have cursed at us, but we turn and implore God for mercy and the blessing of salvation to be poured out on them.

We need to take the battle to the enemy in united prayer and in proclamation of the truth. First, pray for our President and his cabinet. There was intense spiritual war over his election, but by the prayers of the saints, the right man for the hour was put in office. Anytime God wants to dismantle the devil's works, He begins by forming a team committed to that task. The Bush administration is such a team, prepared for this day of conflict. God has fashioned a weapon in this adminstration. The Lord says, "Terror assaults have not come from Me, but if they attack you, they will fall because of you." (paraphrase, Isaiah 54:14-16).

Proclamation is also a weapon. We use the words of our mouth to inject into the atrmosphere the truth of God based on the Holy Bible, the truth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, risen from the dead, the King of glory, our Savior. While Muslims chant their call to prayer five times a day, Christians must unashamedly declare their confession: "Jesus Christ is Lord!" Words spoken in faith empower spiritual beings to act, whether evil spirits or holy angels.

We declare Jesus Christ is Lord, not Muhammad. We declare Jesus purchased humanity by His blood and He alone has the right to rule the nations. We prophesy that the kingdom of God will fill the earth and the glory of Christ will be seen in the nations. We proclaim that there is no name higher than Jesus our Lord. Our words become a sword used by the Spirit of God.

May the death of thousands result in the salvation of millions. May God hear the travailing cry of His wounded people. May heaven hear and take action. May the flow of oil money be diverted away from mosques and terrorists and toward good people who promote the gospel. May the stronghold of Islamic dominion be broken off the billion people in the 10-40 window. May confusion, division, and conflict come into the enemy's camp. May the prophets come forth out of the deserts, may the apostles stand up and enter the cities, and may the powers of heaven be shaken by the eternal gospel of Jesus and His unshakeable kingdom.

My constant petition is, "For the 5,000 killed by terrorists in America on September 11, I ask the Lord to raise up 5,000 apostles like Paul from within the Muslim nation who will not fear death but preach the resurrected Christ to their own people."

The fact is, prayer-cells out-number terrorist cells. There are millions of house churches, home prayer meetings and Bible studies, and neighborhood prayer watches already in existence around the world. Let all true believers who love our Lord Jesus now unite in concerted prayer for the salvation of our world, for evil to be uncovered and judged, for Christ to rule in the midst of His enemies. In this prayer campaign, we will not relent, we will not falter, and we will not fail.

The cross of cross requires it.

Ron Wood

Johannesburg, South Africa

www.touchedbygrace.org

Pastors on Probation, Jubilee of Healing & Golden Wine

The months of June and July were a turning point chronologically in the year. It marked moving from the first half to the last half of the year. This is also a significant period in God’s dealings with the Church. I will explain why it was a turning point in kairos time, a brief opportunity in which to hear and obey the LORD, a time to fast and pray, to repent and return. Any word from God requires our immediate response or else we have despised the His authority.

God has been speaking to His church about the restoration of apostles and prophets. Now, He is specifically addressing the critical issues of apostolic power and apostolic purpose.

"The office of the pastor is on probation." On the eleventh day of June, I awoke with these unusual words running through my mind. It seemed the Lord had been talking to me in my sleep.

By probation, I understood the Lord to be saying that a sentence had been handed down, but mercy from the Judge was delaying its implementation. Someone on probation has already been convicted of wrong doing. By office of the pastor, I understood the Lord to mean the congregational leader, the typical model we picture today of the local church’s senior pastor who oversees a church in a building whether that gathering is fifty or five hundred people.

Congregations have emerged as the de facto model of church life. In fact, they are an adaptation taken from the days of captivity, a synagogue form of former Temple worship. That doesn’t make them wrong. But we need to recognize that there is nothing sacrosanct about that particular model. It is just a practical tool to get the job done, an alternative method to extend the kingdom, a traditional strategy to preach the gospel, and an easy way to provide care for the people of God.

Other methods also work well in some locations and cultures. In the Book of Acts, Paul’s method was as an apostolic team that traveled from city to city, making disciples and planting cell or house churches. That was practical for his day for an era of new beginnings. Wherever we are, our model must serve our mission for the season we are in. To quote Derek Prince, "If it is not practical, it is not spiritual." Are we results oriented? Or stuck with a method because "that’s the way we always did it."

The popular congregational model takes many forms and is quite varied. For years, I have complained that the Pentecostals had imported a Baptist model of congregational church life, implementing Robert’s Rules of Order to run church meetings as though God’s word needed man’s system. But different streams have adopted different rules, and different gift-mixes in the leadership produced structures that met the need of that hour. When a leader emerges with grace for government, the church certainly develops along lines that seem more biblical and are more effective. Our grace-gifts determine our boundaries.

No one can build beyond their own calling and vision. You can’t exceed your calling, only fall short of it. A carpenter can’t be an architect. He’s not equipped for it. That isn’t a criticism, just an observation. The problem has been that church structures have been invented that have no basis in the Bible. Today the foundation of government and structure in the church has rested mostly on pastors, yet Paul said the foundation should be on apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:20). This error by default has produced a hybrid of church life that misses the mark.

Why would God say that pastors are on probation? I admire pastors and support their role! I think the pastors are the unsung heroes of the faith, bearing the heat of the day. But most pastors have settled for something less than God’s best. Quantity is substituted for quality. They fill up their pews but don’t make disciples. Yet Jesus wants to bring many sons to glory! That is both quantity and quality! God wants disciples. That’s our great commission. Perhaps we’ve lost the kingdom imperative. The congregational model measures success based on buildings, budgets, and buses. How many people attend my church? That vision misses the mark. God is concerned for more than just your congregation— He is after your whole city!

Apostles make spiritual sons. And, apostles have faith to take cities. They arrive on the scene (or emerge from within our ranks) with a different kind of spiritual DNA. They don’t settle for building solitary congregations. That vision is too small. They are generals in God’s army who are sent to un-seat principalities and liberate a city for Christ. Apostles think in terms of territory, not buildings on a street corner. Apostles see the need for spiritual leaders in a city to network together for the gospel’s sake. Their mission is to make war on the enemy. On the other hand, pastors offer maintenance for groups of people who have been saved within that city.

Think cities. Jonah was sent as a prophet to a city, Nineveh. God was concerned for the fate of that wicked city, that it might repent and be spared judgment. God wants whole cities to be saved. Jesus wept over a city, Jerusalem. He cried because they had not known the hour of their visitation, a unique opportunity characterized by kingdom envoys of prophets and the Chief Apostle Himself being present within her city walls.

A city is more than a socio-economic community. It is a also a battlefield where God wants to marshal His troops and destroy enemy forces. Cities were strategic in the Book of Acts for the extension of God’s kingdom. They still are. The church is meant to minister to the city, not just bring a few escapees to her meetings.

Despite our errors and mis-focus, fortunately, God rarely starts over. Usually, He gives us space to repent, to return and to do the first works, to re-hear what we missed, to begin obeying Him now. God gives us a "space for grace." God patiently re-speaks Himself into His people until the Word of God takes hold and affects our lives and our community of faith. In our cities, God wants His word to prevail, not just any one church or denomination. Jesus is Lord of our city!

Pastors are being offered an opportunity to allow the Head of the Church to adjust their thinking and modus operandi. It is time to partner with apostles and prophets, to network with other pastors, to break out of traditional molds so that vibrant church growth and God’s kingdom authority can be manifested among us. It is time to see evil spirits cast out and severe illnesses cured and whole households saved! When the government of the church gets right, the government of cities and nations will get right. How can this happen? A paradigm shift is needed. Then a power shift occurs.

We need an adjustment. Have you ever been to a chiropractor? Jesus is the Great Physician. He is a Kairos-Practor. In a moment, He can invade our space-time world. With one word, He can change everything. He can line up the backbone of the Church with an adjustment that makes us snap into alignment with the Head! Jesus can fix us so that the pain in the body goes away.

It is time to quit playing in our pastoral pond and start swimming in God’s apostolic river. Pastors who feel this call often seem frustrated and appear dissatisfied to their flock. Actually, they are keenly in touch with the heart of their Lord. But because we have few working models of the city church, believers who have known only congregational church can easily become critical of these front-line pastors who carry an apostolic-prophetic calling.

It is time to think strategically regarding your whole city, not just your individual success in your church. Don’t neglect your church, but lift up your eyes and enlarge your vision. Think of the resources God has placed in your city, the other churches and leaders, the outside help you can bring in, the facilities you have built, the ministries God has planted among you, the felt needs in your community. Marshal resources to win your city, not just build your church. See the whole church in the whole city, not just your congregation.

Sometimes to win big, we need to think small. Don’t overlook the power of small groups. A pastor who meets with a handful of trainees, offering mentoring through relational training, can have a permanent affect on those lives. A small gathering of pastors praying in earnest for their city can have a giant effect on their region. The prayer of agreement based on God’s word is our primary spiritual weapon of warfare. Gatherings of believers in house fellowships in their neighborhoods can powerfully affect the community. Understand, the church has three layers: 1) The Church in the City; 2) Local Congregations; 3) and Cells, or little flocks that meet for nurture and prayer. Congregations are in the middle. They need to reach upward, into the city, and downward, into cells. Our structures should serve our mission. Are they working? If they don’t produce results, change them!

Apostolic purpose involves whole cities. God is now releasing apostolic power to accomplish that objective. Grace-gifts that have long been dormant are now being restored in order to equip God’s people for works of service.

I have seen a vision of a closet in God’s house of faith. It is filled with mantles, robes, garments of power and grace. Elijah’s mantle is still hanging in God’s closet! The ancient mantles of power that clothed men and women of renown are now being taken out of the closet and draped on the shoulders of modern prayer warriors and preachers, empowering saints who appropriate their anointing by faith. Healing centers are arising again. It is transformation time for true believers. The first Pentecost of the new millennium has now occurred.

Jubilee of Healing

God’s kairos openings from heaven are worked out in our chronos space-time. In the fullness of time, God sends His word and in due course we see the results. My friend Sanford Cooper says, "God is not time conscious like we are, but He is time-sensitive."

God’s "suddenlies" are obscured until they dramatically burst forth, always at just the right time. Remember, Jesus was a nine-month baby. Likewise, we become pregnant with God’s rhema word. Like Mary, we must carry it to term. God’s word and our response to it, determines our season. I believe God is telling many prophets that we are now in a season of restoration. It is Jubilee time! Jubilee in the Bible is a celebration that marks fifty years. It marked the season of release and restoration in the Old Testament like Pentecost marked the outpouring of the Spirit in the New Testament.

Fifty years ago, God did something amazing in the Church. A sustained season of miracles occurred. An example of this was June 5, 1951, the beginning of the great stadium campaign led by Tommy Hicks in Argentina. That revival affected the whole city and the nation. Miracles confirmed the word and multiplied thousands were saved. Today, the Argentine revival has produced an on-going renewal that is refreshing the whole Body of Christ. Its repercussions continue to touch the world and have affected Toronto and Pensacola and the modern global prayer-movement (for example, Ed Silvoso and Carlos Annocondia).

The era of around 1948 through the early fifties was an unusual revival. It was primarily in America. It preceded the modern charismatic renewal. This powerful revival was marked by miracles of healing with signs and wonders beyond description. It was a season of raw power. The gift of faith for miracles was functioning in the Church. Although the gift was from heaven, it was carried by earthly men. Sin and carnality eventually spoiled that revival. But its decline did not do away with its reality. Awesome evangelists were raised up whose ministries shook nations. Church historians call it the "Latter Rain" or the "Healing Revival." It was a resurgence of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Giant tents marched across the country filled with people being saved and healed. These were the days of William Branham, Raymond T. Richey, Jack Coe, and Oral Roberts. Gordon Lindsey, who founded Christ for the Nations, recorded much of this history for us. My life was impacted by one of those pioneers, evangelist Richard Vinyard, who had a remarkable gift of faith. This healing revival was short-lived but powerful. It was a foretaste of things to come. It left an indelible mark on the Church.

Fifty years have passed since that great revival. It is time to repent so that what was lost can be restored. We can’t do God’s work without God’s power. We can’t substitute education or the respect of the world for the anointing. It is time to seek the Lord for a return of the Holy Spirit’s raw power.

Power is coming back to the church. But this time, it won’t be marred by independence and arrogance and competition. It will be sanctified by apostolic purpose and guarded by teams of leaders who in honor prefer one another, who love the church more than they love their own ministries. Power often comes back in seasons and in cycles. For my life, the September-October season has always been significant, a "window" of time when I have discovered new grace or moved into new opportunities. God respects the calendar He created. Therefore, I believe this Jewish New Year and Day of Atonement will be an awesome turning point on earth’s timetable.

Apostolic power and purpose are returning with a rush. The prayers of God’s people are mounting up to the altar of heaven, the incense is being mixed in, and holy fire is being cast on the earth. Shaking is about to occur. Armies of angels are entering the harvest. Intercessors won’t be disappointed. Leaders are being promoted even as we watch, promoted into intimacy with Christ, into authority over the devil, into the privilege of winning their city for God’s kingdom.

Golden Wine for a June Bride

June is a month of many anniversaries. My wife and I were married June first, 1969. She was a June bride. Another dream came to me the morning of June 16^th. It also speaks to this season, this space of grace we are currently experiencing. In this dream, I saw a wine glass filled with golden wine.

Usually we think of biblical wine as red, a deep grape color. Red wine comes from purple grapes. Purple is the color of royalty, a king’s color. The wine of Christian Communion is red to symbolize the blood of Christ. That’s the cup of blessing we receive, the holy eucharist of the Lord’s Table. Thank God for the blood that washes away our sins, that seals the new covenant, that testifies to our finished redemption! Hallelujah!

But this wine I saw was straw-colored. Anyone who knows anything about wine knows that golden wine is typically sweet, like piesporter goldtrophen auslese, from the mature white grapes, not the green young fruit of the vine. Golden wine comes late in the harvest from hand-picked sun-ripened grapes left long on the vine. It is usually expensive, hard to come by, and highly prized. That’s the late-season wine which I saw.

Nature produces two kinds of grapes, the colored variety and the white variety. It seems to me that God uses these two images to represent two aspects of His great love toward humanity: grace and glory. The red wine symbolizes grace, the golden wine symbolizes glory. The first cup of Christ’s we partake of is grace based on the shed blood of Christ. That is basic to our salvation. The second cup we can partake of is glory, based on His manifest presence as He shows Himself to His adoring Bride. When this wine is served, the next event on God’s calendar is a Wedding Feast! Then the Church will reunited with Jesus forever.

Glory is now being poured out in a crystal goblet for the bride, a golden wine being offered by the One who loves the Church and gave Himself for her. An invitation to intimate communion is being extended from heaven, to make your heart merry, to dance with joy. Grace has paved the way for glory. His love is intoxicating! The Bride of Christ is beginning to reflect the glory of her soon-to-appear Bridegroom.

"For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." (Psalm 84:11 KJV) It was never enough for Jesus to simply redeem us. He also wants us to be with Him where he is, to be partakers of His glory (see John 17). This was Jesus’ intent from the beginning. "I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom." (Matthew 26:29 NAS)

The golden wine speaks to me of the celebration of God’s revelation, the unfolding of the drama which grace initiated before time began, the consummation of our Father’s purpose which finds fulfillment in bringing many sons to glory.

But a word of warning: while grace is free, glory costs something. No flesh can glory in God’s presence. Something has to happen to us that humbles our flesh. Glory is preceded by and accompanied with suffering. Glory and suffering are linked together in the experience of the prophets and in the predictions of the apostles. God’s kingdom has an aspect of glory not yet seen on the earth. Are we bold like Moses to ask to see His glory? Then we must be ready to be purified by fire.

Many believers today are praying the prayer of Jabez (1 Chronicles 4:10). Jabez prayed for grace and blessings. That is well and good. But another prayer is also beginning to arise, mostly from leaders who have come to the end of themselves and desperately need more of God. That is the prayer of Moses. Jabez changed his destiny by praying contrary to his birth name. And God heard him. We should all rise above our circumstances by calling on God. But Moses went a level higher than that when he interceded for God’s people. Chosen for a difficult task, he prayed, "Let me know your ways so that I can know you and have your favor." (Exodus 33:13) Then he added this final request: "Show me your glory!"(vs18). He went beyond grace to glory.

But God wouldn’t do it. Instead, He showed him His goodness. It is not a sin to seek to see God’s glory. Those who see it are never the same. But if we fall short of glory, at least we get His goodness! That’s not bad, is it? The full revelation of God’s glory awaited the New Testament era. Now, grace has paved the way not only for goodness, but also for glory. By faith in Jesus, through the gospel, we get to see "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6 NAS) Glory is resident in a Person.

The goodness of God is leading us to repentance. His overflowing grace is causing us to rejoice. But that is not a solitary rejoicing apart from our brothers. We are repenting of our independence, our arrogance, our criticism of one another in different parts of the church and in different ethnic groups. The same sins that caused God to lift His hand of blessing from the revival of healing in the fifties will also cause Him to keep His glory from resting on us in this new millennium. "You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you." (Genesis 43:5) Likewise, the full light of Jesus’ glory awaits our reconciliation and reunion in Christ.

We are not alone in the Body of Christ. We need one another. This new revival that’s coming is not individualistic, but corporate. It will honor our relationships, our need to be gathered around the Ascension Gift ministries, our need to walk in covenant love with one another, our need to team up to fulfill the Great Commission, our need to be in a community of worshiping believers welcoming His presence. We need to recognize the gifts that God has set among us and receive Jesus as He invests Himself by His Spirit in His church. We are being readied to see the unveiled glory of His face as His appearing draws near.

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© 2001 by Ron Wood. Ron and his wife, Lana, have been pastors more than 30 years. He has served as a State Coordinator for the U. S. Strategic Prayer Network. Ron is best known for his prophetic writing ministry. Ron & Lana are a ministry team. They are members of Reconciliation Ministries International led by Bishop Joseph Garlington. Ron & Lana were sent to Africa to help equip emerging apostolic leaders in the developing church. If you wish to copy this article for free distribution, permission is hereby granted to duplicate it provided there are no changes or omissions made to this article and this byline is included. The author asserts his moral rights of ownership. For more information or helpful literature, visit our web site at touchedbygrace.org, or e-mail us at ron@touchedbygrace.org.