A Mandate for the Church in 2010

Sometimes people who write or respond to a Facebook post are doing so by the Spirit of God. They are flowing in the Holy Ghost such that what they write overflows from the indwelling. This is such a series of comments and a post that started it all. One of the reasons I have come to appreciate the people with whom I am networked on Facebook is the the depth exhibited by this thread of understanding. I post it here because it matters. We must be challenged to make "Church" real and stop playing around.

From Brian Simmons:
Nothing is more important for a church than to disciple, equip, and release its members into active ministry. In 2010 I encourage you to begin an emphasis called – Discipleship Matters! The place to start is answering this question: What would a fully equipped and ‘discipled believer’ look like?

These profound comments followed:

Scary to the Enemy, Delightful to the King!

Psalm 149: 4For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. 5Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds. 6 May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, 7 to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, 8 to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, 9 to carry out the sentence written against them.

This is the glory of ALL his saints.

That spiritual fierceness is a combo of: All the gifts, all the fruits, and the sevenfold Spirit--each emulated, taught on, encouraged, challenged on (exhortations and rebukes), nurtured & developed, and practiced in the context of warning the idle, encouraging the timid, helping the weak, and becoming humbly patient--eek--w/ all, 1 Thess 5.

Clothed in humility but glowing in the dark

A Force to be reckoned with!!!...filled with LOVE...motivated by MERCY...moving in POWER of the Holy Spirit...extending FORGIVENESS.. doing all that is possible to LIFT UP THE POOR in mind , body and spirit...walking in WISDOM and DISCERNMENT...learning and speaking the TRUTH...ministering HEALING...leading the WAY...Being a WORSHIPER and a LOVER of Jesus...simply being the BEST OF THE BEST as we act like our ABBA, our Father God while walking in all humility and grace

I see an army of Jesus People who heal like He healed, live like He lived, threaten the status quo like He did, and are persecuted to the point of death like He was.

I see men and women, young and old realizing that something is terribly wrong with the lives of the average believer; who fall out of love with the world and who cut covenant together to change the world with the power of our ascended savior.

People who stop seeking to save their own lives, but decide that whatever the cost and whatever the consequence - we must pull a generation from Hell; empty the hospitals with the power of God; and raise the banner of holiness to the Lord, in a land where entertainment and worldliness has captivated the hearts of even the best of us.

God is looking for a people who will be committed to that which grieves his heart the most. I am continually convicted by my own lack of commitment and faith. Let the words of a godless communist convict the hearts of believers today. Fidel Castro said: "I began revolution with 82 men. If I had to do it again, I do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and plan of action." Why is it that the godless can so simply change the world, while the Church is left behind in the dust? If only the people of God understood absolute faith and commitment to this extent!

I am so broken to see the Church fully committed to Jesus Christ. We don't need more flash or more of the world. We need total devotion to Jesus. I know that I'm where I should be yet, but I'm going there. I owe Him too much to offer anything less.

Both in the church and in the field - if we lead people to the Lord but leave them to flounder before they know how to 'chew their food', we drop the ball. The unchurched and now the unparented generations in our midst even need retroactive discipleship - more mothers! more fathers! They're so hungry! That and the glimpse of the heart of God for all of us has to be the juice behind our passion to GO

Disciples have been with Jesus. Maybe unschooled, uneducated. Maybe people the world considered foolish (so God could confound the wise). Uncompromising. True disciples will be like their teacher, and they will obviously be different because they've been 'with Jesus.' And disciples will be recognized by their Love. Following the new commandments Jesus gave to fulfill the law. Our hearts in tune with Hìs. Understanding His will as 'He causes our thoughts to be agreeable to Hìs will'... Out of Love and obedience- the power will flow. Probably more than we realize if our eyes and hearts are fixed on Him!

A fully equipped and discipled believer would be "armed and dangerous"- able to turn the world upside down....ready to start a revolution.