As we get into “God’s Commission to Pastors” we are going to examine it through the passages in Ezekiel 34. First let’s define our terms.
What is a “commission”?
Commission — 1. the act of committing or giving in charge. 2. an authoritative order, charge, or direction. 3. authority granted for a particular action or function. 18. to authorize, send on a mission. [Source Random House Collegiate Dictionary]
What is a Pastor?
The rate at which a full on persecution of Christianity in America is being prepared is on the increase. World Net Daily reports that a San Diego pastor is being threatened with fines for holding Bible studies in his home. Here is how things work. Instead of outright banning of something like Bible studies in your home, the government demands an expensive permit process to go on.
There’s a subtle trap in much of Christianity today, and it is as old as book of James. We’ve got a lot of emphasis on turning up for meetings, but not a lot of emphasis on checking whether people are ACTUALLY DOING what the Word of God says. Going to lots of meetings is NOT a substitute for doing the things that God commands – and there are a lot of them that can only be done OUTSIDE of church meetings.
James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
I’m thankful for people that go to Christian meetings where the Word of God is preached, and we all need that. However, there is a shocking lack of personal coaching for Christians. Honestly, how concerned are we for the people we know on the issue of whether they are actually DOING what the Lord tells us to do through His Word.
I believe God has led my family and I together with another Christian family to begin a house church in Brisbane, Australia. There is a growing trend towards hosting the meetings of the Body of Christ in private homes. This is the way Christianity first spread, and it will be way in the End Times Church also.
Strategy for a Multiplying House Church Movement
I’ve given some consideration to what I believe is an appropriate framework for believers in a house church setting who are serious about fulfilling the Great Commission. I’m talking about people who are serious about preaching the Gospel to all people, and making disciples, who choose to embrace a church life that is closer in form and hopefully in power to that of the early Christian church. Here then, are some of the key elements I believe are important.
1.
I am pondering again the whole issue of house churches. Having participated in some of the best “megachurches” or “wannabe-megachurches” in the country, often led by some really great leaders, where the Holy Spirit IS definitely working, my heart still hungers for “something more”. And it could never be what I have seen over the years in Australia amongst people who want to “be the church” and not “go to church”. It can’t just be a refuge for people hurt by ambitious leaders – people who want to do what is mostly comfortable and easy in the name of being “led by the Holy Spirit”.
I was brought up in a part of the Anglican church where we were encouraged to read and study the Bible for ourselves. We were taught that the beliefs we have concerning theology and the gospel should be based on what the Scriptures say, and not merely on the pronouncements of “God’s chosen leaders”. Of course no church movement has really been able to follow this principle through fully until now, but it is a noble thing to at least espouse the principle.
When you read church history, beginning from the time of the apostles and on through the rise of the institutional church, the Dark Ages, the Reformation, the Revival moments and the pentecostal/charismatic movements, it becomes very clear that Satan has always been trying to derail the Church of God.
It is the Church which is the primary object of God’s love, and therefore the primary object of Satan’s hatred.
The “early church fathers”, those leaders and writers who came after the time of the apostles, were always trying to preserve the unity of the church, and oppose heretics and here
Brethren, Jesus Christ is Lord (master) of the Church. HE is the one who bought us all with His blood. (That is to say, by his death on the cross, He paid for your sins and purchased you and me out of the hand of the devil). It is now our duty to submit to Jesus Christ absolutely. HE is Lord of all.
I hope these Scriptures below will suffice to make God’s viewpoint on this matter absolutely clear to you, that both corporately and individually, we are owned by God.
” …
The book of Revelation chapter 17 makes it clear that there is a Great Harlot (Prostitute) with whom all the kings of the earth commit fornication.
Rev 17:1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters,
Rev 17:2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”
Waters here represent peoples.
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