Legitimate Churches

il⋅le⋅git⋅i⋅mate
/adjective, noun, verb, -mat⋅ed, -mat⋅ing.
–adjective

1.born of parents who are not married to each other; born out of wedlock: an illegitimate child.

2.not legitimate; not sanctioned by law or custom.
3.unlawful; illegal: an illegitimate action.


20Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
Revelation 2:20-23

The church of Thyatira was a legitimate church work of the Lord whose very existence was being threatened by illegitimate authority and children. Children are legitimate when they are the born of covenant relationship. Many people start churches when they themselves are not in proper relationship with the Lord. Without founding their lives on the rock of Christ’s word put into practice, they will surely fail.

There are four legitimate reasons I can come up with for a church to form, as prompted by the Holy Spirit:

1.) The Lord desires the Gospel to be taken to a people that have never before heard it.

2.) The Lord forms a team with a narrowly focused objective, a college ministry for example and then later expands the mission of the team to include whole families.

3.) The Lord wants to re-introduce a fresh revelation of a biblical truth to an area that has forgotten it and uses the vehicle of a church to do so.

4.) The Lord, in each generation needs to present the gospel in a way that they can relate to it more readily; a new church being a part of becoming ‘all things to all men so that by all possible means’ (I Cor. 9:22) it can save some.

The first reason is so obvious we don’t need to discuss it. The second happens more often than you might think. A case in point is the ‘Church On The Move’ founded by Pastor Willie George in July of 1987 in Tulsa OK with 163 people in attendance. Pastor George had been a Children’s Minister for a number of years before starting Church On The Move. The church was not a church plant but a completely independent work that was born out of the more narrowly defined mission of reaching children for Christ. Today Church On the Move is a mega-church reaching thousands for Christ.

Let’s turn to the third reason for a moment. I have friends whom I believe the Lord is using to start a Mennonite Church in the Kalamazoo, MI area near where I live. Will and Bess Fitzgerald represent all that is best of that tradition. The Body of Christ, if they have ears to hear, will greatly benefit from a fresh revelation of the re-introduced truths presented.

The last reason should be obvious to us as well. While the message of the Gospel has never changed, the vehicle used to bring it must be updated regularly. Post-modern churches are an example. Regardless of how you feel about the Emergent Church movement- they are capturing the attention and imagination of this present younger generation.

These are legitimate reasons for forming a church, yet they must be carried out by legitimate children. In the next blog we will discuss the Lord’s definition in John Chapter 8 of who is and who is not a legitimate child of God.

Churches and their Fathers and Mothers- Part I

I’d like to do a few blogs about what churches are, how they form, who qualifies as a true ‘father’ or ‘mother’ of a church and a healthy way that churches and leaders can form and grow in relationship to one another. Paul’s word’s to the church at Corinth are a good starting point:

Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
I Corinthians 4:15-17

Churches, like families, have unique characteristics. In the 32 years I have been in the faith I have observed those that are very loose-knit fellowships with virtually no structure as well as tightly controlled and monitored groups. There are those that have no affiliation with even one other church and those that are tightly tied in with their denominational structure. Paul founded many churches and related to them as a father.

Have you ever wondered when a group of people becomes a ‘church’? Yes, I am aware that every individual is already a part of the Body of Christ and in that respect they already are a part of the communion of saints. What I mean is this- when do they become a household of faith with a unique identity? When should people decide to start their own group and does just deciding to do so make it a reality? Many, many groups that started their own church have watched it slowly (or sometimes very quickly) fail and become a bad memory for everyone involved.

There have been a lot of networks of churches that have formed outside of denominational churches in the last 25 years. A number of independent churches with no affiliation with any group have also been started, but my experience has been that these groups become ‘ingrown’ and as a result off-balance in their perspective and ministry. Of course, this can still happen in denominational groups as well but their structure usually requires their leaders to relate to each other on a regular basis.

The Lord said that wherever two or more were gathered in His name that He would be in the midst of them. This, in its’ smallest form, could be considered a church gathering. He called, lived with, ministered to and fellowshipped with them. In fact, the Greek word for church, ekklesia, literally means ‘to call out of’. To come out of the world and into the church, which in turn will go back to the world and call them out as well. They are ‘in the world’ but ‘not of’ it.

There is really only one legitimate reason to start a unique body of believers and that is the call of the Lord to do so. Any other motive lays a bad foundation that will, when tested, fail the test. There are thousands of small groups that identify themselves as a church right now; many meet in homes or small buildings. I believe the Lord is forming them because of a great harvest of souls about to take place. They may only be in embryo stage right now and like an embryo, look nothing like what they will when ‘born’. Care must be taken by the leadership to allow the Lord to lead, guide and grow that congregation with those who have been appointed as five-fold ministers (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers).

If hearts are drawn to one another to work together for the Kingdom of God, it would not be unusual for those people to want to see their families ministered to in every aspect of their lives individually and corporately. Usually a leader or several leaders will already be present who will meet some but not all of the needs of the fledgling congregation. Affiliation with other churches is essential for continued spiritual health.

In the next blog, we’ll examine how affiliation can happen in a healthy manner. Who qualifies as a spiritual father or mother and how do we really become a part of a larger church family; not just in name only but from the heart?

Old and New Testament Prophets

Is there a difference between the way Old Covenant and New Covenant prophets operate? Some would say that OT prophets were sent only to decry the sins of the nations and then pronounce judgment for their stubborn refusal to repent. The same would argue that the NT prophets only function is to ‘strengthen, encourage and comfort’ (I Cor 14:3). I have been reading through Isaiah 24-27 recently, and have been considering Paul’s words regarding New Covenant ministry:

Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
2 Cor.3:4-6

There is no question that the great majority of OT prophecy confronts the sin of the nations and God’s intention to severely chasten and/or destroy those people who refuse repentance. Isaiah 24:5 speaks of the peoples of all the earth having broken ‘the everlasting covenant’. The chapter is frightening to read for it speaks of a curse that ‘consumes the earth’ (vs. 6) and predicts a time when the earth will have ‘utterly collapsed’ (vs. 19). It would be easy to suppose that this was because salvation by faith in Jesus Christ had not yet been revealed and that men could not yet be made a new creation from within. Therefore, we might reason, men were incapable of any real change.

But in spite of every effort the Church makes to evangelize the world the Apostle John is shown in the vision of the book of Revelation that mankind (with the exception of the remnant church) will at one point in the future collectively turn away from the Lord.

Isaiah 25 gives us the great hope of the salvation of the Lord for all peoples (vs 6), of the removal of death from the earth (vs. 7-8), how He will ‘wipe away the tears from all faces’ and ‘remove the disgrace of His people’ (vs. 8).

Certainly the New Covenant heralds the grace of God for repentance and salvation. The emphasis is that men everywhere are to repent and believe the good news. Is there ever a time when a prophet of God today would declare God’s judgment on a nation(s) collectively, or are those revelations no longer a part of God’s working in human affairs?

I believe I was given a picture regarding how prophetic revelations concerning salvation and judgment work together. As I read Isaiah 24 I ‘saw’ a vine trellis with the poles of the trellis starting at the earth and fanning out upward to the heavens. I believe the trellis represents the unchangeable revelation of the OT prophets regarding the trajectory of human history culminating in the final judgment of God on all humanity. It is fixed and cannot be changed.

Then I ‘saw’ a vine that grew on the trellis, representing the growth and development of the people of God; first Israel and then the Church. The vine, while living and not under judgment itself followed along the trajectory of the trellis as it twisted around the poles on its path up toward the heavens. Its destiny is intertwined with the revelation of the OT prophets.

The vine reached to the top of the trellis fully grown, flowering and bearing fruit. This is a picture of the saints, both Messianic Jews and gentiles coming to a place of full maturity and fruition on the earth.

The OT prophets pronounced much judgment, but also planted the seedlings of the revelation of the Christ’s salvation. They outlined both the salvation and the judgment of the Lord. Both Jesus and the Apostles drew from their revelation and expanded upon it.

Peter quotes Joel 2:10 in Acts chapter 2 when preaching salvation, and in that chapter Joel brings the same revelation as Isaiah does in chapter 24:23, while promising the outpouring of the Spirit and the salvation of men.

It would seem that prophets today can do the same- so long as they continue to emphasize that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but desires men everywhere to repent. After all, we are heralds of the good news of a New Covenant; one that gives life, restoration and light in the midst of death, destruction and darkness.

Blessings and Judgment

'What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away. I would like you to be free from concern.'
I Corinthians 7:29-31

There has been a lot of talk on the internet about the many potential and present crises we are facing- economic, political, religious, moral, etc. To consider them collectively can take your breath away. The response I hear from the Body of Christ is mixed: some believe we should ignore these things, others argue about how the NT and OT concepts of judgment differ. Others seem to be panicking a little and preparing for the worst. David Wilkerson's recent post about a coming world calamity has gotten everyone's attention.

While I don’t pretend to have answers for all this I do believe we need to be positioned with the right attitude toward whatever we might face. Paul’s words above remind us that everything in this world is passing away. So we need to as if none of the things we face will last- we should hold all things lightly in view of the soon return of Christ.

A comprehensive approach to whatever life brings is needed. Paul tells us there is a pattern for living in Philippians:

Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.
Philippians 3:17

He goes on in chapter four to lay out that pattern:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:4-9

There's a four point plan presented here:

1.) Rejoice that the Lord is returning soon!

2.) Don't be anxious- pray!

3.) Think always on what is good!

4.) Whatever your mentors do that's good practice in your own life!

The sure promise of God is that the peace of God and the God of peace will be with you.