No More Lone Rangers!

Back in the early days of television, unlike now, only two superheroes dominated the screen: Superman and the Lone Ranger. Siding with good, the Lone Ranger was independent, operated on his own agenda and wandered belonging to no particular community. He wore a mask and would slip in and out of town anonymously.

Increasingly today, many Christians are adopting the Lone Ranger lifestyle. They visit various churches and attend numerous conferences and events. But they don’t become involved in a local church community and so remain on the fringes, unknown, unsupported and underutilized.

For these Lone Ranger Christians, retaining their independence and keeping their options open as they feel “led by the Spirit” is highly important, but they are missing a foundational understanding of their calling in Christ. We are not called to be nomadic Lone Rangers for Christ on a solitary journey. Abba God knows we need loving support, and He calls us to be interdependent servants in the community of believers under properly aligned apostolic authority.

The writer of Hebrews exhorts us not to forsake the assembly, in other words, the local church (Hebrews 10:25). Then in Hebrews 13:17, we hear this message: “Submit to your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.” Thus Scripture helps us understand that the Christian life is a community life.

It is also a life lived through proper apostolic alignment. In his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul explains, “Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

“Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching… Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-15).

Abba God's plan for each of His children is that we would fully embrace the fivefold ministry of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher. As we come into this alignment, mutually submitted to authority and to one another, we will be built up in the unity of our faith. This is the only way that we can become mature in Christ. Without this alignment, the Lone Ranger Christians remain alone, struggling to mature, wandering from one teaching to the next. They do not have the support they need to grow in unity to their fullness in Christ.

The last prayer request Jesus made before His crucifixion was that all of His followers would come into unity in Him. Psalm 133 explains that submission to properly aligned authority brings unity and blessing to everyone. Discover the blessings of unity in your own life. Personally give yourself over to the lordship of Jesus Christ, and commit to become an active member in a local church that is aligned with all five of the ministry offices in full operation.

Please join us this Sunday, as we will have a special guest speaker, Winkie Pratney, sharing at our 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. services.

A New Wineskin

“New wine is never put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved” (Matthew 9:17).

Jesus gave this reply when He was asked why His disciples didn’t fast as the disciples of other teachers commonly did. His response indicates that a profound change was occurring, one that would need a whole new way of thinking about how to obtain righteousness with God. In essence He was saying to them, “You are still approaching God based on your merit, but I am introducing you to a whole new way of living in right relationship with God.” In other words, “The change I am bringing is so profound, you can't simply fit it into your current ways of understanding and doing things.”

Last week I sent a personal letter indicating that God is doing a new thing. Our local church, HRock, our international apostolic network, HIM, and our seminary and training center, WLI, are merging into Harvest Apostolic Center (HAC). Being an apostolic center is not a form of reorganization; it is a new wineskin, an entirely new way of being the Church and advancing God's Kingdom.

An apostolic center represents a new model of kingdom authority. It provides a new structure for advancing God's kingdom culture to every sphere of influence in society and to every nation. It carries a fresh vision of how the Church is delivering the gospel to a world that has become a global community. It does not replace the local church, but it does differ in several important ways.

Typically a local church focuses on growing the individual members of the church and providing outreach to the surrounding community. An apostolic center focuses on equipping, launching and empowering the church to fulfill its destiny of advancing God's Kingdom, even if it is outside the local community. The emphasis in the local church is on fellowship and personal ties between members, while the members of an apostolic center share a common vision for social transformation and their role in promoting it.

The local church conducts most, if not all of its activities within the cultural sphere of religion and instructs members how to support the church and its mission. The apostolic center targets all seven mountains of culture (media, arts and entertainment, family, government, business, religion, education). Apostolic centers equip members to fulfill their God-given destiny in all these areas.

The local church normally has people operating in the offices of pastor and teacher, and possibly evangelist. The apostolic center will have the five-fold ministry in full operation: apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers and evangelists. The apostolic center is led by an apostle, while the local church is led by a senior pastor or lead pastor. The local church is governed by a board of elders or the congregation (depending on how the church is structured). The apostolic center is guided by an apostolic council.

Apostolic centers are actually hubs for an apostolic network of churches that may cover a region, a nation or even the entire world. The network is relational, built on Spirit-led connections between apostolic leaders. In contrast, the local church is likely to be affiliated with a denominational network governed by legal and organizational boundaries. Some local churches are being called through a transformational process to become apostolic centers. Many local churches retain their call to continue as local churches.

Both apostolic centers and local churches are necessary to fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus to go into all the world and preach the gospel of God’s Kingdom.

Please join us this Sunday as we will have a special guest speaker, David Gyertson, Headmaster of Maranatha High School, share at the 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. services.

God Is Doing a New Thing!

Can God, who never changes, also do a new thing? Although this is not a trick question, the answer initially may not be that obvious. Throughout Scripture, God reassures us that no matter what we do, He remains constant and changeless (Malachi 3:6-8). What He is telling us is that His essential nature never changes. We may fail Him, but He will never fail to keep His promises to us. He will always love us, deliver us from trouble and provide for our needs.

Although who He is and His purposes toward us never change, the ways He accomplishes His purposes can and do change. God works through His Spirit, frequently breaking out of old established patterns. For example, in Isaiah 43:15-21, God tells His people, “I am about to do a new thing. Now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it?”

When God pronounced this to Israel, they had been exiles in Babylon for decades. They were demoralized and had lost sight of their call to be God's chosen people. They remembered an earlier time in their history when they were in bondage in Egypt, and they longed for God to deliver them again in a mighty way. God was telling them, “Pay attention! I am going to do something new and do it in a very short time.”

God was about to deliver them in a way they never would have suspected. Instead of raising up a new Moses, He would act through a pagan ruler, Cyrus, the King of Persia, who would conquer Babylon and allow the Jewish people to return to their homeland. God was going to do something totally new, something His people had never experienced before. They would have to watch, be open and listen for it. They would need to be ready for the new way that God would act as His Spirit worked among them.

Another powerful example of God doing a new thing was seen in the ministry of Jesus Christ. The Pharisees were dedicated to keeping the Law and had developed a complex system of rules they thought helped them do this. But Jesus consistently violated their rules. The Pharisees were convinced that Jesus was breaking the Law, but He repeatedly told them, “I have not come to destroy (misinterpret) the Law, but to fulfill (correctly interpret) it” (Matthew 5:17). Jesus interpreted the Law to them, trying to help them understand that the essence of the Law was heart motivation, not a set of external behaviors (“You have heard it said, but I say to you…”).

The Pharisees never understood the new thing that God was doing in their midst through Jesus. In their blindness and inability to be open to God's Spirit, determined to maintain the status quo, they finally crucified Jesus, convinced that they were ridding themselves of a dangerous heretic.

When God does a new thing, it frequently catches people off guard and upsets them. But we must remain open to the move of His Spirit among us as He does something new. Two days ago, I sent a personal letter informing you of the transformation of HRock Church, HIM and WLI into Harvest Apostolic Center (HAC). This is much more than reorganization or a name change. God is doing something new in our midst, calling us into a new way of being His Church and bringing His Kingdom to the world.

In the weeks ahead, I will be explaining this new work of being an apostolic center and what God is calling you to as He does this new thing!

Come join us this Sunday at 9:30 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. I will be teaching on “The Harvest Is Young,” Part 2 of our current series on “Reaching the Harvest.”

Where's Your Head Pointed?

When I was in middle school, my best friend had a brother, Christopher, who was four years younger than us. He would often tag along and could be very annoying, but one thing I remember about him always brings a smile to my face. If we spotted something interesting, like a Great Dane in the park, and started talking about it, Christopher would begin to whine, “Where is it?” We would point, but if he still couldn't see it, he would tell us, “Point my head!” We would then physically turn his head until he spotted the topic of our conversation.

It's an amusing memory, but it's actually an illustration of an important principle in our adult life. Where we point our heads—that is, what we choose to focus our minds on—determines the reality we live in daily.

Think for a moment: Where has your head been pointed this past week? If you focused on the news, your mind is probably full of thoughts about the possibility of an Ebola pandemic or World War III beginning in the Middle East, a new Cold War with Russia, wildfires raging out of control in the Northwest or the impact of two hurricanes currently bearing down on Hawaii. These thoughts can leave you feeling overwhelmed and out of control, for there are no easy answers, no quick fixes for these problems.

As Christians, we are commanded to remember that we are citizens of another realm, a heavenly one (Philippians 3:20). Like ambassadors, we dwell in a foreign country, but we represent our home, the Kingdom of God, to those who are not yet heavenly citizens. Therefore, it is important for us to keep our heads pointed to the things that are taking place in God's Kingdom. Colossians 3:2 urges us, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on the things of the earth.”

I like the way The Message interprets Colossians 3:2: “Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up and be alert to what is going on in Christ—that's where the action is. See things from His perspective.”

We can't accurately represent God's Kingdom if we are unaware of what is happening there. For example, did you know that Christianity is advancing more rapidly today than at any other time in history? Cities, and even nations, are being transformed as people groups embrace Christ and the good news of His Kingdom. Indonesia, the most Muslim country in the world, is converting to Christianity at an unprecedented rate. Currently 35 percent of the population is Christian.

Incredible signs and wonders are occurring around the world, especially in places that are not open to free expression of the gospel. Everywhere God's Kingdom is advancing. This week at HRock Church, we are hosting our annual LeaderShift Conference. We bring together leaders from Harvest International Ministries (HIM), our worldwide apostolic network, and they are informing us about what is happening in God's Kingdom around the world.

For the next few weeks, I will be sharing conference highlights and discussing the implications of what God is telling us as citizens of His Kingdom. Get your head pointed in the right direction! Join me in discovering how God is moving now and what your role is in His expanding Kingdom.

Please join us this Sunday at both of our services. We will have two special guest speakers, Steve Springer at 9:30 a.m. and Bruce Lindley at 11:30 a.m.

Life Lessons from Justice: Total Trust

As a Christian, I understand that Abba God wants me to live a life of faith. But just what is faith? I often find that when I'm seeking to understand fundamentals in my relationship with God, I learn most by turning to a resident expert, my grandson, Justice.

You see, Justice lives a life of faith. He walks in faith all the time. I first realized this when Justice and I were at a kiddie park. There was a small slide, and Justice felt so accomplished being able to climb up the few stairs and slide down on his own. But then he saw an older boy climb the stairs and run down the slide, and he determined to do the same. When he reached the top of the slide, I held out a hand, intending to grasp his and help him run down.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he threw himself off the top of the slide in my direction. I realized that he had interpreted my outstretched hand as an invitation to come. Without any hesitation, Justice completely abandoned himself to that invitation, totally trusting that I would safely catch him. In that moment, the Lord quietly spoke to my heart, "Ché, this is how I want you to trust Me all the time."

After that, I began seeing many examples of Justice’s life of faith. The moment Justice sees me, his whole face becomes a smile, and he runs toward me, yelling "Papa!" He fully anticipates that I'm just as happy and excited to see him, for he has complete confidence that he is important to me and that I love him. If I'm eating something that he wants, he reaches for it persistently with his mouth open, convinced that I will share. He has no doubts that I will answer his request.

When I give him a present, Justice has no difficulty receiving it: He tears off the wrapping and starts playing right away. He accepts without questioning that I want to give him good things. His total trust is the best gift he could ever give me. It warms my heart and motivates me to love him all the more.

Our Abba God is a good and loving Father who wants us to totally trust His love for us. All too often, we hesitate, aware of our failures, convinced He can’t possibly be excited and overjoyed to see us. Abba God repeatedly reassures us to "fear not." Yet despite the fact that it is His good pleasure to give us life in His Kingdom (Luke 12:32), and to supply all our needs according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19), we often doubt that He will say yes to our request.

Our timidity and uncertainty grieve Abba God's gentle and loving heart. He longs for us to abandon ourselves to Him, totally trusting His promises and resting securely in His acceptance of us. If we forget how to do this, we need only observe the resident experts around us: young children, who naturally live a life of faith. "Calling to Him a little child, Jesus put him in the midst of the adults and said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become as little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of God’" (Matthew 18:2–3).

Come join us this Sunday at 9:30 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. I am beginning a new series on "Reaching the Harvest." My first sermon is titled "The Harvest Is in Your House."

Morning Is Breaking

They sat in stunned silence. Once there had been so much hope and excitement, but now only paralyzing disbelief and despair. The dream that had seemed so attainable now lay shattered. They had given up everything for it, but it was gone, and all their sacrifice was for nothing. Worst of all, He was gone, and they felt utterly alone in a world that didn't care.

This is how I imagine the disciples felt the day after Jesus was crucified. Everything they had hoped for, a wonderful new day of glory and deliverance for Israel, dissolved as He suffered and died. Now He lay in a tomb. Obviously it was over. The dream had turned to dust.

Often as I travel, I encounter people who, like the disciples, are mired in discouragement. After 20 years of giving their best to the company, they receive a layoff notice. The kids are grown and gone, and so is the love they committed to so long ago. Divorce seems to be the only solution. The lab report comes back with the shocking diagnosis of a life-threatening disease. A young graduate’s dream of a fulfilling career becomes a nightmare as the rejection letters from prospective employers pile up.

How can we hold onto hope in the face of discouragement? I’d like to share three important actions I take when all seems lost and I’m tempted to give up. (Yes, pastors can get discouraged too!)

I find the most important way to pull out of discouragement is to focus on the answer, not my questions. When everything is falling apart, our mind is full of questions. Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this? Will it ever end? Will things ever be good again? Focusing on our questions only intensifies despair because we may never figure out the answers.

I focus on The Answer instead. God’s word contains a promise for every situation. I find a few promises for my situation to anchor my hope to. Then when I’m tempted to look for answers to those endless questions that crowd my mind, I focus on His promises (The Answer) instead. As I do this repeatedly, peace and encouragement fill my heart.

Secondly, I remember that no matter how strong the feelings of discouragement are, they are subject to change. When we feel down, it’s easy to give in to the temptation to live by how we feel. The truth is that circumstances don’t dictate our feelings. We actively determine our feelings by how we respond to circumstances. Psalm 42:5 reminds me to take charge of my feelings: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him.”

Finally, I choose to maintain an attitude of thanksgiving. I remember times God has come through for me. I review prophetic words of encouragement I’ve received. Each evening I jot down three ways the Lord has blessed me that day. As my gratitude grows, my discouragement shrinks, and life becomes “doable” again.

The disciples felt hopeless that day after Christ was crucified. However, as morning was breaking the next day, their discouragement turned into incredible joy as they saw their risen Savior! Abba God promises us in Psalm 30:5b, “Weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Your morning is coming! It may even be that your morning is breaking today!

Please join us this Sunday for our services at 9:30 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. We have two special guest speakers, Loren Cunningham, the founder of YWAM, at 9:30 and Andrew Byrd at 11:30.

Family Matters

Every year I log hundreds of thousands of miles as I travel the globe, but there is one trip I always look forward to with great anticipation. Although the destination, Kauai, is gorgeous, what makes this trip so special are my priceless traveling companions, my family. You see, every year my entire family travels with me to Kauai for our family vacation..

As I sit here on the balcony of our timeshare, gazing at the pristine beach and crystal-blue surf, I feel the warm air with a slight breeze. My mind travels back years ago before Sue and I were married. We made the decision to order our life priorities under God’s direction: the Lord first, then our marriage, then our children and family, and last our ministry and careers.

We haven’t always done it perfectly, but we stuck to that commitment because we know that family matters. Long before we were taking family vacations to Hawaii, we started the habit of spending time together as a family. We established routines such as a family devotional time, family meals and a family council where we discussed important decisions we needed to make as a family.

We created a tradition of family rituals around holidays, birthdays and special events like graduations. We made small happenings special, like celebrating a winning soccer game by going out for ice cream. We realized that our relationships would not survive and thrive just on quality time; they needed quantity time as well. We found ways to make time with each of our children through one-on-one “date times,” selecting different children to accompany us on errands and making use of car time for special conversations.

You can tell what people value by what they make time for. Today our four children are grown, three are married and two are parents, making us proud grandparents of our grandson, Justice, and our granddaughter, Annabelle. We still make time together a priority, gathering one night a week for a family meal, sharing pictures and catching each other up on the latest news. We continue our family traditions on holidays and celebrations, and we rally around and mutually support each other in challenging times.

Today I am so blessed as I watch our children choose priorities that make their families matter. I am reminded that family was originally God’s idea. He created us to live, grow and find our identity and purpose in the context of family. He reminds us that He is always thinking of us. In fact, He tells us that His thoughts of us are as numerous as the sands of the sea (Psalm 139:17-18). How’s that for establishing a priority?

Abba God’s family matters to Him, and He has invited all of us to become members.  “See what a great love the Father has towards us, that we should be called the children of God. And that is what we are! We have received the Spirit of sonship, whereby we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (1 John 3:1; Romans 8:15b–16). So never forget that God has a family where you matter!

Please join us this Sunday at 9:30 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. We will have special guest speakers at each service.