Gifts and Ministries

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We are going to have to change our perception of what constitutes a Christian church. According to the Apostle Paul, the Christians are the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is a living organism consisting of many parts. Each of these parts depends on all the others for its survival and maturing in Christ.

The Holy Spirit has given to each member of the Body of Christ a ministry—an opportunity and a responsibility for service to himself and to all the other members of the Body of Christ. The Spirit also has given spiritual gifts, supernatural enablement's that make it possible for each member to serve by contributing to the growth of the entire Body.

(1/16/2005) At this time in our church (Mount Zion in Poway, California) we have two main burdens of prayer. The first is for an outpouring of God’s Spirit that will cause many of us to repent. The second is for each member of our assembly to seek and find his or her ministry and gifts of the Spirit.

We are not unmindful of the tragedy in Indonesia. We are not unmindful of the manner in which unrighteousness is filling our nation and the rest of the world. We are not unmindful of the need of so many people to come to know Christ as their Saviour and Lord.

But we know these immense problems are not going to be solved by political schemes, by an outpouring of money, by war, by teaching, or by any other human effort. While all of these may play a part, the only true and lasting solution is for God to bring us to repentance by an outpouring of His Spirit.

We need a Pentecostal outpouring that will shake our nation, and we are praying for it. We intend to pray until we receive such an outpouring. Many believers know about what God has done in time past, particularly at Azusa Street in Los Angeles. The same God is ready to pour out His Spirit if we will pray and obey the Lord.

We are praying also for each one of us to find and operate whatever ministry the Holy Spirit has for him or her. It is only through the ministries and gifts of the Spirit that Christ can be formed in His people.

A while back the Lord told me that He is angry because of the unrighteousness being practiced in the world. Of course we realize that unrighteousness is being practiced in the world. But I had the sense that God was saying the unrighteousness is becoming worse and He is going to have to act.

For this reason I believe we who are Christians regardless of our particular persuasion need to call upon the Lord until He stops the slide downward into moral filth, into the unclean behaviours that are destroying the bodies and minds of people, particularly the children—many of whom are being sold into prostitution.

We in America are particularly guilty because of the lust and violence that pour forth from Hollywood California and pollute people around the globe. Their blood is going to be on our hands unless we Christians pray and turn from our wicked ways. Perhaps if we do, God will put a stop to the depravity that is issuing from our country.