February 2002
Page 1 - Renewal, Revival, and Reformation by Graham Cooke
Page 2 - Seven Habits of One Highly Effective Person
Page 3 - The Master's Institute - A Journal Entry by Diane Snyder - Administrative Assistant at The Master's Institute
Page 4 - Like a Child by Gary Bistram
Page 5 - Pastor-In-Residence
Page 6 - The Launching of the ARC
Renewal, Revival, and Reformation
In recent years there has been a great outpouring of God's Spirit around the earth. We are witnessing some incredible sights and sounds as the Lord releases fresh waves of power and anointing on His beloved people.
by Graham CookeWhatever people think about the recent renewal, it has had a dramatic effect on the Body of Christ. It has brought a fresh passion for Jesus, a new desire for intimacy. It has left a higher watermark of expectancy for God's loving nature. People have been restored to God. They have been filled with a new desire for holiness and purity. Heartfelt intercession has increased in men and women grown cold in prayer. New worship of a greater depth and caliber has sprung up in our midst.
I agree that renewal also splits churches. Whenever the Spirit moves, the flesh rises. These two are locked together in powerful animosity. The flesh of man rails at the Spirit life with venom and destructive behavior. The Spirit antagonizes the flesh, exposing carnality of thought, word, and deed. It is a wonderful thing to behold and does my heart glad to see it.
We should smile and worship God when sin is exposed and dealt with by the church. Exposing the presence of sin and secret lifestyles proves the presence and the work of the Holy Spirit. Better out than in!
Carnality splits churches. Jesus said that He came to bring not peace but a sword (see Mt. 10:34). The word of God divides attitudes, intentions, and ambitions (see Heb. 4:12-13), and no one is spared. When renewal came, there was such a profound increase of love, purity, desire, and intimacy with God that the Holy Spirit unearthed everything that did not belong to the nature of God.
When rain falls on a field ready for sowing, all the stones come to the surface. All that is hidden and hard will emerge as the Spirit falls upon the church.
The big issue after greater intimacy with God is the one of "Who is in control?" Sadly, I watched some leaders shut down renewal meetings because of this concern. Many felt unable to preside over something they could not direct. "The wind blows where it wishes…" (Jn. 3:8).I watched other leaders adopt a "sons of Sceva" approach to renewal (see Acts 19:13-17). They did not want to serve what God was doing; rather, they wanted to use the outpouring to grow their own church and ministry. God visited briefly but did not stay, and all they could do was pretend that something very powerful happened. Most people failed to realize that renewal was a test as well as a blessing. The Lord was looking to see whom He could trust in the next phase of anointing and growth.
Who would use the outpouring for their own ends? Who would control and channel it rather than release it? Who would be willing to pay the price for the presence of God? Who would humble themselves and surrender the church back to God? Who would criticize the move because it did not fit their experience and theology? Who would help other churches to be released into what God was doing?
The Lord was testing our hearts to see what we would do (see Deut. 8:2-3). Now, I believe that He knows the men and women He can trust with revival! He knows the churches that He can begin to use to evangelize the unsaved. He knows where His Holy Spirit will be welcomed and not abused.
Revival is here, present among the Church. However we must be careful here of our terminology. One of the continued offenses of the Church against the Lord has been that she has desired His power more than His presence. We have majored on events, functions, and outpourings of God for a purpose. Our emphasis has been on doing and not being. Renewal changed all that for those who were impacted by it. Renewal of our first love is the foundation for God to reclaim the hearts of His people.
We have now moved into that second phase of the move of God: revival. It is here, though, that we must adjust our terminology. There is no obvious phraseology in Scripture that would connect revival with our aspirations to see huge numbers of people coming into the Kingdom of God. In all definitions, revival is synonymous with restoring, renewing, rekindling, and recovering. The prefix re denotes: a) action in a backward direction, i.e., recede; return; revert; b) action intended to undo a situation, i.e., respond; restock; remove; c) action intended to demonstrate than an original act was impermanent or inadequate; and d) that the performance of the new action brings back to an earlier state of affairs.
Revival means to restore to life and use, to take up and make valid again. The Greek word in the New Testament is anathallo, meaning to flourish anew. Clearly, it is not talking about non-believers, but Christians. We cannot revive something that has never been alive; it is dead and needs to be reborn. Revival is for people who have become lukewarm and who are not walking with God fully.
This is currently happening now in many places in the world. People are getting right with God, and His holiness is developing again in the hearts of the Church.
Revival is the revelation and demonstration of the manifest presence of God within the Church to release the corporate man of Christ to impact society.
Revival is not an event; it is a Person revealed. Revival is not a demonstration of God's power; it is an outbreak of His presence. Revival is not an exhibition; it is a revelation of occupation by a Person who is bigger than you! Revival that breaches the world is connected with the manifest presence of God. When our churches are full of His presence, then Heaven will come to earth. The manifest presence of God will be contested violently by the enemy and by any religious spirits inhabiting the church.
Revival occurs when we have the same kind of spiritual atmosphere outside the church as we have within it. Revival is about releasing God's people into God's presence. Many people are praying for revival, wanting to see souls saved and demonstrations of power in the church. We should not set our sights so low. We do not want another visitation that can be abused and peter out like the rest.We must have the manifest presence of God stay among us. We do not need a visitation; we need to make for God a habitation, a dwelling place. (Read John 15:4-8; Ephesians 2:19-22; 3:17; I Corinthians 3:9-17; II Corinthians 6:16-18; and I Peter 2:4-10.)
The dream of God has always been to live in the hearts of His people-not just in individual hearts, but in the corporate heart. The early Church had a unity, a oneness of heart and purpose. They had one voice; they were devoted in a corporate sense to prayer, fellowship, teaching, and communion (see Acts 1-5).
If we are merely praying for a visitation and not actively working to make our church a dwelling place for God's presence, we deserve not to have our prayers answered. The Scriptures say that we are living stones connected together with relationship and love for God and one another. Who are you connected with? Like bricks in a wall we are living stones. Who is under you, supporting your life and ministry? Who are you resting on and accountable to? Who is alongside you in service and ministry? What is your relationship like with your coworkers? Who is above you, whom are you supporting? Who is resting on you and accountable to your integrity, love, and ministry? We are living stones in friendship being built together into a habitation for God. He lives in our friendships and our unity. Is He welcome among us?
Are there strifes, envyings, criticism, grudges, negative fellowship, and backbiting among us? Is there a lack of vision, purpose, destiny, and cohesion? Are we devoted corporately to all that the early Church felt was important?
Revival is about a corporate fear of the Lord descending on the church (see Acts 2:43; 5:ll; 9:31). Revival is about stewardship and sacrifice, having all things in common (see Acts 2:44-45; 4:32, 34, 37). In revival, there are no personal possessions and no needs across the church. Only the manifest presence of God can free us from ownership to total stewardship. Still want revival?Revival is about a preoccupation with the Person and the presence of Jesus. It is about the corporate grace of God being on everyone at the same time. Corporate grace is the glue that holds us together, giving us favor everywhere (see Acts 2:47, 4:33).
The effect of revival is reformation. This is the third stage of the transformation process that equips the Church to reach the world.Reformation is the effect caused by a united body of people flowing together in Kingdom purpose and power, within God's presence. It is a deliberate and disciplined unity focused on the person of Jesus. Reformation occurs when the revival of God's dream is fulfilled in the Church. The dream of God is for a people who are fulfilling the first and second commandments, which are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Jesus said that in these two commands depend the whole law and the prophets (see Mt. 22:37-40).
Everything could be cut down to fit these two commands. If you ever wanted to simplify your life and ask for a word from God that would cover most eventualities of life, church, and ministry, this would be the word.
With everything in you, love God. With His love reciprocating in and through you, love the people around you, wherever you happen to be. The dream of God is to have a habitation among His people. It is not to visit occasionally when circumstances permit and conditions are fulfilled. His dream is a place to live in a Church that has done everything in her power to attract her beloved.
When God comes to live, His manifest presence breaks out into the community. Demons fall, strongholds are cast down, and the hard-hearted cry out for salvation. Three thousand souls are saved one day. Faith is alive on the streets because the sick are being healed and the dead raised. Heaven comes to earth in reformation. Laws are changed, unemployment is reduced, and the crime rate falls. Marriages are restored and the divorce rate drops. Domestic violence decreases. Miracles of every description occur as society is turned upside down.
The windows of Heaven are flung open and God displays His majesty. People share all they possess because the presence of the King generates such confidence and love. No one withholds anything, thus adding to the quality of life.
The Church attacks the enemy without mercy. Every cult, coven, and occult organization is stripped of its power and key people, as salvation rips through the ranks of the ungodly. Every secret organization of powerful men is torn apart by truth and righteousness. Reformation is Kingdome mayhem on the ungodly streets of the world. People do not dare to join the Church, yet multitudes are added (see Acts 5:13-14). The Church is an enigma, a huge talking point. The world does not want to associate itself with them, but everyone holds them in high esteem. To gain a reformation, we have to give the Lord what He wants in revival.
If your church missed renewal because it never knew it was happening, the grace of God will bring you up to speed in the revival of your people and your corporate destiny. If you messed up renewal because of your own pride and greed, you need to repent of your misconduct and bow the knee to God's fresh purpose for you. You need to serve others in the flow of revival and regain a place of trust before God. It may be that He will grace your life with a new vision and authority as you demonstrate your humility and servanthood. If you try to pull the same stunt you did in renewal, this time they may carry you out of the church permanently!
Revival is no place for pushing and jockeying for position. Put away that hierarchical nonsense and serve the Lord. Remove the worldly value system from your heart. This is a people's revival. A nameless, faceless generation is being raised up to do the work of the ministry. Only those people who actually raised up people in discipleship will have any place in leadership. But, do you know what? Most of those men and women will not care about status, position, or recognition. They won't notice that God has elevated them to any recognized place. Just like the apostles, they will be doing menial jobs in the church and will only change as occasion demands it (see Acts 6:1-4). To be eligible for ordinary tasks, such as waiting on tables, you will have to demonstrate a good servant reputation, be full of the Holy Spirit, and possess qualities of wisdom! May God help us to be so humble and such excellent servants!
Taken from A Divine Confrontation by Graham Cooke, copyright 1999, used by permission of Destiny Image Publishers; 167 Walnut Bottom Road; Shippensburg, PA 17257 (USA).
Graham Cooke has been involved in prophetic ministry since 1974. In 1986 he founded the School of Prophesy which has received international acclaim for its advanced series on in-depth training programs. He has written two excellent books, Developing Your Prophetic Gifting and A Divine Confrontation.
Graham will be our speaker at the Mid-year Equipping Conference held in Arden Hills, MN, February 23-25, 2002. Space is limited-register soon! There is a registration fee for this conference. If you need a brochure you may call: 651-255-3865, or e-mail: ilrc@aol.com to request one.
