I have been in countless meetings with church leaders who are impassioned to see a revival in our nation and/or in their churches and communities.
One time, after a national prayer leader spoke on the need for the church to pray for revival, I raised my hand and asked him: “For what purpose do we want revival?” He was dumbfounded by that simple question and could not really answer me.
I have found that revival in and of itself is never enough!
There is a seismic shift taking place today in the marketplace and the church. We need to understand how to respond if we are going to bring systemic transformation. This article deals with how the church should apply the gospel in response to cultural shifts.
As a person who has been preaching and attempting to implement strategies I have come up with the following essentials necessary for effectiveness in kingdom ministry.
1. High-Level Intercession
In Daniel chapters 10-12 and Ephesians 6 we find that there are high-level demonic entities called principalities that rule whole nations and/or empires. These are the highest-ranking demons under Satan that control the political, economic and social systems of the world through ideology and worldview.
Jesus, John the Baptist, and the apostles went about proclaiming the kingdom–not the church (read Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 10:7; Acts 28:30-31). Although the church is in the kingdom, it is not the entire kingdom.
“Kingdom” denotes the rule of God over the whole cosmos, not just a single entity on the earth, like the church. In spite of this, most preaching today has as its goal to get people to make a weekly two-hour commitment to come to a building on Sundays and to give tithes to support that building! This is because a spirit of religion has captivated the church and blinded the minds of church leaders, so that we now have a very limiting church mindset instead of a kingdom perspective. The negative results of this cannot be overstated.
This speech was delivered on July 24, 2011 in New York City at the Let the People Vote Rally for Traditional Marriage
Some erroneous views have been articulated by some in the Marketplace Movement in regards to their relationship with the local church. Their teachings have either dismissed the proper role and function of the local church in regards to the marketplace or replaced it with a “mobile church” mentality in which a “church” or “congregation” exists “whenever two or three are gathered in His name,” thus legitimizing “church gatherings” in their offices and ministry or association meetings that are disconnected from typical local church congregations.
As I have been travelling the world teaching on the Kingdom of God in many large Christian leadership conferences, I have noticed something of great concern to me. Since many pastors in Latin America, Europe and North America have come from a Roman Catholic background (or a city with a heavy Roman Catholic religious paradigm), their local church application of the kingdom message reflects this influence.
The following are notes from a message I gave several years ago at a Pinnacle Forum conference held in Nashville, Tennessee.
Most of you are in a position to change the world and you want to know how. Genesis 1:26-28 is the most important passage in scripture because it is the original covenant given to humankind that shows us why God created us and our mission on the earth. Consequently, a person can only grasp fragmented ontological aspects of the church, the cross, the resurrection and the great commission if we don’t use this passage as our primary starting point to interpret the rest of scripture. The following are things I believe we need to do now to fulfill this mandate:
As most Americans already know, both the Democratic and Republican nominees for president have a low approval rating even within their own parties. Concerns abound with both candidates, even though both of them are far apart ideologically. I must be insane releasing an article like this since both pro Trump and pro Clinton friends may be upset by its contents; however, I have never been motivated by the accolades of people.
Romans 13:1-7:
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and God has instituted those that exist. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers is not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
