Which ministry stream is best? IHOP? Bethel? New XPmedia video…

God is moving powerfully through many different streams—which one is the right one for you?

imageIn the last month Revival Church has hosted guest ministers from a variety of streams—Bethel, TheCall, The Bay of the Holy Spirit and others.

I absolutely love dipping into a variety of different streams within the body of Christ!

Watch this new XPmedia video where I talk about this important topic. Which stream is best for you?

THE BAY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Out of all the streams, I’d say that the revival movement through John Kilpatrick and Nathan Morris is the closest to my own DNA. I come alive in these meetings like nowhere else! The call to the cross, to repentance, to a sobering and urgent yet deeply freeing revelation of the severity of the situation on the Earth grips this revivalist deeply.

But, their DNA only matches a fairly small percentage of my own. God has done MUCH in me personally that is unique. This is the way it should be!

I met someone once who lead a house of prayer (IHOP model) in another state. He said that literally 100% of their ministry is modeled precisely after IHOP. There is no departure whatsoever.

I grieved just a little bit. How can we launch into a ministry without God revealing to us his specific mission for us? How can we robotically copy another? Yes, we can glean key principles from a movement, but we must not forsake our personal mission.

Watch this video: http://www.xpmedia.com/OJv2EkVejjNV

And, oh yeah, another stream is represented at Revival Church THIS SUNDAY as Corey Robinson will be with us!

www.detroitrevivalchurch.com

Church Leadership: Doctrine and theological differences: How to stay unified and true to the vision of the church

Church Leadership: Can we stay unified when there are core doctrinal differences in the church?

I originally shared this with my Revival Church senior staff. I’ve communicated what I’m about to share with my various ministries throughout the years, and it’s been incredibly helpful to keep us on track toward revival.

I then realized that this would benefit not only my senior staff, but the greater body of Believers. This will help senior leaders and also those in the body who might may struggle with differing doctrines and focuses.

For example, IHOP and Bethel have some foundational theological differences, mostly surrounding eschatology, yet they remain great and close friends in the mission of Kingdom advance. We should all have the same heart and spirit within us.

Bill Johnson mentioned a key difference between prior church generations and what God’s doing now. We used to gather around doctrines. Movements launched around people adhering to same Christian theologies. Now, movements are launching as people gather around fathers and apostolic leaders who have a bold Kingdom vision and a mission. That is right on. Brilliant.

Here’s what I sent to my second tier of leaders at Revival Church last week:


Hi Team!

I shared this with the senior leadership team recently and wanted to also get it in front of the rest of our amazing team! This will help you navigate through challenges with differences of vision and doctrine that arise as you meet and lead people in the church.

I've always shared this at various times in my ministries, but this is the first time I've done so at Revival Church:

  • As our church grows, we will see MANY differing doctrines in our camp. I've been around this mountain more times that I can count.
  • I've had Calvinists demand I study with them and change the official position of the church in favor of their doctrine.
  • I've had strong grace doctrine folks want us to change our position.
  • I had a guy hand me a huge manuscript he wrote that details why apostolic ministry is no longer for today and didn't approve of my focus on it in the church.
  • I've had anti-spiritual warfare people share their positions. Anti-manifestation people shared theirs. Others don't believe Christians can be demonized. Others are pre-trib, others post-trib, others KJV only, etc.
  • Others have shared their critiques regarding our vision, ministry emphasis, over-emphasis on one thing, under-emphasis on another, and on and on and on.

The emails I've received over the last 21 years could fill a book!

In every one of the above situations I listened openly and honored them in their personal pursuits, but I did not allow them to distract my primary focus. I did not allow them to compromise the mission we were on. They may not have realized it, but I had already processed through the positions they hold to and had made my doctrinal and ministry decision long ago.

I love this principle:

Someone once said, “I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.”

We as leaders have to use great caution and wisdom in the way we handle such matters. Confusion, distraction, division and disunity can creep in overnight if we aren't careful.

“In Essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love.”

This is a key principle for us. The essentials, or the absolutes of scripture, are the classic, foundational Christian doctrines that cannot be violated. If one were to not adhere to an essential, an absolute, then that person would not be a Christian. For example, it’s mandatory for salvation that we agree that Jesus is God. However it’s not mandatory for salvation that we agree in the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. One is an absolute, or an essential, and one is not.

With that in mind, here are the protocols that we must adhere to at Revival Church and theLab. This has been our standard everywhere we've been in ministry and it will help us here as well:

  • Have clarity on what the doctrinal positions of Revival Church are and always commit to unity regarding them.
  • While it's expected that leaders will hold to differing positions at times (non-absolutes), those positions must not be communicated to others in the church. A good way to handle this situation is: If someone asks you what your opinion on the end times is, for example, you could respond, “The church's position on this is Apostolic Premillennialism and I support them fully.” Now, I also value your personal processing through such situations. It's healthy to do so. If you want to discuss your position with me one-on-one, I'd love to do that at any time.
  • Don't ever teach on a topic that is contrary to the position of the church.
  • Always have the heart of a protector over senior leadership and the doctrines and vision of the church by voicing support and unity even if your personal doctrines/vision differ.
  • If you want to discuss differing viewpoints, always approach me first, and then leave it to me to invite other leaders/people into the discussion if I feel led.

You'll notice that I rarely request feedback among leaders on doctrinal opinions, especially in a group or public setting. That's intentional for the sake of unity. I already know that we'll differ doctrinally. I often tell people, “The debate between Calvinism and Arminanism (for example) is not a new one. I don't have time to recreate that wheel of debate. Research the debated positions online yourself. I adhere to the Arminian position.” I don't let that distraction derail me.

Titus 3:9- But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.

Let's commit to this so we don't have splinter movements within the body.

It’s better to be unified yet disagreed on non-absolutes of scripture than it is to be divided in our search of affirmation of our biblical positions.

John 17:20-21 (ESV) 20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Philippians 2:1-3 (ESV) 1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Ephesians 2:19 (ESV) 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,

UNITY OF VISION

While we can all hold to differing non-absolutes of scripture, this doesn’t mean that we won’t be running in a specific direction on a specific track here at Revival Church. We honor those who have differing positions, but we also honor the clear vision and mandate that God has given us as a body. That vision and mandate does include a specific doctrinal focus and position.

For example, we are a church that openly encourages the practice of praying in tongues. We love and honor those who don’t pray in tongues, yet we aren’t going to eliminate our focus on the gifts for their sake. We know we will run with a certain tribe of people, and that’s OK. That vision is worth protecting.

Please always approach me with any teaching topics that you'd like to present in the church before you teach them. With new people coming in it can be easy for new leaders to presume I'm in agreement with something when I actually am not. A simple bulleted outline is all I need, and I trust you have clarity on the vision of the church and won’t teach in opposition to that.

There's no single stream that I'm 100% in agreement with (that would be weird!)… some of IHOP I agree with, some I don't. Some of Bethel I agree with, some I don't. Some of the Word of Faith I agree with, some I don't. Some Baptist doctrine I agree with, some I don't. And on and on!

Here's a great article on how to differentiate between absolutes and non-absolutes of scripture. I gleaned it from Ted Haggard in his book Primary Purpose:

When discussing ministry doctrines, styles and focuses, it’s important that we identify exactly where the particular topic rests within the whole spectrum.  Let me explain.  I believe there are several different levels in which we can examine structure or style of ministry.  Most church bickering and splits would be eliminated if we understood this.  Unity would thrive and the Great Commission would be more quickly achievable.  Watch the progression from Absolutes of scripture to Interpretations and beyond:

  • ‘Absolutes’ Every Christian church must agree on the absolutes. If a church doesn’t accept an absolute, it would certainly not be considered Christian.  Absolutes include the fact that Jesus is God, he rose from the dead, salvation only comes through him, there is one true God, Jesus is coming again, sin separates us from eternal life, etc.  We can never sacrifice an absolute.  We must never waiver from our position here.  Churches that accept the absolutes can get together for prayer, fellowship, etc.   In Colorado Springs we had the nations largest National Day of Prayer event.  Thousands got together to pray for our city in a downtown park.  We all agreed on the absolutes.Example of a violation of an absolute:  An Arlington, Virginia, minister said, “We have closed our minds to such trivial considerations as the question of the resurrection of Christ. If you fundamentalists wish to believe that nonsense, we have no objections, but we have more important things to preach than the presence or absence of an empty tomb 20 centuries old.”
  • ‘Interpretations’ Next on the list, resting on the foundation of absolutes, are interpretations.  These are scriptures, that we form opinions or sometimes even doctrines on.  They are always taken within the context of the passage.  They are fairly focused ideas, but since they are interpretations, there can sometimes be disagreement.  The problem is when we allow this disagreement divide the church.  Examples of interpretations can be- everybody is meant to speak in tongues, pre-trib rapture, etc.  Since these aren’t absolutes, it’s ok to disagree.  It’s tragic when people deem certain movements and people as ‘false’ because they disagree with them over interpretation.
  • ‘Deductions’ Deductions are broader and more general than interpretations.  You can arrive at a deduction when you read a larger portion of several passages of scripture.  Doctrines should never be made on deduction alone, but there is much liberty to allow your ministry to include deductions as long as they agree with and enhance the absolutes.  As with interpretations, it’s certainly negative to identify deductions as un-biblical when they in fact don’t contradict an absolute.
  • ‘Subjective Opinions’ Broader still, subjective opinions are arrived at by individuals that experience certain insight when searching the scriptures coupled with living out what they find.  Of course, subjective opinions must always agree with absolutes and must not contradict scripture or they must be thrown out.  Subjective opinions my include teaching that hymns are more effective than contemporary worship or that we should dress like the culture that we are trying to minister and relate to them on their level.  This is where ministry style can have a lot of freedom to experiment by trial and error.  Discovering what works best in your situation at this level should never be accepted as absolute truth, or even as a deduction.
  • ‘Personal Preferences’ Personal preferences may have less to do with controversial scriptural matters and more to do with personality, likes and dislikes.  For example, a minister may prefer to have a robed choir every Sunday while another may prefer a single barefoot guitar playing worship leader straight out of the 70’s.  Another example would be to take tithes and offerings by passing a plate rather than having the congregation bring the tithe to the front of the sanctuary and lay it on the altar.  The Bible is usually silent on such preferences.
  • ‘Feelings’ Feelings would include simply what we like and don’t like.  Can you believe there have been church splits on this level??!  What color the carpet, or whether to use hymnals or a video projector has more to do with atmosphere than with anything else.
  • ‘Cultural Norms’ This simply has to do with the style and system of a particular culture.  For example, you may find loud ‘Amen’s!’ in an Afro-American church while it may be more subdued in another style of church.  You will also find a lot of cultural difference between different denominations and different socio-economic classes.  If every church were a hooting and hollering roller coaster ride, then there would be a large segment of society that would not be reached, and vice versa.

Sometimes scripture doesn’t demand something be done a certain way.  If we all focus on the absolutes and resist creating divisions based on lower levels, we will certainly have a powerful army ready and equipped to accomplish the Great Commission.  Someone once said, “I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.”

Understand, I am all for discussion.  Iron sharpens iron.  But sometimes, the scripture remains silent or vague.  As long as we do everything we can to create healthy churches, we have a lot of freedom to work it many different ways.

A Warning Dream : IHOP : International House of Prayer

I had a prophetic warning dream targeted at those who are spiritually fervent.

I have to make it abundantly clear to everyone who reads this that I am a huge supporter of the prayer movement that is being facilitated through the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. I believe God is too!

The reason I have to make that clear is because IHOP was the focus of the dream. Amy and I had the honor of serving as the Directors of Intro to IHOP for a year and I also served on the graphic design team. IHOP is a wonder in the Earth!

First I’ll share the dream and then reveal what I feel are the key takeaways:

I was at IHOP and there was the usual God-centered activity all around. People were worshiping God, praying to God, talking about God in small and large groups all over the campus. These were extremely fervent and devoted people who spent their lives going after the deep things of God.

I was there among some of the groups of people who were on the campus and was increasingly burdened with a message of holiness and fiery pursuit of revival. I then saw Allan Hood and quickly shared the burden with him. He got everybody’s attention and with a serious look on his face he told them to stop what they were doing and listen closely to me.

The crowd was quite large where we were. I began to preach prophetically and call everybody to a serious and consecrated focus of holiness and revival. I felt fairly confident that as I preached that the crowd would quickly grow as the message was just what that type of community thrives on.

Not so. The unction on me was increasing but the crowd was quickly yet politely breaking up and moving on to their regular activities. It was then that I noticed that Allan Hood also left. I was shocked and saddened.

There was a hallway at the back of the room where I was and there were some offices and small prayer rooms connected to it. One room had maybe 5 or 6 people in it and they were listening to what I was saying. I could tell that the message was difficult for them to take in as well, and they were tempted to leave as the others did, but the fought the urge and stayed. They listened.

When I was done I was further heartbroken as I saw where the crowd dispersed to. Most of them were in another nearby large room where they were all singing “The First Noel.”

That was the end of the dream.

Here’s the takeaway:

IHOP: Like I said before, this is not an anti-IHOP warning. Not even close.  IHOP is a ministry that I’m familiar with which gives me a grid to work from that’s understandable. I believe this prophetic message is targeted at those who presume themselves to be fervently devoted to the deep things of God. Streams of revival and prayer are filled with zealous people who are bright and shining lamps in these end times. Their caution is twofold:

  1. First, simply belonging to a highly focused ministry or stream doesn’t mean we are somehow exempt from the responsibility to respond to God’s broader Kingdom directives. In the dream there was a false sense of safety as the crowd emitted a corporate aura of exemption and elitism. Their ears were closed to messages that didn’t obviously affirm what they presumed was ‘the message of the house.’
  2. Second, be ready to receive messages and directives from outside your stream. A certain level of exclusivity and protecting the message of the house is important. I do affirm that. We have to run without apology with what God has specifically given us to steward. However, be careful not to entertain a deaf spirit in the process! He who has an ear let him hear! Don’t be surprised when very focused, exclusive movements receive revelation and direction from streams and prophetic messengers that are quite unlike their own.

Again, this isn't about IHOP specifically, but it's about movements, it's about fervent people advancing together with passion and fire. IHOP is a great representation of devoted, humble and focused people who love God deeply.

Allan Hood: For those of you who know Allan Hood know that he’s the perfect person for God to use in my dream. He is a sober and powerfully anointed messenger of Christ. In my dream he represents leadership that is clearly locked on to the cross, to the cause of Christ. His affirmation of the message I was delivering was key for the crowd who was gathering around. The warning? Allan represented a key leader who is both highly anointed and fully human. The sharpness of the message was apparently not timely or simply not what Allan wanted to continue listening to. He politely slipped out. Just as his affirmation of the message was key, so was, unfortunately, his slipping away.

I will qualify again, this is not about Allan, it's about leadership. Allan Hood is a hero of the faith and I believe God honored him by including him the dream. He's more devoted to the cross of Christ than anybody I know.

The people in the room in the hallway: The small number of people in that room were actually smiling and excited to hear what I was saying. Again, however, that’s not to say that they weren’t troubled or tempted to slip out themselves. But something was different about them. I believe they were in that room before I arrived studying and praying. The didn’t have an elite heart. They, in humility, knew they had much to receive from the Lord. They battled through the tension and struggle of the message they were hearing and even though Allan and the masses left, they remained. They represented the remnant within the remnant. It’s easy to presume IHOPpers and other people like that are the remnant. However, there is a greater remnant. Just as Gideon saw his army diminish in phases as he finally discovered the remnant that would take the city with him, I believe there’s a remnant that does have an ear to hear what the Lord is saying.

The First Noel: Keep in mind my dream came Christmas morning (2011). I sensed that the desire of the larger group was to focus on celebrating the first coming of Jesus (which is wonderful!). However, the message of the hour conflicted with that happy, joyful seasonal message.

We must have ears to hear. The times are increasingly severe and God is looking for an alert and ready Church. Get ready to divert from your current ministry plans as God announces new blueprints and mandates. Leaders, be doubly aware of what God is saying. Don’t trade the Rhema word of God for the expected, accepted message of the season or message of the house.

Thoughts?

(This will also be posted in the Dreams and Visions section of our brand new forum: www.thegodforum.net.)

Amy Burton is teaching on wealth, riches and money Thursday-and you are invited!

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Amy taught this popular and life changing message of financial freedom at IHOP—and now she’s teaching it in Detroit!

You may be blown away at how simple it is to break out of a poverty mindset and into financial breakthrough. This special class takes place TOMORROW, Thursday, November 3rd at 7pm at Revival Church.

Amy has demonstrated financial brilliance both in our ministry and in our home. Both Revival Church and the Burton family are debt free—and she was able to accomplish this through the simplicity of God’s clear biblical principles.

Amy will discuss:

  • Recognize and renounce the spirit of Mammon (Mammon is a demonic spirit that influences people to love, serve and trust money. Mammon wants to be your master.)
  • How to eliminate worry and anxiety over money
  • How to deal with an “I can’t afford it” mentality
  • Knowing your channels of provision
  • Becoming God’s financial manager
  • How to handle the overflow
  • Prosperity is the opposite of poverty

This is a special Thursday class at theLab, and we are opening it up to everybody! There is NO COST!

Show up right on time at 7pm at Revival Church which meets at The Tabernacle, 14205 12 Mile Road, Warren, MI 48088.

SEE YOU TOMORROW!

A full night of worship with Aaron Crider AND personal ministry and impartation

We’ll experience God through powerful worship all night long in a special event with Aaron Crider!

Aaron CriderSunday at 6pm come ready to love Jesus with deep passion!

Aaron Crider and our own amazing Revival Church worship team will be leading the entire night along with interjections of personal ministry, prophetic exhortations and explosions of life!

Also, have you ventured onto the Revival Church website lately?

There a lot of new info including a new “Our Friends” section that includes info about our connections and also comments from friends such as Brian Simmons, JD King and many others!

Also, check out some of the ministries we love like Bethel, IHOP, The Ramp and others!

Take some time to experience The Ramp at www.theramp.org. We see a similarly structured ministry being established right here in Detroit. theLab is moving ahead in that huge, fiery vision! Visit www.revivallab.com for info!

Of course, check out the articles, videos and loads more at www.detroitrevivalchurch.com!

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Crisis in the church : Misunderstanding of the purpose of the church

I just tweeted:

I don't buy into the ‘church isn't a building' mantra we hear so much. Church requires corporate gathering. Acts 2 model. Daily in the temple.~www.twitter.com/johneburton

I don’t know if most realize it, but we are very literally at what might be the greatest crisis point in the church in history—certainly in recent history.

Everywhere you look you see pastors promoting short, ‘schedule friendly’, casual commitment style church services. There’s validation of our ridiculously oversaturated American daily agendas via the diminished emphasis in the church of the corporate gathering.

Now, there’s are several reasons why average church attendance in the nation has dropped below two services a month. One of them is the reality that it’s becoming rare to find a place that full of the fire and passion of God.

While we must stay radically faithful and connected at a high level regardless of how vibrant the services are, we must also refuse to settle for anything less than tongues of fire resting on everybody!

THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH

It’s unreasonable to presume that there is only one purpose of the church, and there isn’t enough time to dive into all of them. However, we must start at the point where reformation and redefinition is necessary.

Most people, pastors and congregants alike, presume the church is primarily setup to meet needs. You see this play out through church marketing all the time. You hear words and terms like ‘relevance’, ‘come as you are’, ‘world class children’s ministry’, etc.

While we should have world class ministries, the problem is that many pastors and leaders have forsaken their prophetic mantle of challenge and advance for one of salesman. The call must not be to check out our church because of what it offers, but we must have fire coming out of our mouths as we declare the inconvenient word of the Lord!

Simply, the church is not primarily there to simply meet the needs of the people, but rather it is to gather and equip the people (meeting their needs in the process!) AND ensure the people are together, strong, alert and in position night and day so the church can accomplish it’s mission.

Another way to say it is this: The mission of the church isn’t to draw people in and meet their needs, but rather it is to gather people and develop the corporate strength necessary to fulfill the greater mission.

People must not use the church to meet their needs… and stop participating when they are ‘full’. I challenge everybody at Revival Church to arrive at the service full (through personal prayer, study, etc.) and overflowing so we can focus on our corporate mission together.

At most churches, summers, for example, see a huge drop in participation. They will cancel services and special events. This cannot be! We can’t allow our personal schedules to violate the holy call to the corporate gathering. For example, at IHOP in Kansas City, they pray and worship 24/7. They don’t take any breaks. They pray and worship on Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and every other day of the year. They pray and worship right through the Super Bowl while other churches actually cancel or shorten services in honor of that holy day (lower case ‘h’).

I believe when we start looking at the church as an supernaturally organized army of likeminded, alert, responsive and burning men and women of God, we’ll actually be able to see entire cities taken for the Kingdom!

Thoughts?