New (After Corona) Wineskins 

New Wineskins22nd June 2020

Encouragement is encouraging so positive feedback was appreciated after the ‘Life hangs by a (2m) thread’ article – even negative feedback is probably better than nothing or silence as it shows a response and room for discussion.  And discussion is possibly what we need as lockdown is lifted.  In some ways the Church has had a state imposed reset.  Was it a Holy Spirit reset?
 
Yes, there has to be discussion – but seeded by a prophetic word.  It is my conviction that Church cannot / must not revert to the BC model (Before Corona) model.  Let’s be honest – how effective was it?  What percentage of society was affected – yes a little salt has value and some light is better than no light
 
It was powerfully impressed on me very recently how what we eat can profoundly affect how we function.  I know I was sensitive to gluten, but a little discomfort is surely worth enduring for the sake of buttered warm toast in the morning – if you are not fasting!

But continued dietary indulgence resulted in serious ‘mental fog’ and acute drowsiness such that I could fall asleep within a couple of minutes sitting down with the full intention of watching a stimulating Christian broadcast
 
It concerns me that the standard response to a typical Sunday service is along the lines of ‘wonderful word’, ‘how thankful we are for so anointed a pastor’…  various expressions of preacher-olatory, or pastor-olatory It’s great to be fed with the word and to encourage, but as Rinehard Bonnke’s successor, Daniel Kolenda,  said in interview – and a few of us have been saying for years… though not so boldly:
“One of the devil’s most effective strategies has been to get one man (or woman) and put them at the front and have 99+% of the body of Christ sitting passively in the pew not acting out the word…”
 
That is strong stuff…  Body ministry has to happen!  But not body ministry confined to a Sunday service.  As  Daniel Kolenda  says… the role of leaders is to EQUIP THE SAINTS – so they can GO OUT and do what Jesus did… preach the Kingdom of God, heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead.  The ‘service’ should be more along the lines of what happens to a car in the garage – get us ready for the road again.  It’s not the traditional gospel – ‘teas and coffees follow the preaching of the Word’ but signs and wonders follow the preaching of the Word
 
At the moment the Church is basically a laughingstock – being allowed out when the government says so.  But the Church ablaze is a different matter entirely – it turned the world upside down before – let’s let the Holy Spirit do it again.  So watch your diet – don’t go back to the leeks the onions and the garlic…  Numbers 11.5 press on to the promised land – only a few giants – but what are they?
 
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