The Corporate Church

Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.” But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”

They said to Him, “We are able.” So He said to them, “You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.” And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
(Matthew 20:20-28)

As you can see in every ministry there is the temptation to be seen and compete for position. It happened in Jesus' ministry and it has been happening ever since. Unfortunately, the corporate mentality has crept into church. We have made the Pastor the CEO and we have served the corporate church completely out of selfish motivated reasons! The whole reason the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus was to take the top positions in what they thought was Jesus' company. They wanted to be the right hand guys, part of Jesus' entourage, His yes men and did not care what it took to climb that corporate ladder.

Jesus compared their mindset with the rulers of the Gentiles "who Lord their authority over the people." In other words, he pointed out that the whole reason to want to be in a higher position was for the sole reason of exercising control over people. When you take a higher position in the corporate church you can wear a title. You can now be the head intercessor or the head of the music department. My husband Joshua has always said, "It is time for a title wave! When we all wave our titles goodbye." Unfortunately, along with title there is rank and special privileges. You now hold a place in the church that gives you some sense of control. Careful! This is also the fast track to becoming a target for pride.

Seeing their selfish motivated hearts Jesus warned them that they would drink of His cup and be baptized with the same baptism He was. What is that cup and what is this baptism that Jesus speaks of? Jesus speaks of this cup in the Garden of Gethsemane.

"He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39)

It is the cup of laying our will down and our life for God's kingdom. In God's kingdom the only way up is down. It is a place of servant-hood. Jesus not only taught this but lived it as an example before all of us. Paul later passes on this mindset by saying, "Let this mind be in you..."who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." (Philippians 2: 5-8).

Think about this, God himself came to serve us. Now we want to be treated like gods so that we can be served. There is a huge gap in what Jesus demonstrated through His life and the kind of attitudes we now see in the church. Jesus warned his disciples that they too would be baptized with the same baptism he was baptized with. Since they had been baptized in water already by John what other baptism could there be? Our thoughts may immediately go to the baptism of the Spirit but Jesus wasn't talking about that baptism. He speaks of the one that John talked about "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." (Matthew 3:11). There it is. The baptism of fire. What is this baptism of fire? John explains it this way, "His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:12).

Since many of us did not grow up in an agricultural society I will briefly explain this process. After harvesting the fields, they took the wheat to the threshing floor and the oxen would trod all over the wheat to loose the husks or chaff so that they would later take a winnowing fork and throw the wheat up in the air so the lighter chaff would blow away in the wind. Only what holds weight will keep from blowing away in our lives. Paul said, "that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting...(Ephesians 4:13-15).

For more on this process go to this link
http://www.biblewise.com/preview/images/teaching/2008/sep/harvesting_grain.pdf

Nervously you might be thinking so how does the fire come into the process? Let me first clarify what the fire isn't. The baptism of fire is not "the feeling like your body is going to burn up" in some kind of supernatural manifestation. People may shout fire and you may feel like you are on fire but that's not what this scripture is about. It is best described in this Messianic prophecy.
“Behold, I send My messenger,
And he will prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
“But who can endure the day of His coming?
And who can stand when He appears?
For He is like a refiner’s fire
And like launderers’ soap.
He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And purge them as gold and silver,
That they may offer to the Lord
An offering in righteousness. (Malachi 3:1-3)

The whole purpose of fire is so we may become purified, purged, and become an offering of righteousness unto God. Instead of fighting for position and control God wants us to become servants. He wants that whole corporate mentality to cease to exist in His church. If you continue to read in Matthew 20 two blind men are sitting on the side of the road shouting to get Jesus attention. Jesus asked them, "What shall I do for you?" They immediately asked them for their sight. Jesus granted them their sight. When the disciples came to Jesus he also answered them by saying, "What do you wish?" They did not get the same response from Jesus. What they were asking for was purely motivated by a selfish attitude. James tell us that all fighting and strife is motivated out of these attitudes.

Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
(James 4:1-3).

Yes, I believe God is going to bring fire back to his church but it will be so He can burn up all of our selfish attitudes like chaff because in reality love and selfishness cannot co-exist. Like Revivalist Johannes Schonken pointed out, "The end result of revival is that people may say...they have been with Jesus." Let it be our goal in this season to have people recognize "that we have been with Jesus" and allow the process of fire purify us like gold.

Notes from Revival Meeting on October 25, 2013
by Dale Kizziar and Jaziz Hallas
Expounding on Prophets, Pitfalls and Principals by Dr. Bill Hamon Chapters 8-12

Help I've Been Wandering and Wondering

Refining and Defining for Reassigning a word for this season:
For many of us the last year has been difficult. For most of us the first few months of this year has seem to halt any spiritual progress and deterred us (detoured us) from what we felt God has wanted us to do. Remember you only find detours where there is construction. So you might as well understand that in this season you are under construction.

I can compare this season with being in a sand storm, and not having visibility. All you can see is a long distance outline of where you think you are heading. Here you are crawling forward with no idea how long it’s going to take you to get to your destination. In the process though there is sand irritating you; getting into places that you didn’t think possible. If any of you ever been at the beach on a windy day; you know that sand gets into everything including your food. It sticks to your skin, gets into your eyes and doesn’t come off easy. The good news is; that it comes off with water. The sand represents life’s problems and irritants. Let us therefore wash ourselves with the water of God’s Word and the presence of His Spirit.

But…I heard this from the Spirit of God. Open your mouth and let me fill it during this season. Allow the sand to fill your mouth and just like an oyster I will cause the irritation of the sand and pressure to form a pearl in your mouth. If you will wait on me great wisdom will come to you. James 1:5 You have the mind of Christ.  For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16

Did you know…
A natural pearl (often called an Oriental pearl) forms when an irritant, such as a piece of sand, works its way into a particular species of oyster, mussel, or clam. As a defense mechanism, the mollusk secretes a fluid to coat the irritant. Layer upon layer of this coating is deposited on the irritant until a lustrous pearl is formed. http://www.pearls.com

So you may ask what is the purpose of all of this? “I say to you that I’m defining who you are not; to better define who you are.” This is a season for those who are called but have been out of alignment. My purpose is to cause you to return to your first love. “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” Revelations 3:18 The end product ultimately is to reassign you to your purpose and destiny in God. The sooner we understand this, the sooner we will get through the refiner’s fire. “Again allow me to fill your mouth during this season.” Let your tongue become the sword of the Lord.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. Genesis 1:1-4
God is waiting for you speak over the formless void in your life to bring forth light in your circumstances. The Spirit of God is hovering over the face of your problems waiting to hear the Word of the Lord to be spoken. Speak “Let there be light!” (Light = Revelation) Ask God for revelation in your situation. As you do this, God will start to separate or define what is light and what is dark. What’s God and what’s not. What has been your soul-distraction and what is clearly Him.

For some of you God must first reduce you down to nothing so he can do something. But don’t despair for a Genesis or a new beginning is soon to come upon you. Just like in Genesis He will cause you to be separated from the things that weren’t meant for you. Even though you may feel like you are being reduced down to a stump; understand God’s purpose is to bring forth fruit.

Did you know…
Well, to start with, the task of pruning grape vines is not all or nothing--there is room for error, and the chances of you killing the plant are pretty unlikely.
If you don’t prune your plant you can be assured it will produce less fruit and in a couple years, stop bearing fruit all together. So there are not too many ways you can fail by pruning grape vines each year. The fruit grows on the shoots that are produced by one-year-old canes, so each year the previous season’s growth needs to be cut back. http://www.grapefacts.net


Prayer…
Father, we agree with heaven and we will not allow anything else but God’s Word to go forth out of our mouths. Father, we declare that a new thing is about to break forth and cause us to see what’s of you and what is flesh/soul. Separate us unto yourself. Align us. We choose this day to buy of you gold. We embrace suffering. For we know it brings forth the fruit of righteousness in our lives. Refine us like gold that we may show forth the reflection of your Son. We believe that our tears will be turned in triumph and our mourning into dancing. We pick up our swords and say no weapon formed against us shall prosper and every tongue that rises up against we shall condemn. We have the mind of Christ. Let your character be formed in us. We choose to forgive those who have despitefully used us. Matthew 5:44, Mark 11:25-26 Therefore according to Mark 11:23-24 We speak with confidence to this mountain (obstacle, hindrance) get our way in Jesus name.

Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Mark 11:23-24 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

Mark 11:25-26
“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.