Reformation Not Revival, 4/5/17

There is much confusion in the American church in these times about the move of the Spirit that God wants to bring. Lots and lots of believers talk about "revival" and believe that it is the answer. This displays a great lack of understanding about what God wants to accomplish in his church. The fact is, revival, although better than no move of God at all, is woefully inadequate to the task of what God needs to do in order to begin to raise up mature sons of God and a Bride for Jesus. Reformation is what is needed: total, sweeping, top to bottom, out-with-the-way-we-have-been-doing-it, in-with-the-way-the-Holy-Spirit-wants-to-run-HIS-church reformation. In fact the vast majority of what we call church today needs to go in the round file so that we can have church the way God wants it. For example, the normal program of now-we-sing, now-we-have-announcements, now-we-preach, now-we-pray-for-30-seconds-and-dismiss(maybe there is a little ministry time), which is typical even to some of the better churches, is a totally religious man-made prescription and is very badly limiting to the moving of the Holy Spirit. Let's look at what the scripture has to say about what church should look like. Paul had some pretty good things to say about how to conduct church, don't you think? He said:

1 Corinthians 14:26 New King James Version (NKJV)

Order in Church Meetings

26 How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.

When was the last time you saw a church meeting like that? Ever? Not in America I bet you didn't. But the Word of God says that is what our meetings should look like. That is what it is like when the Holy Spirit is running the meeting instead of one person in the pulpit who is full of religious control. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that we should never have preaching or teaching from one leader while people listen, that is fine, but at some point in the gathering the Holy Spirit has to be invited and allowed to take over and run his church his way. And how can he when we have the whole meeting all prescribed and layed out ahead of time, controlled by men, and are watching the clock to make sure we finish on time? It is not wrong to have big corporate meetings, Jesus and the apostles preached and taught to large crowds, that is not a problem. But does your church have small home cell groups throughout the week so that the people can operate under the leading of the Holy spirit as the above scripture indicates? From the beginning of the church The Home Cell was an integral part of church life:

Acts 2:46 New King James Version (NKJV)

46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,

Do we meet house to hose and eat together? Are we really so arrogant as to think we know better than the early church that so far outstripped us in church growth and supernatural power? Yes, I am afraid we are. Some will say, and they are not incorrect, that God wants to take the last days church beyond where the early church was. This true but it will not happen before we first get back to that level of depth and power. We cannot surpass it without passing through it.

Revivals are for the dead and they do not last. We need way way more that revival to begin to reach into where God wants to take the church. We need REFORMATION!!!! We need to die to all these dead religious practices we are typically doing and come before God with an open heart and seek for him to take over and run his church his way. Only that will take us across Jordan and into the land. Keeping on doing church as we have been doing it is death in Kadesh Barnea on the wrong side of Jordan. I want to go into the land. How about you? The prophet Bobby Conner wisely says, "The best way to miss out on God is to keep doing the old thing when he is doing something new." I have seen him preach this to a church that thinks itself quiet prophetic and they acted like they believed it yet they never missed a beat with keeping right on doing the same old religious program. I don't want to be around believers who are choosing to stay stuck in the mud that God wants to free us from. I want the new things, I want to see reformation and the Baptism of Fire that will begin to really birth the Bride without spot or wrinkle. That is what I am praying for. I hope you do too. God bless you and may you find a circle of believers who want true reformation in the church, not business as usual in dead religio-land.

Steve Pursell, 4/5/17