“Restructure, restructure, restructure”
I thought I would just pass on this prophetic word which Dutch Sheets received earlier this month.
This will be a year of the greatest change the church has experienced in our generation. While preparing to minister in Dallas on January 5, I heard the Holy Spirit very clearly say, “Tell them. . .” I quickly grabbed a pen and wrote the following as it was given to me:
I must bring further changing of paradigms, not just to those who have not been moving in the flow of My Spirit, but even to those who are in the flow of My Spirit. I heard Him say, Restructure, restructure, restructure. Ministries will restructure, churches will restructure, businesses will restructure, individuals will restructure (the way they do things, their time, the way they think, the way they operate), families will restructure. Teaching on the kingdom of God will bring about great changes of paradigms, taking us back to the original mandate of Genesis. You will hear it taught over and over again this year. Kingdom theology is going to be at the forefront.
Any thoughts?
January 26th, 2006 at 1:21 am
Actually… I’m curious to know what you think about it.
I come from a fairly charismatic past and still have a bit of a charismatic present - if that makes any sense - so I tend to be less critical than some regarding apparent “words” that come to some people.
In my church, anything apparently prophetic is subjected to the discernment of the elders (of which I am one) before being shared with the congregation. To be real honest not much makes it through the process. To be honest not much is submitted anyway but that’s another discussion.
Looking at this “word” in that elder context I doubt it would be something brought to our congregation. I wouldn’t be discerning whether or not it was from God necessarily… just whether or not it was for us at this time… and I don’t know if it really says all that much new.
If just a person said that I would be thinking they have a good grasp of the obvious. I would want to know how Kingdom theology differs from regular theology. It’s not inherently obvious to me what or who this prophetic word is “for”. What does it mean and what are we supposed to do with it?
imho,
Greg
January 26th, 2006 at 3:00 am
It’s interesting that he said:
This will be a year of the greatest change the church has experienced in our generation.
and that he said that in Dallas TX, the area in which I live.
I know that at my church several on staff are experiencing some huge paradigm shifts as we speak. I think our church will change in big ways this year and at least those I’m talking about will never be the same.
January 26th, 2006 at 3:14 am
I’d have to agree with Greg. In some respects I agree with the whole “resructuring.” I live in the Dallas area too and I’m seeing huge shifts. But we must be careful when we see things like this. How is this “restructuring” intended? We must remember that God never goes, “Oops. You know, I made a mistake.” If you’re talking of a methodology, then, yes, restructure is well over-due. But, if you’re talking restructuring in the sense of ecclesiastical structure (or how the Bible defines “church”) then, no. Leave it alone. Too many times I’ve seen people confuse methodology with theology. That’s dangerous territory. I may have gone way overboard with this, and if so, I’m sorry.
Bobby V
January 26th, 2006 at 3:40 am
I struggling through these things right now. It think we may have deviated quite a distance from “how the Bible defines ‘church’.” I’m reading through the new testament right now asking some questions. If you guys have questions I should add to my list, please comment them on my blog.
January 26th, 2006 at 3:56 am
Allen,
I, too, have struggled with these questions. For the longest time I thought that God had given me some radical “new” concept of church. One that didn’t look ANYTHING like what we would view as church (i.e. buildings, worship times, etc…) but one morning in my meditation with God, it hit me. It was one of those “Be still and know that I am God” moments. If God wants us to re-define church, isn’t that like saying, “Well, God, you just don’t know today’s culture, so we’re going to do things the way we think is culturally relevant.” I’m not trying to step on toes here, but you have to ask yourself this question… who is God and where is His Lordship in your life and in the life of the church today? I’ve seen some amazing things over the last few months as far as churches go. And I’ve studyed intently of what was happening in those churches. Those churches that are changing culture and making a global impact have one thing in common… they don’t deviate from the Word and they preach it with passion. The question that we need to be asking one another as leaders (or future leaders) is “Does Jesus have Lordship of your life?”
Bobby V
January 26th, 2006 at 2:27 pm
Thanks for your comments guys. As to my thoughts, there was definitely a sense that much of what he say resonated with thoughts that I’ve been thinking for a while. I was actually just chatting with my dad on Saturday (before I’d seen this) and we were talking about how across various different ’streams’ of church, there seems to be a real, growing emphasis on the kingdom. I do feel that God is wanting to restore a much greater kingdom mindedness amongst His people, and that was how I interpreted “Kingdom theology is going to be at the forefront.” I feel like many churches are so consumed with themselves (building, programs, meetings, staffing, ministries, etc) that they have lost sight of the bigger, kingdom picture. And that does seem to be something that God is opening people’s eyes too.
And I think that links in with the restructuring. Do our church structures allow us to further the kingdom? If not, they need to be restructured. The church needs to function like the tabernacle: as a mobile structure, ready to follow the leading of God’s Spirit. Very often churches buildings, organisational structures, and a whole host of other things, actually have ended up immobilising churches and churches have become slaves to their structures rather than the structures serving them as they follow the Spirit and seek to further the kingdom.
It is interesting that the word doesn’t say new structures, but restructuring. I know that I have been spending a lot of time going back and looking at the early church and what I love there is the whole way it seems so much more organic than most churches are today. And that is the kind of structure I want to develop: something organic, flexible, and mobile.
You’re right, Greg, about not just automatically sharing a word like this with your congregation. There would definitely be a need for any church to weigh up whether God was saying anything specifically to them through it. Too many churches end up jumping from one “word” to the next and never testing it to see if it is from God for them.
Sorry…I think that was a bit long!
January 26th, 2006 at 5:48 pm
Greg,
As far as anything “new” being said in prophetic words, I don’t think that anything necessarily NEW can be said. I mean, in our version of the Bible, we have the book of Revelation, and not much else can be said. If you mean “new” in the sense of “a specific message for us,” then I might agree with that. But as the writer of Ecclesiastes, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9
January 26th, 2006 at 5:54 pm
I’m not sure how much ‘new’ there needs to be said, but there sure are new things that people of the kingdom could be doing to respond to calling that’s always echoed from eternity…
January 26th, 2006 at 7:11 pm
I don’t think there is any reference to the word new at all in that “word”, Nathan.
An image which I have found helpful in describing a lot of what has been going on in my thinking is that of a really old painting. Imagine that I have this really old painting that has been hanging in my house for years. It’s a painting I love, and has pride of place in my house. Well one day I hear about some amazing new product that can be used to clean paintings. I decide to try it out and tentatively start cleaning the edge of the painting. I am amazed at the difference it makes and quickly clean the whole of the picture. And, lo and behold, it’s like it’s a whole new picture. There is a richness and a beauty that had been lost by the years without it being cleaned that I am suddenly seeing again. It is not a new picture, but it seems like a new picture. I am seeing it again as it was when it was first painted.
Now, that certainly isn’t a perfect metaphor, but I feel like God has been peeling back layers of dirt and grime off my eyes to see the church as He originally intended. It’s not new of course; I am just seeing something ancient through renewed eyes. I am trying to see what God intended when He birthed the church without immediately projecting my 20th/21st century understanding/experiences of church back into by read of the New Testament.
January 26th, 2006 at 8:53 pm
Sam, concerning “new,” I was referencing Greg’s comment to your post, not the content of your post. I agree, nothing new was really mentioned. But not every word from God needs to be something new.
I totally agree that God is calling us to change methods and find relevant words to spread the ancient message of Christ. The painting metaphor is beautiful, by the way. I love the idea of reading back through the old stories in the Word, not with the intent to justify our current methods, but to see what those stories would look like in our culture and daily lives. The great thing is, I don’t believe those stories are “the end” by any means. Exciting, adventerous, and unbelievable things are still in store for those who walk the path of Christ. I’m thankful God let me see and be a part of this “great awakening.”
January 26th, 2006 at 10:52 pm
Thanks Nathan. I agree about not every word from God needing to be something “new”. And you’re right about the ancient stories not being the end…they serve as inspiration for stories yet to unfold as the future breaks into the present and God continues to extend His kingdom through us. What exciting times!
January 27th, 2006 at 6:00 am
hey sam,
um, I like the part about people already in the flow of the Spirit experiencing restructure—if I could only tell you how often the Lord restructures me from the inside out, and sometimes the outside in…oh my…we would need a lot of coffee. God is restructuring my life right now–he does not seem content to allow me to get comfortable in any one pattern or routine. He keeps moving me. I rely on him better when I am allowing him to constantly restructure.
Things degenerate if you leave them alone. Things that work, left unassessed and unimproved, often stop working eventually. We think we find a way that will keep working forever, but then it stops working and we try not to notice…but God notices, and indeed has already planned the next wave.
God, we know, never needs a paradigm shift or tune-up. People–oh yes, we do, every day!
I like what you say in regards to the church—a peeling back of the grime…seeing an old painting with new eyes, etc. Ancient things do inspire new growth. New for us, anyway. Cool.
January 27th, 2006 at 3:13 pm
Hi Jess, thanks for stopping by!
I loved what you said about God not being content to allow you to get comfortable in any particular pattern or routine. It’s so important that we let Him do this. I like change a lot compared to many people, but I know how easy it still is to become settled and comfortable! God wants me to be continually changing so that I can be most effective in bringing Him glory and furthering His kingdom!
I know that all to often I am like a piece of clay trying to run from the Potter (ie I don’t trust Him), when the truth is that the Potter is always wanting to mould me more and more into His likeness and has my best interests at heart. If only I was always quicker to realise that the more I submit to the Potter’s hands, the less of a mess I’ll turn out!
January 27th, 2006 at 4:41 pm
Amen, Sam!
Kingdom–I was thinking yesterday about something else when I posted, but then I came back through this morning and read these posts again, and the word “kingdom” popped out at me.
Something that bugs me about my own church is that we seem to always be thinking too small. I certainly don’t mean to say that individual life-change is too small a thing to concern oneself with–that builds the kingdom accomplishes God’s purpose in it’s essence–I mean that we seem to be consumed with weekly attendance numbers, congregational “loyalty” and so on…
I started going to a book study at another church several months ago because I was interested in the book, needed to find some people my own age, and felt sort of, you know, led by God into the situation. I’ve kept up my participation there even though we’ve moved on to something else…I know this bothers my pastor. But I don’t get it–why does he care so much that we all come to every Bible study, every event, and not to any others anywhere else? I have asked a couple of other pastors and they talk about building Acts 2 community–breaking bread together, doing life together, depending on one another like family–very locally. They see breaking from that as a sign of immaturity and a desire to draw back from accountability. I see it as the Body of Christ interacting on a larger community level than 30 people in one city. I like that I have a support system than stretches across miles, years, income brackets, political affiliations, and backgrounds. But my pastor and others seem to think that’s like…”church hopping.”
What do you think?
January 27th, 2006 at 8:17 pm
I know that we very much want to have strong links with all the other expressions of church here in Sheffield. I don’t see this city as having lots of churches; there is one church with many different expressions/congregations. I’ve seen an awful lot of individual churches building their own “kingdom” rather than seeing themselves as part of something larger. So I don’t want Mosaic Sheffield to be a church in Sheffield but rather a part of the church in Sheffield. And I want us to bless, support, encourage, and engage with the church as a whole and not be so consumed with our meetings, our events, our ministries, etc.
I think it is important that we relate and connect with people from other churches and see how God is moving in different ways within the different streams of church. Having said all that, I do think it is important that we are properly connected to a body of believers. We need a tight fellowship around us to challenge and encourage us. So I want to be connected closely to a community of believers who know me and who I know, but then I also want to relate and connect above and beyond that with the church in Sheffield and indeed the rest of the world. I want to be fully committed to a local community of believers whilst also maintained the reality that there is one church, and that I need to always live with a kingdom mentality that goes way beyond just my local expression of church.
Does that makes sense/help?
January 27th, 2006 at 8:24 pm
I’ve been following this thread and I got to say, I’m loving my church more and more. Our Pastor is passionate about kingdom growth and we send over 300 of our congregation on overseas mission trips (Vietnam, Mexico and Afghanistan) every year! I’m not bragging or anything like that, I’m just saying that there are those “model” churches out there who are more focused on the kingdom than growing their own church. I’m not going to put a plug on someone else’s blog, but my pastor has a book being released next week that addresses this exact issue. If you want to know who he is and what the book is called, visit my blog.
January 30th, 2006 at 2:42 pm
Great discussion people, It reminded me of something that i was saying at our cell two or three weeks ago, basically i was telling a story of how a bird had done its buisness on the windscreen of my car (must have been an eagle from the size of it) anyway I decided it was time for my Car’s annual bath so stopped on the way home from work at the car wash (not lazy just my contribution to the economy) when i got home Lis, my wife asked scarcastically if i had got a new car (it wasn’t that dirty in the first place honest!). A few Important things to think of here, my wife never makes comment on my car, so she had noticed something different, same car but something was different enough to cause her to comment! just like the painting idea Sam. In the normality of everyday life we miss so much as our focus is on other things maybe what God is saying is Where’s Wally? You know those pictures that have a varitety of images and everytime you look at them you pick out something new, How many Wally’s can you see in the picture etc… Just for ongoing discussion.
January 30th, 2006 at 5:02 pm
I do see your point, Sam. Thanks. This, I know already. I wonder, though…
I’m not sure the community I’m in is the right one for me, anymore. I am very different now from when I first joined, which is a testament to God’s power…and my reasons for joining were based on desperation–I needed to belong somewhere, anywhere, and these people were the most accepting. They are also pretty manipulative, insulating…not like a cult…but less airy than I’d like, now that I am a great deal more independant and mature. (I am, really. Ask anyone…) Plus, there’s no one my age.
So I am wondering which is more important? Building and maintaining community, no matter what? Or finding rewarding, challenging fellowship? I feel torn between the idea of commitment to a local group of believers who I know and who know me and the desire to be challenged and spurred on in new ways.
January 30th, 2006 at 10:04 pm
Good thoughts, Simon. Who’d of thought that a bird doing it’s business on your car could lead to such spiritual insights!
January 30th, 2006 at 10:15 pm
Thanks for your honesty, Jess. I’ll probably start by saying two things: First off, I am definitely anti the huge amount of church hopping that takes place with way too many Christians. Secondly though, I believe that it is essential we are always listening to God about where He wants us to be.
Maybe my own recent journey with leaving the church I was assistant pastor of to start something from scratch with my wife and two friends will help. Basically, we have both (my wife, Rachel, and I) had a degree of frustration with the church we were part of but we both knew that leaving because of a few frustrations would never be the right thing to do. I have always felt that the only reason you should leave a church is because God is specifically calling you into something new. It’s not enough to want to leave something behind, I believe that God typically only moves people on into something specific.
I guess in terms of your thoughts and questions, if I was you, I’d just be taking time to see what God is trying to say through everything. Is He moving you on into something new? Or is He awakening something in you to affect where you are now? I guess ultimately, there’s no need to rush or make a sudden decision. Take your time, seek God’s direction, invite some close friends to pray with you, and talk to relevant people at your church. We actually asked two couples to pray for us without telling them what to pray for. We just told them to seek God and see if He showed them anything about us! Amazingly, they came back with very strong words confirming what we felt in our hearts that God was calling us to start something new.
I’ve probably gone on way too long. I hope that helps, but feel back to come back with any more questions.
February 1st, 2006 at 1:43 pm
jumping onto the thread ~ you said
i think this is a keen observation. along w/ Allen, i’ve been walking thru’ many of these issues and questioning how it got to be this way in so many churches. The tug has been on my heart to step back and observe ‘the church’ as well as MY church.
My observations so far include (in many cases) huge resources being invested in maintaining infrastructures that are not inherently ‘un-kingdom’ related, but not particularly kingdom driven. (does that make sense??)
i won’t go into any detail, as i think we could all come up w/ examples of this. it takes incredible, passionately God-driven leadership for a church to avoid falling into that cycle, i think. ego, lack of clarity, debt, routine, fear of change, immaturity in the body and/or leaders — all of these and more can create the small tear which potentially leads to the unraveling of an infrustructure.
i agree w/ Bobby V - Lordship in MY life comes first … and then a desire to seek community with others on the kingdom path and make a difference in a dying world …. so … i come full-circle — still seeking God on how to clean the painting in such a way that it draws people into its beauty.
February 1st, 2006 at 1:45 pm
ooops - i just realized that i didn’t paste in your quote i’m jumping onto:
The church needs to function like the tabernacle: as a mobile structure, ready to follow the leading of God’s Spirit. Very often churches buildings, organisational structures, and a whole host of other things, actually have ended up immobilising churches and churches have become slaves to their structures rather than the structures serving them as they follow the Spirit and seek to further the kingdom.
March 6th, 2006 at 4:01 pm
sam,
thanks for the welcome to the community. since it’s my first time blogging, I was suprised by your initiative and it communicates to me that this can be a real community.
We are in the beginning of restructuring our ministry and our team definitely resonates with the prophetic word.
March 6th, 2006 at 4:06 pm
Great to hear from you, Ashley! Look forward to getting to know you more here at VOX. Where abouts are you based?
March 8th, 2006 at 4:16 am
I’m based in nyc at Columbia University. I’m a campus chaplain employed by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
I’m still trying to figure out how to use this blog since it’s my first time.