I am currently teaching on the ministry of the Holy Spirit at Northstar Church. We are a Spirit filled church and do not try to hide it.  We actively contend for spiritual gifts that will help the hurting people of our community. Each week, people walk through our doors that need healing, direction, deliverance from addictions and the list goes on. We believe gifts like prophesy are crucial for both edification and guidance in the local church. I scratch my head when churches that once valued the ministry of the Holy Spirit and exercised His gifts have now shut Him out of their worship. The very person that directed their steps in the early days, caused them to grow and help so many people has now been benched on the sidelines. 

I’ve determined in my heart, that as the Pastor of Northstar, we will never exchange power for production or edification for entertainment. Those who know me understand that I as much as anyone, believe in being effective in the culture that we live. I’ve never been accused of being irrelevant or unimaginative in the way I present the gospel. But I have always sought the touch of the Spirit in all we do. I think you can speak clearly into the culture we live in and still be yielded to the work of the Spirit. I call it being Spirit-relevant… call it whatever you want… I just know that one day I will stand before Jesus Christ and give an account for the gift in Acts chapter two.

That said, I do believe that many churches in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements have allowed the extremes of emotionalism and fanaticism to turn many good people away from seeking the genuine baptism in the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised his church (Acts 1:8). I believe our gatherings should be done with decency and order (1 Cor. 14:40). I believe many in the Pentecostal movement have added manifestations that are simply unbiblical and oftentimes plain silly.

We have people from every denominational background that come to Northstar. One family after another have told me that for the first time they understood the importance of the Spirit’s work in their daily life. They describe how refreshing it is to hear His voice and sense His presence in our gatherings. To eliminate the baptism of the Spirit from our teaching would be asking our people to live for God without the necessary power.

Several of the gifts of the Holy Spirit provide revelation… prophesy, discerning of Spirits, tongues and interpretation, the word of wisdom and word of knowledge. Our Heavenly Father has always been very interested in giving direction to His people and telling of things to come before they actually happen.  This gives us the opportunity to prepare for what’s ahead. In the Old Testament the sons of Issachar were used by God to help direct Israel:

1 Chronicles 12:32 (NKJ)
”...of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command.”

Jesus himself was critical of the religious crowd in His day for not discerning the times that they were living in.

Matthew 16:1-3 (NIV)
“The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.”

I believe we are in a critical time in the church. Never before has there been such a cultural divide between Christians and non-Christians in America. Sadly, we have seen hate on both sides of the fence. The “Christian right” and “Liberal left” seem to grow farther and farther apart with each new moral issue that gets bantered and debated about in the always willing media outlets. I know that I, along with Pastors and Christians across our nation, have been praying for a fresh movement of God to sweep our nation and bring the lost home to Christ. 

For the last year, I have not been able to get away from the parable of the 100 sheep. Jesus prodded us saying that we should be ever ready to leave the 99 in order to find the one that is lost. Too often in the church today, we are busy doing meetings for the 99… counting the 99… anointing the 99… shaking hands with the 99… and have forgotten about “the one.”  That one may be a 20 something that left the church in their late teens. The one may be someone who was hurt by hypocrisy in our ranks. Whatever their reasons for lostness… Jesus simply told us to go, find them and bring them home.

So what is God saying to His church? How do we interpret the cultural and spiritual skies that are overhead?

Part Two Coming soon… stay tuned.

Categories: Church •Church Growth •General •Holy Spirit •Spiritual Formation •Thoughts
Tags: northstar • church • america • life • gospel • power • time • god • jesus • times
Share: