The Beauty of the Cross in a Humanistic World

THE CENTRALITY OF THE CROSS AND GOD’S LOVE

Keeping the Cross is central all the more today amidst a growing message within the Church that portrays a happy-go-lucky God, who doesn’t really care about sin, only about loving people unconditionally. This is not the gospel, this is called humanistic universalism. It is heresy, a doctrine of demons (1 Tim. 4:1), an anti-christ spirit (1 John 4:3). The Church must resist this ecumenical sentiment in just unifying around a vague love of God. He loved us so much, but hated sin so much, that the steepest price conceivable was paid- He crushed His Son and shed His precious blood to reconcile us to Him (Heb. 9:16).

God is not a generic God of love, He has unmistakably and exclusively distinguished Himself as Christ Crucified. A love of God that is not rooted in the Cross is not a Gospel at all! Just as Hebrews 9:22 states that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”. All who set aside the grace of God (the Cross, Heb. 10:28-29), or come short of the grace of God (Heb. 12:15)) will perish in a Lake of Fire.

Thus, as a Body of Christ, we must unite around the gospel of Christ Crucified (1 Cor. 2:2) and bear the Cross imitating Christ in His meekness and humility (Phil. 2), sacrificial giving and love, (Eph. 5:1-2) perseverance and faithfulness (Heb. 3:2-3), in His righteousness; in turning the other cheek, in going the extra mile, in giving of His cloak (Mt. 5); in His suffering, in blessing those who persecuted Him, in praying for His enemies, in restraining from wrath, in forgiving His debtors, in joyfully enduring the Cross and scorning its shame (Heb. 12:2). A cruciform heart, mind and life is the authentic mark of a follower of Christ.

WHAT THE CROSS HAS PURCHASED

It’s through the Cross  that we can have peace with God though we were once at enmity. We can receive mercy though we deserved wrath. We can receive love and intimacy though we hated Him. Fellowship though we grieved Him. Friendship though we rejected Him. Sonship though we ran from Him. Heirship though we were poor. Priest-ship though our sins were as scarlet. Kingship though we were lame beggars. 

It’s through the Cross we have been purchased, and sealed by the Holy Spirit for redemption, and given an inheritance that will neither perish, spoil, or fade (1 Pe. 1:4). One that cannot be defiled, one that moth or rust can’t corrode, not thieves break in and steal (Mt. 6). It’s through the Messiah’s work on the Cross alone that we will be raised from the dead in bodies of glory (1 Cor. 15), freed from the bondage of the dread of death (Heb. 2:15), rescued from the wrath to come (1 Thes. 1:10) and delivered into the everlasting Kingdom of His beloved Son (Col 1:13), a home of righteousness (2 Pe. 3:13).

The glories of the coming age, and our appearing with Him in glory (Col 3:4), our sharing the riches of His glory (Col. 1:27), our receiving glory, honor, praise at the revelation of Christ (1 Pe. 1:7) were all purchased on the back of a Suffering Servant. God raised Jesus from the dead (Rom. 10:9) and poured out His Spirit (Acts 2:33) as a divine stamp of approval upon this Man’s work to bear the sin of man upon His shoulders (Is. 53:11). For this reason we have a hope made more certain (2 Pe. 1:19), we have a hope that will not disappoint (Rom. 5:5), a hope as an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil (Heb. 6:19).

THE CROSS - THE PLEASURE OF GOD

The breadth (all people), the length (for all of history), the depth (sin we can’t perceive), and height (sin we can perceive) of man’s sin was overcome by the breadth, the length, the depth, and height of God’s love revealed most perfectly in Christ Crucified. Consider this, the Cross was so marvelous in the eyes of God, the blood of His Son so valuable, His sacrifice so esteemed that it wasn’t enough to simply acquit man of all his transgressions. His pleasure was not fully spent and exhausted yet. So God determines that for unending ages the surpassing riches of His grace and His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus will only increase with unrelenting intensity (Eph. 2:4-9), until the Church is finally brought into the Father’s deep delight in the Son (Eph. 3:16-19). The Redeemed will be so astonished as they with unveiled faces consider the glory of the Cross, that the New Heavens and New Earth will be utterly consumed by doxologies.

Have we as followers of Christ Crucified pushed past the stigma of suffering and rightly considered the glory of the Cross? If we have, we will bear an authentic and divine stamp, lives that are crucified with Christ.

 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (NASB Galatians 2:20)

Discipleship and Heavenly Destiny

I recently had an experience in a household where three young children had come back from bible school and were talking about heaven. One of the kids was just learning to read, but somehow articulated that heaven is like unconsciousness and would be boring cause there’ll be nothing to do. Later on, the mother was explaining the concept of the “elf on the shelf”, it helped santa track who was being naughty or nice. The mother conceded to its silliness but kept it because it actually worked! At that moment the Lord revealed to me that Santa Clause was rooted in materiality. He’s a physical being that lives on the earth, you just don’t see him because he lives in the North Pole. Although the physics is hard to understand he really does somehow go down every chimney, we know this because he eats our cookies and drinks our milk. He really does have a reward to those who have been good. He did it last year so he’ll do it again. Even as the season draws nearer, and the ornamentation goes up, the children are refreshed and reminded that the day of Santa is drawing near, so they better be nice. Just think about the insanity! At the earliest age, Santa is rooted in materiality, but God is rooted in immateriality.

The false doctrine of the immaterial destiny of the saints, is one of the reasons, the modern Church cannot produce disciples. Today, discipleship is akin to trial and error, we make discipleship programs based on what methods are proven to work. 1 I think of discipleship as an analogy of a son receiving a multi-million dollar business as an inheritance from his father. The son is only 8 years old at the time and will not inherit the company until the Father knows the son is absolutely ready. The son needs to walk worthy of this calling and demonstrate that he is able to bear such a weighty responsibility. Like father like son, the child must learn to imitate his father. It’s his father's business after all. Similarly as believers, our calling is to inherit the coming Kingdom, but until then our discipleship consists of walking a straight and narrow path, in a manner worthy of our call, with fear and trembling, etc. (Matthew 7:13-14, Ephesians 4:1, II Thessalonians 1:11, Philippians 2:12).

The apostles walked with Jesus for over 3 years and then received instruction from the Chief Apostle Himself for 40 days before the ascension. Think of the questions they must have asked Jesus related to discipleship. We see in the epistles that the apostles constantly reminded the Church of their destiny in both the Day of the LORD (the day of evaluation, where the motives of men’s hearts will be revealed, 1 Cor. 4:5, Rom. 2:16) and the glories of the age to come.

Because the Day of the LORD was real to the early church and the coming glories of the age to come were real and material, they had a real impetus to walk in a manner worthy of both the Day of the LORD and the coming Kingdom. They wanted to be trained in righteousness so that they could rule and reign with Messiah. They were even willing to share in His sufferings that they might also partake in His glory. (Luke 24:25, Col. 1:24, Phil. 3:10, II Tim. 2:12) This discipleship produced fruit that did not shrink back or wither in the midst of horrid and pervasive persecution.

Along the lines of our analogy, the father had constantly reminded his son of the privilege, honor, and benefits of running a business. The son might have asked for a tour of the office to get a glimpse of what the father was talking about. He might have asked to come to work with his dad on a couple of occasions, just to observe and get a feel for what it was like. The father must have also warned his son about the hardships of running a business, the pitfalls the son must prepare for. The inheritance was a free gift, but the business could not be mocked. To the level and degree that the son prepared, the bottom line would reveal (Gal. 6:7-8).

The son understanding this had a motivation to put down his video games and spend time in activities that prepared him for the reality of running a business. He may have chosen a particular school and field of study, he may have asked his dad for tips, he may have woken up early each morning to discipline his life. The discipleship or preparation is a natural function of what the son believes.

Today, the modern church embraces a theology of “once saved always saved” and a Platonized ideal of an immaterial heavenly destiny. We don’t have fear and trembling regarding the Day of the LORD because our salvation is assured to us from reciting a sinner’s prayer. The glories of the age to come on a restored earth are replaced with a disembodied state with a harp on a cloud. Nobody really grasps how to live worthy of playing a harp on a cloud for eternity, so discipleship just becomes methodology and programs based on arbitrary set of rules or a proven track record of success.

To carry our analogy along, the father rarely speaks of the business and when the son inquires the father speaks of the business in language that the son cannot relate to. The son is not permitted to come on any tours but is assured that running the business will be awesome. The father also tells the son there’s no practical way to prepare, but be ready anyway. Therefore, the son grows up playing a lot of video games and being generally slack with his time and energy. Later on at age 18, a friend sells him into a pyramid scheme offering quick money and because the hope of having a business was not anchored in materiality, the son is easily sidetracked from his calling.

The analogy tends to break down because in our calling as believers we have a Father who has more leadership and capability than we have proclivity to mess things up. We have been given the better provisions of the sacrifice on the Cross and the Holy Spirit as a counselor instructing us in righteousness so that we can sojourn faithfully unto receiving a rich welcome into the Kingdom of Messiah. However, the point that I’m trying to illustrate is that discipleship must be rooted in light of the Day of the LORD and the coming Kingdom. How we live will reveal what we actually believe.

Footnotes:

1 "One of the most basic lessons I learned from McGavran was that the best way to discover what makes churches grow is to study growing churches. As a result, my first season of research, spanning the 1970s and into the 1980s, was spent doing exactly that. In retrospect, I now look at this as researching the technical principles of church growth. - Chapter 14 of the Transforming Power of Revival / http://www.pastornet.net.au/renewal/journal15/15b%20Wagner.htm

Why I Don't Subscribe to Dominionism

Dominionism or Kingdom Now definitely has many forms. There are more passive expressions such as the prosperity, health-wealth gospel, or the popular Now and Not Yet view. There are also the full-blown dominionistic views such as various forms of 7 mountains or 7 spheres. I would guess that in its passive forms, the majority of the western church probably embraces some form of Kingdom Now. In my opinion, that is not a good thing, although I don’t hold it against them since I was also once swept up by Kingdom Now theology. For now, I’ll just address why I don’t subscribe to Kingdom Now theology. I’ll also be avoiding as best as possible the use of any names or movements.

I don’t subscribe to Kingdom Now because…

- It appeals to the flesh…

o even back in 2^nd temple Judaism, most Jews were “Kingdom Now” because of the vacuum left by having no land, no king, and no glory in the temple. Even Peter was for a time deluded with Kingdom Now (Matthew 16:21-24). Satan even tempted Jesus with a Kingdom before the cross (Matthew 4:8-9). In Luke 24:26, Jesus says, “was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” The Kingdom Now folk would say the Cross inaugurated a spiritualized kingdom, with implications that the Church does not also have to embrace a cross (Matthew 10:38). Yet most of the apostles and early church were severely martyred and persecuted. The cross for them did not imply a Kingdom in this age, but a Kingdom in the age to come, at the return of Jesus. (Colossians 3:3-4) No servant is greater than his master, so a cross for Jesus surely meant a cross (i.e. suffering) for them. The New Testament is rich with a theology of suffering. Matthew 5:10, Matthew 5:39, Matthew 10:25, Acts 7:60, 1 Corinthians 4:8-16, Philippians 1:29-30, Colossians 1:24, 2 Thessalonians 1:5 to just name a few. I believe God is handing over His church for the same reason He handed over His Son. It’s God’s ultimate mercy strategy to reveal His mercy to the wicked, so that they might repent before the Day of the LORD (Romans 2:4, etc.). Suffering is also a litmus test to find the Bride worthy to rule and reign with Him in the age to come (2 Timothy 2:11-12). Leaders in that age will have been found worthy through their humility and meekness in this age (Matthew 5:5, Philippians 2:9, etc.).

- It assumes that the nature of the Kingdom is spiritual…

o Classical/historical pre-millenilaism (Jesus’ 2^nd Coming inaugurating the Millennial Kingdom) was the only view of eschatology for at least the first 200 years of the Church. However, due to Origen’s hermeneutic prevailing by the 4^th century, the door opened for Augustine to spiritualize the coming Kingdom. Therefore, the Church began believing that they were reigning in a spiritual, milliennial Kingdom, and that they would fix the earth and hand it over to Jesus when He returned at 1000AD. When Jesus did not return at 1000AD, instead of going back to pre-millenialism, the Church just discounted the number 1,000 as spiritual numerology. Since then the Kingdom has come to mean any number of things whether the Church, moral ethic, God’s divine reign in the hearts of the believers, signs and wonders, etc.).

- It assumes open-theism

o Full-blown dominionism has to assume open-theism, or the belief that God really does not know the future, and thus the future can be influenced through the prayer, decisions, and actions of the church. While to some extent it’s true God can be influenced, the bible makes clear that the LORD is absolutely sovereign and declared the end from the beginning (Isaiah 40:21, etc.). In prayer, we pray according to His will, which is revealed through the covenants. We can’t pray with a false hope thinking that all the nations will be transformed when we already know that there is coming a great apostasy, and that nations will be handed over to the Anti-Christ. Although, preterism is widely discarded, dominionists must also embrace the idea that the end-time events have already took place for their missiology to make sense.

- It assumes that God at some point lost His sovereignty.

o Some dominionists believe God lost His authority at the Fall, and is now re-establishing His dominion through the agent of the Church. Biblically, it’s clear the LORD is absolutely sovereign, He’s the one who raises and deposes of Kings (Isaiah 40:23, etc.). God’s sovereignty over the heavens and the earth has never been challenged. The wicked prosper and the righteous suffer NOT because God is absent, not-powerful, or not-loving. but because His Kingdom is ruling amnestically (Isaiah 48:9-11). Meaning God loves the wicked (Matthew 5:45). He does not want any to perish in a Lake of Fire (2 Peter 3:9). Therefore, there is a season of mercy opened at the cross for all men everywhere to repent before the Day of the LORD. (Acts 17:30) God is buying time for the wicked to repent, even instructing the righteous to turn the other cheek as a witness to God’s long-suffering and forbearance towards the wicked. (Matthew 5:38-40, 11:12)

- It misinterprets the scriptures about the Kingdom

o There are about 145 instances where kingdom (Gk. Basileia) in the New Testament which relate to God and not man’s. (e.g. Herod’s kingdom) In about 120 of those instances the context is clearly a future Kingdom. In about 25 instances (including repetition) the usage is debatable. Kingdom Now theology is mainly built on 10 of these 25 instances. However, in these passages Jesus is addressing unbelievers (Pharisees), speaking of a bad thing of judgment, addressing them corporately, and speaking of the future. Kingdom Now theology interprets these passages perfectly opposite, aiming these passages at believers, speaking of a blessing, speaking to individuals, and in the present. These passages are actually fearful indictments of the Pharisees and their self-righteousness in light of the future Day of the LORD and the Kingdom of God. (See blog post titled “The Irony of Kingdom Now” at “www.gospelofchristcrucified.com”)

- It Misinterprets the mission of the church and perverts the Cross

o Kingdom Now assumes the mission of the church in this age is to re-establish dominion through pietistic or socio-political means. This leads to the Church having a messianic complex, as though they were God’s anointed agent to reverse the Fall of man. This is just a Christian form of humanism. (Jeremiah 17:5) The church is called to be a witness to the Messiah crucified, to the Day of the LORD and the coming Kingdom. We are called to conform to Jesus (Romans 8:29). In this age, we conform to Jesus’ mission at the first coming (suffering servant). In the age to come, we conform to Jesus’ mission in the second coming (ruling King)(Matthew 5:5, Revelation 5:10, etc.). The church then is to demonstrate the power and wisdom of God by demonstrating the weakness and foolishness of the cross. (1 Cor. 1) However, the cross gets perverted through dominionism, as is clearly spelled out by the history of the Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic church is a case study of dominionism perfected, at the height of their power they controlled almost every monarch and owned almost half of all the land. Yet, out of it was bad fruit, whether the political revolutions or the Crusades (conquering in the sign of the cross). They embraced man’s power and wisdom as a means of glorifying God (i.e. cathedrals) and not the foolishness and weakness of the Cross.

Discipleship (Why it Must Start From the Heart)

What's been on my heart as of late is the nature of discipleship. In our culture, discipleship mostly comes down to methodology. We tend to focus on the work of the hands (what we DO as Christians), before we focus on reforming the mind (what we BELIEVE as Christians). However, what's primary is the posture of the heart (the nature of our RIGHTEOUSNESS as Christians).

The Pharisees had the right works- they gave to the poor, they prayed, they fasted, they followed the Torah (to the point of keeping Talmud), they looked for signs, prophesied and performed miracles. (Matthew 7:21-23) They had the right mind- they believed in angels, they believed in a bodily resurrection, they believed in the coming Messianic Kingdom. (Acts 23:6-8)

However, the posture of their heart was twisted. They believed that their justification before God was merited by what they believed and did. They had a righteousness from within and not from God. In the delusion of self-righteousness, they related to God based on their good works, and related to others based on their bad works. (Luke 15:28-30, Matthew 7:22-23, Luke 18:9-14)

The pharisees did not acknowledge their inner depravity, and therefore did not cry out for the mercy of the LORD. Because the mercy of the LORD revealed at the cross was not magnified, their means to relate to their neighbor mercifully was minimized (Luke 7:47, Matthew 18:23-35).
How we relate to others becomes the litmus test, that reveals whether we have actually received mercy from the LORD, or have initially received the mercy of the LORD, but then began to walk in the delusion of self-righteousness. In Galatians 5, Paul addresses those who came under grace, but then began to relate to God through the law. Galatians 5:13, gives the proper response, not to turn to a culture of self-righteousness, or a culture of depravity, for both lead to a Lake of Fire. Instead, Paul instructs the Galatians, "through love to serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

There are many streams and movements who emphasize that they have the right methodology and the right doctrine. They discern the gnosticism (mixture of Greek philosophy and mythology with Christian doctrine) that infiltrated the early church in the 3rd century along the time of the Constantinian shift. I have been a part of these movements and the discipleship that I've received was of having the right set of beliefs, which I found to be doctrinally accurate. I've received the right methodology, which I found to work (to varying degrees of effectiveness). However, in the midst of all of the emphasis on being in the right, I was being discipled in the wrong heart. The bitterness and accusation against the Church, was projected onto me. I began relating to Father as the older brother in the parable of the lost son. It became about what I was doing right and what the church was doing wrong.

I remember having one encounter where the LORD in His kindness, spoke to me about Chris Tomlin, who to me represented all that was wrong with mainstream, evangelical Christianity. The Lord said, "at the Day of the LORD, will it be Chris Tomlin's issue that he didn't have the right understanding, or will it be your issue that you had hatred and anger towards your brother." I felt the fear of the LORD and began to tremble as the delusion of self-righteousness was being uncloaked from me. Then the Lord spoke to me a word about brotherly kindness and love covering a multitude of sins. (Psalm 133, Matthew 7:12, Romans 12:9-19, 1 Peter 4:8, 2 Peter 1:6-8, 1 Corinthians 13:13, Philippians 2:1-8)

My whole point in this matter, is that discipleship primarily needs to be about the heart and the issue of righteousness. The fruit of the Spirit is the best indication of an inward righteousness from God, rather than having the right beliefs, methodology, or works.

Matthew 7:6 (discipleship of the right beliefs to those with the wrong heart)
⁶ “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Matthew 7:22-23 (discipleship of the right works to those with the wrong heart)
²² Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

We bear the fruit of the Spirit in the context of our neighbors (the church, the lost, our enemies). Our mercy to our neighbors evidences that we have truly received a great payment of our transgressions. (Matthew 6:12)

The Pharisee vs. the Forerunner (Elistism or Whole-Heartedness)

This may not seem like a typical blog entry, it's part of a statement that I wrote on behalf of Eastern Gate's leadership.

Opening Statements

There tends to be some confusion regarding the nature of elitism and pharisaism in the Prayer Movement, due to the polarizing language of Nazirite consecration, radical obedience, abandonment, forerunner spirit and the like. We hope to bring some clarity with this statement with regards to the seeming tension between whole-heartedness vs. self-righteousness. For both the outsider and the insider to the prayer movement, we hope this would help us reconcile the walking out of our call with confidence in regards to whole-heartedness, yet with fear and trembling in regards to self-righteousness.

The Culture of Righteousness

The culture within different streams of Christianity is largely determined by what the group as a whole believes will be esteemed by Jesus at the Day of the Lord. For instance, in the streams associated with missions, righteousness (i.e. Jesus saying well-done) is translated as the number of churches you planted or the amount of people you successfully evangelized. Streams that are distinguished based upon their theology, uphold a culture where the issue of righteousness is the adherence to the right system of beliefs. Admittedly, without guidance, the prayer movement can also fall into a culture where prayer and fasting is equated with righteousness.

What Ultimately Matters

Ultimately, the culture of righteousness becomes a detriment to the whole, when it undermines our understanding of the cross. What will ultimately matter concerning our justification before the Lord is not what we did with our hands, or even what we believed in our minds, but primarily the repentance of the heart, unto faith in the Messiah and His finished work on the Cross.

In light of the Day of the LORD, there are three groups: the wicked, the self-righteous and the righteous. The wicked may or may not acknowledge their depravity. The bottom line is that they do not come to faith through repentance and are therefore sentenced to a Lake of Fire. The self-righteous, do not acknowledge their depravity, they relate to God on the basis of their own works (Luke 18:11-12) and are condemned alongside the wicked. The righteous acknowledge their inward depravity towards God and repent before the mercy revealed at the cross. They continue relating to God on the basis of His righteousness (Isaiah53:5-6), and therefore are justified at the Day of the LORD (Luke 18:13-14).

The Culture of the Cross, the Value of Humility

IHOP-EG acknowledges that salvation is on the basis of faith alone. (Romans 2:16, 3:21-24; Phil. 3:9, Titus 3:5). IHOP-EG acknowledges that justification before God is not earned on the merits of works inherent in our culture (i.e. prayer and fasting, eschatological views, prophetic gifting, evangelism effectiveness). As leadership we acknowledge and uphold that the culture of whole-heartedness must ultimately concede to the culture of the cross. Whole-heartedness must always be the response to justification and not our means unto justification.

We also acknowledge the reality of rewards, suffering loss, and the varying levels of glory in the resurrection (1 Cor. 3:14-15, 15:41-42, Revelation 2 and 3). But these also are based on the foundation of the heart. This is where some streams may have the correct focus on the cross, so they get saved at the Day of the Lord. However, the wrong beliefs, distorts their missiology, in a way that they get saved as one escaping fire (1 Cor. 3:15). As a missions base, we value the right heart (orthokardia), escorting us into the right doctrine (orthodoxy), unto the right practices (orthopraxis).

As part of our heart values, we call believers to actively do our part in embracing God’s divine restraint on human pride (i.e. fasting). We believe activities, such as fasting, or abstaining from worldly but legitimate pleasures, are ultimately for the purpose of repentance, an outward response to the inward condition, and by no means a reason for the flesh to boast. We also believe in bearing the fruit of the Spirit as a better outward sign of inward righteousness than the gifts of the Spirit (Matthew 7:22-23, Galatians 5:22-23).

The Pharisee vs. the Forerunner

In Jesus’ day, there were two groups of people, both had the same theological hope, and the same outer appearance of righteousness (i.e. signs and wonders, giving to the poor, prayer, fasting). However, the Pharisees were ardently rebuked, (Matthew 23) while John the Baptist was called the greatest man born of woman (Luke 7:28). Expression of holiness cannot be done out of a pharisaic spirit, where we love to be honored among men, (Matthew 6:1) yet inwardly indulge in sin. Our expression of holiness must be inward, beginning with repentance and the turning of the heart where only the Lord can see (Matthew 5-7).

The Inward Nature of Holiness

The works of our hands in ministry are to be done, from this posture of the heart, (Matthew 23:26) where we continually acknowledge what is in the heart of a man, receive the mercy of God, become filled with gratitude, and in turn offer mercy to our neighbor (Matthew 18:23-25). We build our ministries out of the overflow and abundance of our heart, alongside the partnership of the Holy Spirit. We want our ministry to be tested with fire and found pure, so that we will receive a reward (1 Corinthians 3:13-14). The ministries of the IHOP:EG are birthed from the place of prayer, and are built as a thanksgiving memorial unto the Lord.

Dealing with the Outward Nature of Holiness

We believe that there are blatant issues of immorality, which are easy to recognize and must be dealt with accordingly. Regarding, the “gray” issues (i.e. secular music) we have the word of God, the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the counsel of the Church and our own conscience to determine how we walk them out. That said, we do not live in a vacuum and our decisions will impact others in different ways (1 Cor. 6:12). Jesus did not use equality with God for His own advantage, but instead used His divine nature to serve us (Philippians 2:6). In the same way, although we may have a clean conscience regarding a gray issue, we consider others first as bond slaves to Christ (1 Peter 2:16). Our decisions in these areas have the power to lead others down a road of compromise that ends in a Lake of Fire (1 Cor. 8:13).

In regards to confrontation over gray matters, we must be careful not to sway someone one way into compromise or the other way into the delusion of self-righteousness (Romans 9:30-32, Mathew 23:15). We can always test our counsel related to these issues, it should ultimately direct them into loving God and loving their neighbor.

The Calling of the Forerunner

The forerunner calling is not an elitist call for those who are gifted in prayer, prophesy or miracles. As the Lord did with John the Baptist, there will be other voices crying out in the wilderness before His second coming. We believe the Lord will call forth a generation of forerunners who love much because they have been forgiven much (Luke 7:47). The eschatological drama, will draw out the motives and allegiances of the heart, and reveal what has been sown in the secret place. The call of a forerunner is to prepare the earth (Luke 7:29) for the coming of Jesus, both Bridegroom, King, and Judge, by first preparing their own hearts. The call of a forerunner is not to a platform, but to a lifestyle of hiddenness (Isaiah 40:3). The qualification of a forerunner is not gifts and talents, but a secret life with God.

Closing Statement

IHOP:EG acknowledges that one can go two ways in the prayer room. It can either puff up pride, or put a check on pride. It’s the same with the nature of fasting, listening to sermons, or any other spiritual activity. We cannot regulate the intentions of people’s hearts, nor undermine the biblical prescription and God-given desire for whole-heartedness. For this reason, as a Missions Base we pursue the heart values of the the sermon on the mount, stand upon the word of God, humble ourselves to the Holy Spirit, and submit ourselves under the culture of the cross.