The Holy Spirit: Power Presence and Purpose Part 178

The Gifts Part 83

Tongues continued...

We act as though we’re seeing such an abundance of biblical gifts in the church today, that we’ve gotten so used to hearing prophecy, seeing healings, hearing tongues and interpretation of tongues that God somehow needs to step up His game in order to keep us interested.

There is an utter lack of reason and logic when we don’t see the gifts of the Holy Spirit as outlined in the Bible manifesting within the church, yet we’re seeing gold dust and gold fillings, oily hands and peacock feathers. By simply going to the word of God we ought to know that these signs are false and have their origins in something other than God. By simply evaluating what we are seeing with our own eyes, and acknowledging that the true gifts of the Holy Spirit are sparsely seen in our manmade constructs of what we envision fellowship ought to be, we should deduce that the extra biblical signs manifesting themselves are of the enemy, and are meant to lead the children of God astray.

Few things are more pitiful than seeing someone laughing maniacally, shaking uncontrollably, mumbling to themselves and making inappropriate hand gestures, all the while thinking themselves under the power of the Holy Spirit. God is not the author of confusion. He will never compel His children to act the fool, to mock the Holy Spirit, or to bring shame to His name.

So why pick at the scab? Why talk about this? Because ignoring it or sweeping it under the rug will do nothing to remedy the situation. I realize some are of the ‘don’t air your dirty laundry in public’ mindset, but I refuse to become a pharisaical puppet and whitewash the tombs that are many of today’s congregations, pretending that everything’s perfect, save for the decreasing donations in the offering baskets.

Another reason I chose to discuss these issues of demonic, yes, I said demonic manifestations within the church is to highlight the lengths to which the enemy will go in his attempt to either pervert or undermine the true work of the Holy Spirit.

The enemy is scared witless at the thought of a church walking in authority and full of the power of the Holy Spirit. If everyone calling themselves a Christian would walk in the authority Jesus Himself said we would walk in, if everyone cast out demons, spoke in tongues, healed the sick or remained perfectly healthy if they ingested poison, just imagine what the church would look like, just imagine the power that would emanate from within the congregation of God.

If we operated in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, if we walked in the authority of God, if we cast out demons and healed the sick and spoke in tongues and manifested the power with which we as God’s beloved are endowed, I submit to you that there would be very little concern for bigger and more awe inspiring edifices, there would be little concern for the benefits packages, the golden parachutes, the parsonages or the monthly stipends, for all as one would be pursuing the glory of God and nothing else.

We’ve lost our way, we have wandered from our duty before God, and rather than be on our faces crying out, rather than fast and pray that God would revive us with the power of His Holy Spirit once again, we are steeped in trying to balance the church mortgage, the day care, the extra staff members, the added expense of a youth pastor, and all the other things that occupy our time and choke off our desire to simply be in the presence of God and to fellowship with Him.

When the church becomes a business it’s time to stop doing church!

I realize the preceding sounds harsh, but it’s the truth. I’ve had people mock me, belittle me, call me irresponsible, and tell me I lack vision because I choose not to go down the path of making a business out of ministry.

Do people support the work that we do? Of course they do, otherwise we could not do it. Do I lay a guilt trip on people every chance I get, tell them God will punish them if they don’t give, or demand that they finance the vision of dynamic growth? No, because God knows whose heart to touch, He knows whom to speak to and urge to give, and although for the past fifteen years we’ve had at least eighty children in our orphanage at all times, and sometimes as many as one hundred and twenty, they have never gone to bed hungry, cold or naked.

I know God called me to this work, and because He has called me to this work He will provide all that is needed in order for us to fulfill our calling to the best of our ability. Nothing else comes into the equation, not global economies, not threats of inflation, not volatility in currency markets. I know God will provide! I don’t know how God will provide, I don’t know whom God will provide through, I just know that He will.

When we get ahead of God however, when we start building our own kingdoms, or attempting to realize our own visions without God’s consent or God’s blessing, then we start to worry, we start to fret, we start employing worldly gimmicks, and the more we attempt to do it ourselves, the more God removes His hand of blessing.

Am I saying a church shouldn’t have a vision? Am I saying a church shouldn’t have an overseer or a budget? No, that’s not what I’m saying at all. What I am saying, is that if and when ministry becomes about the money and not about Jesus, it’s time to pack it in, and walk away. There are far too many examples of ministers and ministries for whom godliness became a means of gain, becoming corrupt of mind and destitute of truth, and ending up teaching aberrant heresies due to their greed and desire for material things.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.