Apostle David Johndrow - Fire And Grace

Two years ago I had a wonderful revelation. Church is never going to happen if you and I don't get involved. And it requires the Spirit of God. I know, you already knew that. Today I was reminded of that again. If you have been following this blog for any length of time, there are some common themes - even if you are a farily recent reader, you know I just finished teaching the 5-Fold School of Ministry. Did you know the church cannot function without vision? Nope, and most of us either embrace the pastor's personal vision, or we find ourselves rejected and left out. Certainly it is good for those that embrace it and tough on those that don't. The Bible says that the people perish for lack of vision. (Proverbs 29:18) So, we've got to have vision. The problem is that a pastoral vision is incomplete. Ouch! I know, but let me explain. Every vision is subject to the Biblical principals. The president of the United States may have vision for something, however; he is s...

The new year is upon us. There were lots of different topics that the handful of bloggers I read, wrote about. It was pretty standard stuff for this time of year. I wasn't especially moved. I am not sure why. But don't be offended if you are one of my favorite bloggers, it's probably me. The Bible talks about both years, and seasons; I guess both are necessary. The "year of the Lord," "for everything there is a season" - you get the idea. We mark an orbit around the sun and call it a year - it's a good thing we don't live on Mercury. During that time, stuff happens. Kids make bad decisions, another learns something new, there are flat tires, bills, work, money, snow - a whole year of sleeping, eating, drinking, and TV. We mark the times of our lives in seasons: High School, College, single life, married life, middle-age and yikes, old-age. Seasons can last years, or they can be a few months. Time, it slips a way a few moments at a time. I h...

Today is the first day of another new year. I normally post on Friday; however, this is my actual 500th blog right here at Fire & Grace. I wanted it to coincide with the tectonic plates of time shifting to 2011. For New Year's Day I could write about the past year, what the future holds, or reminisce about the alcohol fueled ghosts of New Year's past. I could write about the food we are going to have at our little celebration that will be over at 10, or what it was like to watch the ball drop. I might even cast spiritual vision for the future. Enough about what I am not going to write about ! The original intent of Fire & Grace was for me to tell stories about my Jesus. This life is described in  Deuteronomy 6 .God commands his people to answer their children and tell them about deliverance, signs and wonders and the reason they are living a bountiful life. God has truly brought me out of a bunch of places of bondage, through the ...

I have written many times about issues in the church, but today I want to offer some solutions for free! In return, I am simply asking you to give your feedback, and proof the text of my new book-let. It is just the first 8 chapters, but they are the best ones. The original work was taken from Fire & Grace blog posts and run in by the Grammar Cop and a couple of trusted Christian friends that are close enough to say stuff like: "Chuck it", "Where's the Bible proof for that?" and "That's just your opinion." Now I am giving you your chance to weigh in. Sure, if you really have read my blog you'll recognize a lot of it - but hey, it is now in a handy-dandy PDF file that you can pass around to your friends. If you print it out and don't like it, you can use it to start a fire, or as emergency toilet paper. And even better, if you live in central New England, you can even come to attend my Friday night classes in January. Many thanks...

I have been part of a discussion that asked this question:  Spiritual Maturity - why wouldn't Christian leadership want their people to achieve it? Of course most of the respondents had a bone to pick with pastors that were prideful, greedy, controlling, afraid of folks with strong gifting and things like that. All of which are problems in the church. I have a different view. It appears that the consensus is that somehow leadership likes to keep folks uneducated. I agree, there are lot of pastors that probably like control, the limelight, and are wounded; finding a false sense of value in their job. The real question for me, is: "How did we get here?" If you think about it, church structure is pretty much a business model in most countries - especially in America. The pastor is the CEO of his church, compete with salary and perks. He may surround himself with a few elders to support him. Much like the president's cabinet. They are not elected,...

Religion is a tough task master. I have been participating on LinkedIn discussion group. I posted two discussions, one about what the church needs to do to turn around is declining membership in the US. The other was specifically on WHAT YOU WOULD do to engage your local culture or community. The first discussion was a lot of back and forth on what's wrong with the church, and what's wrong with society. Some thought we should move forward and other back. Some blamed education, others government and liberalism. There were some edgy remarks regarding woman in the church, Pentecostals, that role of politics and some other subjects such as edification and authority. It was almost out of control, and certainly needed some moderation. I tried to press for solutions, and I got some pretty standard answers. - Prayer - Returning to our first love - Repentance - Humility - Ridding ourselves of worldly influences - Just do God's will - Read the Bible Nothing surprising...

This is the last blog in my little series about the church. If we are going to solve problems, then some folks need to get motivated to do something different. Maybe that's you! The first "something" we need to do is get some vision from the Lord about how to go deeper and become more effective. But before we get all spiritual about this, don't you think there are some verses that we could make our own; mediating on them, and then putting them into action? Here are two that are paramount in turning around the "mother ship" we call church. Matthew 5:42-44 (NIV)  42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.  43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Do I really need to list the enemies of God and the church which includes you? Take a ride through Galatians Chapter 5 . And church, ...

Here I go having my own thoughts again – in between the last ones and some time with the Lord. Hopefully you read Part 1 of this 2 part blog series. -1 Church is boring, are we going to blame that on God? I read the Bible and it says that David loved the Law – that’s right, he delighted in God’s law. Some how He saw His savior and messiah reveled in it, and that made him joyful. I also read about the Puritans and how they spent all day in church. Some Pentecostal churches have watch night services that go from sundown until sunrise. How do you think they do that and stay awake - and not get bored? I mean without Law & Order to watch on TV, how do you think they survived? It is an interesting question. I have been to quite a few revival meetings in my tenure as a Christian – some long weekend retreats and even a few of those watch night services. I am from the entertainment generation of radio, TV, movies, music and yes, we had Pong. I would say that it takes more to keep me, ...

There is one good thing about having your own thoughts – well, if you can remember what they are! For over 10 years now, I have been contemplating church. Until then, I accepted church at face value. Whatever you think church is I am talking about my biblical perceptions. I have studied and thought about all kinds of worships styles, models, teachings, and moves of God from the Charismatic Renewal of the late 70’s to the more recent and short lived Lakeland Revival. Have you said to yourself, “this is what’s wrong with church?” Followed by a thought or an idea that you felt would make things better and more spiritual? I know I have. I have been teaching and blogging about it for years. I suppose that many of my ideas and insights are not new, but bear with me for a bit. I recently was talking to the elder of a church I visit from time to time. He told me that I should check out some of the books by Frank Viola. I didn’t buy any – sorry Frank. But I did go and read some of the revie...

I often think about how the Body of Christ needs to work together to accomplish that which God wants to do. For years we have heard all the big names in Evangelical, Charismatic and Pentecostal ministry circles. From Benny Hinn to Billy Graham, we have seen them perform. What we haven't seen very often, is a team approach; a body of many parts working together for the Kingdom. I confess that I was part of the superstar or rock-star generation. In some cases the athletes of my day were virtual one-man teams like Michael Jordan or Bobby Orr. Rock superstars like Jimmy Page or Sting, could make CD's with anyone they wanted to. They only required some assistance, not a team. God has a way of dealing with each one of us individually; here is what happened to me. One of my Brazilian friends got me an invitation to minister with him on the South Coast of Massachusetts. Our team consisted of a preacher, my interpreter; an evangelist, another friend with a healing gift and me. The c...

Some folks are really sick of church and don't even want to go any longer. For many, it is irrelevant and life-draining. Engaging with God and his people no longer seems worth the effort. If you are not attending church regularly, how would you answer the following question? Church is _____________ and that is why I don't go. A. Boring (I'd rather watch Good Morning America or Yo MTV Raps.) B. Unfriendly and Hurtful (To hard to make meaningful friends and feel significant to leadership.) C. Too Intellectual (All Word and no Spirit) D. Doesn't Believe What I Believe (Not biblical, or too literal.) E. All of the Above Let's say you are one who has refrained from doing the Top 10 Stupidest Things Christians Do , you are pretty serious about Jesus with a strong foundation , but just can't stomach another church service for one or more of the above reasons. What do you do then? Good question. Possibly you have weathered a desert experience and you still love Jesus, d...

I have passed the 300 blog mark, and I wanted to take a few minutes to express my thanks for reading along - some since 2006! And no hateful comments; amazing! I have written about a lot of things over the years, but mostly Jesus , Holy Spirit , Stupidity , Politics (some think that that's the same as stupidity) and Relationship . I have been most passionate about the the 5-Fold Ministry . My top 2 most read blogs are The Role of the Holy Spirit and The Cost of Following Jesus . That sort of makes me happy - because they are important topics. I am also a little impressed that my blogs on the Demonic are also well read. The most commented blog on Fire and Grace is yesterday's on No More Church a Usual ! I was a little disappointed that my series on The Top 10 Stupidest Things Christians Do , did not become a best seller. I have written some other blogs that don't appear here, but you can search me out at Tony C Today , and Kingdom Bloggers if you just can't get e...

Some years ago I had a dream. The Lord simply gave me the word "Antioch." At the time, all that I knew was that is was a biblical city where one of the apostles went. The first thing that I did was a word study on " Antioch ." What the Lord was trying to show me was that in the book of Acts there was a rich history describing the working of the spirit-filled church of the 1st century. Here are a few bullet points. - The church was planted after the persecution of Stephen in Jerusalem. (Acts 11:19) - The church was evangelistic having outreaches to the Greeks (Acts 11:20) - It was overseen by the Apostle (Greek "sent one") Paul and Barnabas for about a year. - Prophets from Jerusalem went there to minister. (Acts 11:27) - The new church had apostolic, prophetic and teaching gifts. (Acts 13:1) There is a lot more about the church at Antioch that one could glean just by reading Acts. It was a well known center with the ENTIRE 5-Fold ministry operating in it ...

"I'm tired of trying in church, I've be hurt too many times - I never seem to fit in." "There is too much hypocrisy, and we don't seem to be getting any better." "The programs just don't seem to grab me - it's the same old stuff." "Church is boring, and we don't seem to be making any progress." "No one seems to be getting saved any more - we should do something about it." Maybe you've said something like that at some point in your walk with Jesus, I know I have. Today I am going to compile a few thoughts from previous works with a new spin, so that maybe you'll be saying, "That makes sense to me!" I have had some exciting devotions as I search for the Lord's heart. Most of you know that I think the key to church growth is Ephesians chapter 4 - but not in some sort of corporate structure. At the very least, I believe that it means we are have ministers that are co-equal and complimentary in t...

Christians are an interesting group of folks. When they think of ministry, they are more likely to think of it as an occupation or vocation -- plumber, pastor, or car thief. As believers we often assume that because many ministers go to school for a masters degree in divinity - M-Div in the business, that they have lots of answers for us in negotiating the treacherously narrow path known as the will of God. This is not always the case. In truth, when we look at the early church, we do not see this type of education in any of the apostles but Paul. As a Pharisee he was the only one that was formally educated in the scriptures. I doubt that he took homiletics, pastoral counseling or classes on exegetic principals. And like any human, before he had an experience with a living God, he was legalistic about the Scriptures even using them to decree death - sound familiar? After the experience on the road to Damascus, Paul became revelatory - the latter being of God. The scriptures could not ...

Wow! This morning I had a wonderful revelation. Church is never going to happen if you and I don't get involved. And it requires the Spirit of God. I know, you already knew that. However; today, it's rhema. Did you know the church cannot function without vision? Nope, and most of us either embrace the pastor's personal vision, or we find ourselves rejected and left out. This is good for those that embrace it and tough on those that don't. The Bible says that the people perish for lack of vision. (Proverbs 29:18) So, we gotta have vision. The problem is that a pastoral vision is incomplete. Ouch! Every vision is subject to the Biblical principals. As the president of the United States may have vision, he is still subject to the laws of the land. His vision couldn't include some sort of illegal policy. It is the same with church vision. Spiritual vision cannot violate God's principals. I want to take a look at the overall mission of the church so that we can...

I am writing to myself today. What if we launch a whole new church model? What if you are an apostle or prophet? Even if you're a pastor, a teacher or an evangelist, then what? So many are not functioning in unity. There are too many para-church ministries that are profitable (who would leave)-- ones that should have been part-of-church. Do you think we could talk them into splitting the glory? Conversely, there are loads of loaners out there, people-- well people like me, that care about the kingdom, and see the American church in disarray. We have tried to plug-in, got our newcomers gift at that door, and now the candy is gone, the coffee mug is lost, and the CD is at the bottom of the pile. Sure, we did the beginner's class, and the spiritual gift assessment... hell, I wrote the the darn thing! I am wondering, is my personal revelation in the past 6 or 7 blogs a total miss? I am wondering if the church will adopt this new way of thinking? Or will what is left of the church a...

The Apostle is a controversial role/gift in most of the church today. I honestly don't know why. If we read carefully Ephesians 4:11 and some of Paul's other letters, in particular 1 Corinthians, we can plainly see that the apostle has a place in the contemporary church. If we reject the notion that the pastor is the quintessential calling, and look at the 5-Fold as a necessary entity; a sound church model, where all are on equal footing, we've made some real progress. Like our beloved triune God who is three-in-one, the church structure is five-in-one. Each facet of the 5-Fold is necessary, and presents a different, but equally important face of the Bride of Christ to the world. I'd like to take a moment and say what I don't think an apostle is. - He is not specifically a missionary, or church planter, yet the actual word in Greek means "sent." - He is not a pastor, although he may take that title for a period time to get a church started. - He is not a p...

The current state of the prophetic ministry and role within the church, is probably the closest to biblical intentions as any of the 5-Fold gifts. The New Testament prophet, and prophetic gift has some substantial depth and teaching in both the Charismatic and Pentecostal circles. If you have time, John Paul Jackson, Dennis Cramer, Graham Jones and Rick Joyner all have excellent materials available. Our New Testament prophet is essential to that which the church is doing on a day-to-day basis around the world. Ephesians 2:19-20 ...God’s people...[are] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 1 Corinthians 12:28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers... Like all the ascension gifts/roles mentioned in Ephesian 4:11, there are also the same gifting available to folks in non-leadership roles-- like you and me. After all, you can all prophesy-- well if you want to. But that d...