Apostle David Johndrow - Fire And Grace

John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard movement, used to say "everyone gets to play." What he meant was that the leadership wasn't going to be doing all the ministry. And that is a good thing because, in most denominations, the pastoral and overseeing authorities were really separated from the laity. They were the paid "holy men," often doing all the praying, all the teaching and all the administration and counseling too. Bigger churches just had more paid holy men to carry out the so called ministry of the church. When I was doing missions in Brazil , I found it really difficult to just be a regular guy, trying to do what I saw the Father doing. Everyone wanted to address me with some sort of title -- out respect for sure -- but I wasn't ordained at the time. The separation between me and them was perceived. Sure, I studied the Bible in a formal school... but really, who gives a flying epistle? Paul the apostle was a very well educated Jew, but he didn't...

It doesn't matter how many rules you have, few folks, if any, ever empty the dryer trap. In my house, growing up, that was the first thing that you did before drying your clothes - then you'd leave it for the next one. It must have something to do with having your hands full of delightfully warm Levis with rivets so hot you could brand a calf. It's that same at work and home with the K-Cup coffee maker. I never open the cup clamp and find it empty. I always have to toss someone else's Mocha Creme Latte Deluxe Comprede Alfredo before making the next cup of Columbian. There is one more thing that never seems to get done by the last person that uses it  - changing the toilet paper. Is it just men, or do woman do this too? So you are all hiked up or zipped up and ready to roll (pun intended); is there is no time to put fresh roll on the roller? I'm guilty. If I think about it, leaving the lint or K-Cup for someone else is a little selfish. I realize ...

Soon, the two best football teams in the US will pair off against each other. I don't know how big the arena is, but there will be tens of thousands of spectators in the stands and 22 players on the field at one time. That is what the church has in common with the Super Bowl - very few players on the field compared to the total amount of Christians in the bleachers. Church, it is not supposed to be that way. John Wimber said, "everyone gets to play." ( HERE is more on that.) What he meant was that Christianity is for everyone - each one of us a gift to the Kingdom; a part of the body of Christ; an integral part of God's work here on earth. ALL Christians need to discover and use their gifts for the good of the Kingdom. From cleaning toilets to feeding the poor and praying for the sick, it is certainly not a one man job (paid holy man syndrome), nor is it an elite team operation; performed by a select few ultra-religious folks. The problem with the personal vision of ...

I loved Jerry Sienfeld's response to the persistent telemarketer. I took the last month to do another survey on the behavior of church people and here are the results. But first a little bit of Jerry to set the tone. How many folks from church call you? 42% said 0 38% said 3 4% said 4-6 14% said 7-10 Nearly half of the respondents, OK, let's not exaggerate 42% - that's 42 in a congregation of 100 or 84 in a congregation of 200, or 420 in a congregation of 1000 -- and for those of you at a mega-church, that's 2,100 out of 5,000 who said zero! Zero people call them. Think about it?!? Maybe I should say think about it hard. If we are going to be known by our love, and we can't even pick up the phone - well, I report you decide. Did you know that the Vineyard Christian Fellowship did a study about 10 years ago? They found that a newcomer - Christian or otherwise -- needs to make six to seven meaningful friendships in order for them to stay at a church and become a produ...