You may ask, "Ted, don't you ever get discouraged?" As a matter of fact, yes I do. My frustration is that while in years past, it was easy to see God's hand in things, it is harder to do so now. The recent refreshings in Toronto, Pensacola, Brownsville, and Smithville, are simply that, refreshings of the Spirit. The question remains, what is God doing now? I see a quiet revolution.
This revolution comes with no flash or fanfare. In fact, it is almost covert in its movement. It has to do with freedom. There are four areas in which the church is moving into greater freedom and through exercising that freedom, finding victory.
1. Educational Freedom
Sometime in the early 1980s, homeschooling began to grow as a prevalent force in this country. It is now that these homeschoolers are making their way into our universities and eventually, the marketplace.
I had the privilege of attending a homeschool graduation ceremony two years ago. I was floored. I never have seen so many 4.0 grade average students in one place. It became clear that I was looking at the men and women who would lead our nation while I settle into my golden years. The dumbed down, valueless secular humanist public schools, on the other hand, continue to produce men and women that will eventually enter life with no skills, and no leadership ability. Do we not serve a wise God?
2. Health Freedom
In decades past, the emphasis in the church as been on physical healing. Now, I see the tide turning toward a preventative health care and the acceptance of alternative medicine which emphasizes a personal responsibility toward healthy lifestyles.
It is here I wish to confront those evangelicals who flippantly dismiss all alternative modalities as occultic. The root system of contemporary allopathic medicine, with its emphasis on pharmaceuticals (pharmakiea) could be looked at in much the same way. Also, there has been much evidence in recent years that the mainstream medical community has been guilty of suppressing the truth concerning the effectiveness of many experimental and alternative treatments (i.e., those that don't fatten the pockets of the pharmaceutical companies). As believers take a more disciplined approach in regard to their personal health, it provides more freedom, not only in terms of wellness but in terms of...
3. Financial Freedom
While the faith teachers of recent years emphasized personal wealth as a birthright of the redeemed, Christian conselors have increased to train the church in matters of personal finance and stress the discipline necessary to build personal wealth. Men like Larry Burkett, John Cummata, Dave Ramsey and others are calling the church out of personal indebtedness and into a lifestyle that will enable them to use their wealth to expand the Kingdom of Go. As those of the world continue to sink deeper into financial bondage, the financial freedom of the saints will be a great source of power in advancing the Kingdom agenda in the earth!
4. Relational Freedom
This category covers many different facets, but I will focus on two key areas. The first involves the proper training of young people in terms of preparing for marriage and family life. The other would involve the raising up of ministries that would deal with personal and inner healing issues. Secular psychology has attempted to fill the gap left by the church in addressing the inner needs of men and women. The truth is, the tools given to us in the scriptures, i.e., the cross, forgiveness, deliverance, breaking tiess, binding and loosing, and renouncing are more than adequate to bring broken individuals down the road to wholeness. As these giftings and ministries expand, the result will be stronger families that, in turn, will be the bedrock of a Godly society.
Seeing all these things play out in history are infinitely more exciting than any charismatic parlor trick. The church is slowly awakening from its defeatist, antinomian, wounded slumber to seize the opportunities that lie before her. The purposes of our God will be realized. The key is DISCIPLINE. All the areas we examined need the application of consistent discipline to see their full fruition. As I mentioned before, there is a balance between what God does and what we do in obedience. The tools lie before us and the time is now. The quiet revolution calls!
