The apostle Paul taught that the human body is a type or model of the Lord’s body, the church. Just as the human body is made up of many parts which function differently but fit together to make one body, so is the church. Just as our body is a unity of diversity and not conformity, so is His body...

The river of life is a river, not a lake or a pond. It is always moving, flowing, going somewhere. Such will be the nature of the congregations that are being built by the Lord. Even if a congregation has not seen all the characteristics listed last week, if it is moving forward in its faith and...

I am frequently asked this question: How can we find the body of Christ that is being prepared for Him, the church He is building? This is clear in His Word, as we will see. However, such churches are rare today. There may not even be one perfect example of this, but we know there will be. The word...

The first thing Jesus said about the end of this age was not to be deceived, yet we are now experiencing perhaps the greatest forces of deception the world has ever faced. Still, as we have seen throughout Scripture and history, during the greatest times of darkness, the greatest lights arose. As...

Jesus is the Son of God, and the Scriptures affirm: all things that were created came into being through Him. So, how is it possible that “ we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ?” (see Ephesians 4:15). The key word here is “we” are to grow up in all things into Him...

As we have addressed, patience is crucial to inheriting the promises and being in God’s will. Consequently, I have tried to turn “waiting” into special opportunities to “enter His gates with thanksgiving” (see Psalm 100:4) and get closer to Him. We are told “in everything give thanks” (see I...

As we have addressed, impatience is not a fruit of the Spirit. So, if we are led by impatience, we will not be led by His Spirit, and likely not be in His will. Recently, the Lord showed me how much I had missed Him throughout my life, and how many unnecessary troubles I had experienced because of...

There is a tendency in ministry to measure success by the number of people we attract rather than by God’s criteria. John 6 is one of the most crucial chapters in the Bible. In this chapter, Jesus’ ministry profoundly changed. Up until that point, Jesus worked miracles so the people would believe...

As we have covered, there are four steps to preparation for ministry: 1) teaching, 2) training, 3) equipping, and 4) deployment. Most of the body of Christ seems to be stuck in teaching mode, with little training, less equipping, and even less releasing of the body into their callings. Ephesians 4:...

Last week we looked at the first two steps to equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry: 1) teaching and 2) training. The next step is equipping. In the military, equipping begins when you have satisfactorily completed your instructions and training and are given your own weapon. If you...