We Are Not Ready!

Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. I Corinthians 12:27-28

The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is the most powerful entity in the world, but since its inception, the devil has tempted its leadership to compromise the model set by the Lord Himself! The church began when the Lord Jesus chose twelve men to be His replica (an exact copy or model of something) on earth!

Twelve is the number of the government of God, and as the number grew into 120 sold-out, born-again disciples, the new church was born! It didn't have a building, a pastor, a steeple, or a pulpit! But it did have an assembly of people in agreement and of one accord! Today we have a building full of sleepy saints, untrained and unequipped for the ministry at hand.

Our mission statement is the same today as it was for Jesus; you can read it and claim it if you intend to carry out His vision, mission, and mandate! Everyone in the body who is born again has a specific ministry to fulfill and a mission to complete, but sadly, in most churches, only one gifting is utilized: the pastor. God didn't call you to go to church; He called you to be the church!

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." Luke 4:18-19

WHEN YOU ASSEMBLE

How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. I Corinthians 14:26

If your body only had one part working, the mouth (pastor), you would be a quadriplegic, but God designed the body to have all the parts working! So, what is your part? If you know what it is, are you using it to edify (build up their faith) your brothers and sisters?

This is why churches either die on the proverbial vine or become "Mega" churches where no one can participate! Jesus intended for each one of us, as His body, to carry out his part so that the entire earthly body of Christ can function as He did when He was on the earth! Most people don't understand what the body of Christ really is, and so they trudge off to another dead service to be pumped up just to make it to the next week and do it all again.

People are not trained or equipped in most churches because of the fear that you are starting a church on your own and will become a competitor. I experienced this when I began our ministry to the addicted, downtrodden, and those who were prostitutes. I brought them to church, but most of the people were scared for fear of being robbed, so we started our own church to accommodate our people. Needless to say, leadership wasn't pleased!

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. I Peter 2:4-5

A CHOSEN GENERATION

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. I Peter 2:9-10

We have been chosen by God to represent Him on earth as His representatives to take His place and complete His ministry, as He forever intercedes for us in Heaven! How many times have you said or heard others say I need to go to church? Do you see the rut we have made for ourselves in that church is not a place to go, but a Person to be!

This changes the whole narrative by claiming our inheritance: chosen of God to be anointed warriors sent to set the captives free! Jesus called us to GO, not stay and sit, but to heal the sick, cast out demons, and raise the dead! This is our ministry, but for the most part, this is not the norm! We have been taken captive to a religious system housed in a building and receiving the doctrines of men!

After Jesus was raised from the dead, He appeared to the eleven and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they were not obeying His command to go! What do you think he would say to us today who sit and do nothing while the world goes to Hell?

Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. Mark 16:14-20

Your servant in Christ, Timothy Laughlin
Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ