World in View

W COVID - 19: Locked Down Or Locked INto God?

What has been your response to COVID -19? Have you seized the chance to get off the treadmill that we have been frantically running on W

like a gerbil and find quality time with God? We have a golden opportunity for a REAL intimate knowledge of GOD, not to be missed! We can choose to ‘dance in the desert’ or die in despair because whenever we are God is there and He will provide for us, He doesn’t change. Lately, while I was in the throes of domestic chores and business tasks, multitasking as we women do, God asked me:

“When last have we been intimate? You haven’t been to Church per se but have you been to me?”

We can send God the type of communication that I call ‘e-prayers’. We just quickly send God a voice note, text or email and we don’t even wait to hear the ‘ping’ in God’s inbox; we have moved on to the next task, ticked our box, we are done. Meanwhile, God is thinking, When will I get a word in? When will they actually spend some time listening to what I have to say?

Since COVID, there has a been a paradigm shift from, ‘Going to the Church’ to getting together with God and that growing phenomenon has manifested itself in the ‘House Church movement.’

In 2006, this headline caught some attention: “1 in 5 adults attend house churches,” according to Barna.com

“...about 5% of the adult population is currently engaged in a house church based upon the most stringent of the questions we have developed. With growing numbers of conventional churches attempting to incorporate both the house church concept and language into their ministries, it becomes increasingly difficult to get an accurate reading, but we are confident that the longer, more detailed question we use gives a realistic, perhaps even an undersized estimate of the number of people who rely solely on or partly on a house church experience. All research is simply an estimate of reality, but our preference has always been to use conservative measures rather than questionable or exaggerated figures.”

What the stats are showing us is that there is an increase in church activities happening in the privacy of people homes. Unfortunately what the stats don’t show us is if this increase is from extracurricular church activities from a “traditional” church or if these are house groups or their own individual churches.

What is clear is that the Biblical pattern of meeting in each other’s homes was the pattern that the Apostles worked from and it gave room for the Holy Spirit to build the Church globally, witnessing unprecedented exponential growth. In short, God’s way was ‘effortlessly fruitful’. “Our planning puts man and money to work but our praying allows God to work.” H. Slack

I believe that COVID is that golden opportunity for the ‘Church to Get back on track with God. What could God possibly have to say to us, today, that is so important that He has not already

World In View

said clearly in the Bible? Actually not much that is ‘new’. The real question is, why haven’t we listened to and obeyed what He has already clearly said again and again to us in The Bible and though numerous prophets throughout the ages? The answer is we are rebellious and often stiff-necked. So God patiently forbears with us and keeps reminding us but He will not always strive with humanity and the appointed time set for our judgement is running out. So I have shared below one more attempt by our heavenly Father to bring us back into alignment with His will.

The Pattern of Church Building and Evangelism

Jesus commanded the apostles on the day of Pentecost to wait on the Holy Spirit once the anointing came they had the power to then go out and church plant with the blessed assurance and the tools to then preach salvation. Modern-day church planting has taken on a ‘franchiselike’ spirit where church organisations are planting churches for economic or soulish purposes (sometimes with good intent) but without waiting on the Holy Spirit’s instruction. Causing churches and their leaders to be born out of the will of God and causing chaos within the body I am writing prophetic words to you today: “All around the world, I see God bringing promotion and at the same time exposition in the body of Christ. I see him increasing ministries founded on HIS TRUTH exponentially and closing the doors and putting on the “back burner” those in halfway obedience or those who chose to only promote a “speak nice and feel good” gospel. If God has not increased your fruit-bearing and sphere of influence in this season (he is causing the message of repentance and hope in Christ to proliferate the four corners of the earth) then stop and come to God in brokenness. Do not be deceived any longer check carefully your beliefs, have you somehow missed the voice of God in a particular area of your life. Or is your living lining up to the message you preach? of Christ. Is 2020 the year of return to

A Prophetic Word by Pastor Jacqueline Chin-Depass

the Acts 2 pattern? p Those who God has exposed in this season, many of them, God prompted his people to pray. We discerned! Yet when we warned others they refused to listen. These individuals who God exposed were so convinced they were in truth and knew God. They were far away from God. Please come to God in brokenness and ask God to purify you in the inward parts. Ask him to show you if you have any wrong beliefs or are operating out of the soulish realm. He welcomes brokenness and repentance.

I pray God’s truth would saturate us from the crown of our head to the soles of our feet. His truth would be in our inward parts and his truth would set us free.”

Article by Dorian Slack Angela Slack & Jacqueline Chin-Depass