6/27/2014
By Richard Gazowsky
When I was a young man I remember the phones used to be hooked up to what we called party lines. Every phone was connected to a cable and many phones were connected together so if you picked up the phone line other people could hear your phone call.
This was the way it used to be years ago in many churches. The only time it seemed you could talk to God was in a church service and almost everybody in the church kind of knew what your problems were. At this time the church was not aware of the powerful human interface and was waiting to be activated inside the tummy by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Then Christians around the world begin to realize that they could activate the Holy Spirit inside their tummy just as Jesus said in the word of God. The amazing thing about this revelation was that the same transformation that happened in the mobile phone industry is the same revelation that is happening inside, with our ability to pray and communicate with God Himself. In the early days to talk on the phone you had to be connected to a wire. And so it was, to talk to God He needed to be connected to a church service itself.
Now let me make something very clear. I am currently the pastor of a large church in San Francisco so I definitely feel the church itself is not being obsoleted. Instead, it is being brought to a new and much more important function in the body of Christ. The church was an originally designed by Christ to equip the body of Christ (all Christians) to do the work of the kingdom of God ~ the same works that Jesus did when He was on earth.
I have a good example to see how God is changing the church and its relationship to us. And that is how our relationship is changing with our banks. I work with Bank of America in my business relationship. It used to be that I would always have to go personally to the bank to do a transaction (especially one that was important). Now things have changed so much I can transfer money from an account simply by using my iPhone. I can even receive very complex instructions and training on how to use the new equipment at home by my iPhone!
Just this week I received a new credit card machine that connects to my iPhone so I can make credit card purchases for my company through my iPhone. The training for this new device was done completely as I was sitting at home in my living room while conversing with bank instructors on my iPhone. The bank was equipping me to do the work of the bank mobile app conveniently right from my own dwelling. But what God is doing in the church today is much more sophisticated and powerful than what banks are doing in their relationship with us.
God has placed an interface inside of you that is not only mobile, but is active wherever you are in the universe. You can communicate instantly with God Himself by simply using the access code, which is the name of Jesus. Jesus warned us to always use His name because it is the protection from robbery and thieves who try to come in by some other method or some other name. His name is the six-digit security code you need in every communication.
To clarify my point on the ever-growing importance of the church, let me compare it to the increased importance in my relationship to Bank of America. To properly do my work with Bank of America from my home, I require them to increase the security of my financial transactions. The bank provides me that security with the use of pass codes and passwords to enable me to pay my bills and have funds securely transferred to my accounts.
The church has exactly the same function in your spiritual life. Now, with our increased understanding of the technology of the Holy Spirit, it is possible for you to pray and have prayers answered without ever going to a physical church service. That’s because the church pastor, evangelists, prophets, teachers, and apostles are providing you with security that is the most important element in your daily spiritual interaction.
And for all of this fantastic service we are instructed by God merely to willingly give 10% of our incomes as a “tithe” to the Lord. So you see the church, just like banks, is not becoming obsolete but is actually becoming more important and relevant to our daily activities and interactions with each other.
Let’s take a moment and look at how simple phone communication has become over the last few years. You are no longer tied to a cord and you can communicate while driving your car with a hands-free device, or merely walking down the street. What’s amazing is that our spiritual communication with God by the power of the Holy Spirit is even more mobile than a physical iPhone. Your mobile communication with God occurs inside your tummy, for Jesus said, “Out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water.” Here Jesus is telling us that the belly is the source of all spiritual power from God.
Let me explain to you clearly what this means. The Holy Spirit inside your tummy is the source of all new ideas, inventions, healings, finances, instructions, teachings, and the list goes on and on. In the past, pastors like myself have tried to make Christians understand that the church is the source of power. I know now that this thinking is flawed and was a big mistake. So what is the function of the church, and is it still necessary?
Matter-of-fact, I believe the church is more necessary now than it ever was. That’s why Jesus said that He has built His church hard by the gates of hell. The church’s function is similar to that of a bank. It provides security for each person that is using the power of the Holy Spirit. Christians that have been taught the proper function of a congregation are under an umbrella of security protection over their families, their businesses, their finances, and their children. These functions are extremely important because they build a strong family environment that continues its protection around your personal interface so He can operate in all of the functions that the Holy Spirit has assigned it to operate.
To illustrate this, I live in the city of San Francisco, which is famous for wickedness that has come out of it. Yet in this evil city I have been able to raise a family that loves Jesus and is just as pure as they can possibly be because we have been members of a proper functioning congregation that has the ministries of apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists upgrading it all the time.
The reason I am taking time to explain the function of the church is because I do not want you to be personally attacked by Satan, who will try to lie and convince you to disconnect from a local congregation because the power of the Holy Ghost is so independent. But the independence that exists in the Holy Spirit is totally important for you to function properly with the body of Christ, by this I mean the church.
Many times in the Bible we found kings who experienced great advancement in power and authority and then disconnected their selves from the council of the church. For instance, King Saul reigned for two years and then he quit listening to the prophet Samuel. Samuel told him that when he was small in his own eyes he listened to the counsel of the prophet. But when he became large with an ego he did his own will, which caused Samuel to make the famous quote, “Obedience is better than sacrifice”. The more powerful you become in the ways of the technology of the Holy Spirit, the more you need to become acutely aware of God’s safety and covering that He has placed over you through the church of Jesus Christ.
Though I can use my iPhone to communicate to somebody from almost anywhere on planet earth, I am also aware that the security of the phone can be broken and my phone calls can be listened to by others. Recently it was discovered that the US government can monitor and record our phone calls and messages. It makes sense that if the government can spy on us we must be careful because bad people can also. This is why God has provided you and I with the function of the church and all of its ministries so that they can provide training, encouragement, and especially protection for us so that things never have to go wrong.
Yes, the spiritual interface of the Holy Spirit inside your body is incredible because it empowers you with freedom and the ability to be mobile. But it also needs to have security, which comes from your constant connection and linking to a local church congregation. Even if you are extremely wealthy and you feel it would be a bother for you to be a member of a congregation, I am warning you that you are wrong. Every one of you needs to have church congregational interaction. And even if that interaction is done internationally, it must be there to cover you.
There are members of my congregation that live in Canada, Australia, Asia, Europe, and often move weekly from place to place. Each one of these people receives spiritual covering in the arrow area of apostolic prophetic, evangelistic pastoring, and teaching. All of these coverings are functioning and giving them a surety in their lives that leads to a bountiful future. Being mobile in your communication with God and your functioning of all of the defined applications He is giving you access to is extremely important. At the same time, make sure you are connected with God’s security.
One of the members of my church is currently living in Paris, France. Daily she communicates with me about spiritual issues that she is doing in France. My function with her is that of a pastor and to provide security covering. But of course that security is operated completely by the power of the Holy Spirit who’s all seeing eyes watch everything. If God tells me about something about a person, it is easy for me to just communicate what He told me and it is quickly taken care of.
Many of our old ideas about function, distance, and accessibility are changing daily by the power of God. Enjoy God’s new mobility that He is providing free to you and your family, because at the same time He is covering you with incredible security.
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