The Holy Way Vision
Christian ministry is properly preceded by prayer and worship. The quality of ministry will not rise above the level of our worship. Ministry that really counts for the Kingdom of God grows out of and is carried on in the presence of God.
Typically, the Lord arrests our attention with a call, a promise, and an equipping for ministry. He then leads us into a time of preparation, in which the call - its conditions and obligations, as well as some expected results - begin to be clarified. In this time of preparation, our own desires and objectives are brought to the Cross. We lay down our own lives, and Jesus becomes our life.
At Jesus' baptism He accepted His call to a ministry of bearing the sins and brokenness of the world. He received the anointing and equipping of the Holy Spirit for this ministry. He then was taken into the desert for a time of preparation. Satan was used to test His motives. He had to make decisions about obedience to His heavenly Father, the kind of ministry He would accept, and the trials and temptations He would have to resist.
Saul of Tarsus received His call to ministry on the Damascus road. In Damascus, the call was confirmed, and he received the equipping of the Holy Spirit. He shortly spent some years in the desert and in the congregation in Antioch in preparation for the ministry.
In 1959, the Lord called me to an apostolic ministry, promising a fruitful ministry with signs and wonders, leading many into His Kingdom. He gave me some tough conditions to which I would have to submit. He also told me that I would be prepared as I continued to pastor the Lord's flocks on the prairies of Montana. I must read the Bible through many times to get its contents firmly implanted in my life.
This went on for years during which the vision remained firmly in my mind and heart.
At the end of 1964, Barbara and I sensed that the time was near. We started a prayer chain before the altar at our church, which continued twenty-four hours a day for three months. Some of the parishioners took turns; Barbara's parents came and took turns; our older children helped.
One day in December at our family prayers, Barbara had a word from the Lord, which all recognized as such. We were to go to Indonesia as soon as possible, taking five children and leaving two behind.
In Indonesia, the preparation continued as the family did language study, prayed, and worshiped the Lord together. We hung onto our vision through violent political upheaval and real danger, learning more and more to trust the Lord.
After a while, a group of young Indonesians joined with us each evening for prayer and worship. As we continued, our little group of worshipers began to get called to homes where people were sick or demon possessed. We began to see miracles. We got called to churches in other towns, and even on other islands. At these places, we typically started with considerable prayer and spiritual warfare, after which ministry began to open up. After we left, the Lord activated local young people to form teams to pray and worship together, and eventually to be sent out to do evangelism and church planting.
In time, we began a training center where young people could learn to
worship in the Spirit and get involved in ministry. Individual prayer
began at 5 a.m., followed by corporate prayer. After prayer, people
went out for ministry as the Lord directed. The training was always
done on the job, like Jesus and His first little group of disciples.
After thirty years, most of our disciples have gone out all over the islands
to start new training centers, causing the work to multiply. Wherever
they have gone, they have begun with prayer and worship. Usually
a team of intercessors is formed very early on in the process. People
are discipled. The work expands and changes individual lives, churches,
and broad areas of the country.
Prayer and Worship
As we continued a regimen of prayer and worship over the years, we learned deeper forms of worship experience, both individual and corporate. As the worship went deeper, the effectiveness of our ministry increased proportionately.
We distinguished three levels of worship:
1. natural worship, following human patterns, designed according to our ideas and using our words.Natural worship prepares us to do natural ministry following our best plans, using our knowledge, our words, and our skills.2. spiritual worship, directed by the Holy Spirit, speaking His words and manifesting His gifts.
3 . mystical worship, entering into the presence of God in the heavenly places, being with Him in the silence of eternity or joining with the heavenly chorus of angels and archangels in their endless song of praise.
Spiritual worship leads to spiritual ministry, speaking the words of knowledge and wisdom the Holy Spirit gives us. We know people after the Spirit, the secrets of hearts are revealed, miracles happen.
Mystical worship makes possible a ministry which brings the presence of God into the midst of the turmoil and suffering of the world, transforming individuals and communities, making some people afraid or angry, leading others into God's presence to receive His ministry.
Although we know that worship will issue in a corresponding level of
ministry, we cannot use worship as a means toward this end. Worship
has to be done purely for the Lord's sake, without any ulterior motive,
even His service. Worship is a love affair with the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. In worship, we yield ourselves fully to the
Lord without any agenda of our own. There He meets us, transforms
us, and uses us as He wills.
Vision for the Future
The Holy Way mission began with much prayer in the Spirit and with a distrust for natural ways of doing ministry. Prayer and Bible study have led us away from reliance on ordinary business procedures and human organizational structures.
We have been intrigued with the pattern of Jesus' gathering a little band of disciples who followed Him around, watched His miracles, listened to His words to the sick, the destitute, the dead, His enemies, and His friends. Very shortly, with very little verbal instruction, He sent them out to do what He was doing - heal the sick, cast out demons, and proclaim the Kingdom (rulership) of God. We have had enough experience to know that these procedures work as well today as they did in the first century.
In the past, these concepts have been surprisingly difficult to promote in this country. But the climate is changing. Moves of God are happening around the country. There is a new openness to consider radical biblical methods. We long to see the move of God to become more widespread and less dependent on individual people or places. It needs to look more like a ground swell and less like random lightning bolts.
The Holy Way wants to be a part of this process. For this reason,
a number of The Holy Way members in this country are praying down strongholds
and asking the Lord to equip us to equip others. We have seen some
results. Discipleship
training programs we have led have produced some wonderful fruit.
Holy Convocations for a week each summer have been wonderful times of worship
and spiritual growth. It is, however, very difficult amongst the
busyness of life to maintain the level of prayer and worship that is necessary
to sustain momentum. For this reason, we are beginning to develop
worship centers around the country where groups of us can gather to worship
the Lord on a full-time basis. We will have a discipline of personal
prayers seeking a close relationship with the Lord. We will also
gather for corporate worship, seeking to enter together behind the veil
into the Holy of Holies, to know and receive the glory of God and equipping
for effective spiritual ministry.
The building for the first of these centers is being constructed in Northern Virginia and will become functional this summer.
If you have read this far, we would welcome your comments and having you join us in this effort as the Spirit leads you.
