The ministry of a pastor is only mentioned one time in the New Testament—in Ephesians 4:11 where it is listed with the other equipping ministries given to the church. There is no definition or description given to this ministry in the New Testament, yet this one ministry has virtually dominated church leadership since the third century. True New Covenant ministry is a team ministry as we see in this verse, and we need to receive all of the ministries to be a fully equipped church.

     Even though almost all Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal, and Charismatic churches are...

   Since this is the first Word for the Week of 2011, and we are studying how to know God’s voice and the prophetic gifts that He has given to His church, I want to begin by sharing what may be one of the most prolific messages God’s people have been receiving. The question I may be asked more than any other is what 11-11 means. Whether seeing it repeatedly on their clocks or in other ways, many people have been receiving this for years. New Year’s Day was 1/1/11 or 11-11. This usually speaks of a second chance,...

     This coming year the goal of our study is to be able to discern the voice of the Lord better, first for our own guidance, but also in the unfolding events of our times. Nothing is more important for us to do this year than to love God more and follow Him more closely. Only then can we love each other the way that we are called to love.

     As we have learned with so many prophetically-gifted people in our church and ministry, if they will inquire of the Lord about a person, He will show...

     Many Christians believe that we cannot understand the times because Jesus said that no man knows the hour in which He will return (see Matthew 24:36). Even though it is true that we do not know the time of His return, we can still know the times, and in fact we must. I Thessalonians 5:1-4 says:

Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you.
For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord...

     Many things bring life to a church, such as great preaching, prayer, worship, and fellowship. However, three things seem to bring the most life to the church—hearing from God, miracles, and new believers. In our local church, we have been blessed by an increase in each of these, which has come in waves. It seems that we may be in the first stages of yet another wave, which is creating a lot of excitement. A few weeks ago, I was also given a promise from the Lord—He said He is going to release a double portion of prophetic...