One of the most exciting aspects of Christianity in the 20th century is the restoration of the supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit to the body of Christ. These gifts have always been available, and they have been operative in various places around the world throughout the history of the church, but it was not until the beginning of this century that spiritual gifts have been fully restored on a world-wide level to the church. All over the globe Christians of various backgrounds and denominations are rediscovering the power of the Holy Spirit. As a result of this renewal the church is experiencing unprecedented growth, and many nations are in the midst of tremendous revival.

One of the tasks God has entrusted to me and others in our leadership, is to teach the church how to operate in spiritual gifts. To do this effectively, our assemblies and family group meetings must be "opened up" to the operation of these gifts within our midst. This is what the New Testament teaches us to do. The scripture mentioned above in 1 Corinthians 14:1 REQUIRES us to earnestly desire spiritual gifts. After giving this charge, Paul uses the entire chapter to discuss the operation of spiritual gifts in the assembly of the saints. We therefore, have no choice but "to boldly go where few of us have gone before." This involves a certain amount of risk, for when an assembly is truly "Spirit-led," we do not always know what to expect from week to week. Sometimes, the operation of spiritual gifts is uncomfortable to our flesh. Often, God will move in such a way that is beyond our ability to comprehend or explain to others. In a sense, we lose control of the assembly when we ask the Holy Spirit to take charge. Does this mean that we will have chaos? Certainly not! God is a God of order. However, God's order is sometimes different from man's order. What we desire is that the Holy Spirit be free to move upon people during our assemblies. That is when we will begin to see revival break out and lives transformed!

With these truths in mind, here are some basic principles that we will follow in leading our assemblies:

1) The ministry of prophecy will be encouraged in our assemblies.

"Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said." (1 Corinthians 14:29)

Prophetic words (messages directly from the Lord to the church) will usually come during our praise and worship time. (1 Samuel 10:5-6; Revelation 19:10) Often, the pastor in charge or one of the worship leaders will lead the church corporately in a time of listening to the Lord and waiting for Him to speak. Believers who have a word from the Lord may verbalize that message from their seats making sure it is loud enough for the congregation to hear and to process. Normally, the pastor leading will respond in some way to words that come in this fashion.

If a believer receives from the Lord a prophetic word that he or she senses is potentially controversial, or unusually long, then that person should come to the front and submit the word privately to the pastor leading the assembly. This way the word can be properly judged before being released to the congregation. If the word is not submitted first to leadership but is delivered anyway, it may or may not be validated. Therefore, the person giving the word in such a circumstance must understand that the word will be publicly, rather than privately, judged.

May all of us earnestly desire to prophecy! We are to live on every word that proceeds forth from the mouth of the Lord! (Matthew 4:4)
 

2) Prophetic Song, "the song of the Lord," will be received in much the same way that we would a prophetic word.

One of the exciting things God is doing today is releasing beautiful spontaneous music in assemblies where believers gather for periods of worship. This is nothing new, however. Paul said, "I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind." (1 Corinthains 14:15) Singing with the Spirit is obviously something different than simply singing with the mind. It is a song birthed of the Holy Spirit that communicates the heart of God to His people. Many times when the Lord speaks to our hearts, He wants us to feel the emotion of His heart as well as to understand His words. Words full of emotion are best communicated through music. When someone receives a "song of the Lord," he or she may release it at an appropriate moment from the congregation, or bring it to the pastor or worship leader at the front for confirmation. 
 

3) Messages in tongues will be welcome in our assemblies

The gift of tongues can be either an earthly language unknown to the speaker, or a heavenly or angelic language unknown to the speaker. This gift is available to allSpirit-empowered believers for personal worship and prayer (1 Corinthians 14:5; Acts 2:4), and is given to some people as a special gift of ministry to the church (1 Corinthians 12:27-31). When used in ministry to the assembly, the tongue is actually a message from God to His church. It is therefore the equivalent of prophecy (1 Corinthians 14:5). What makes it slightly different is that as the church listens to the public message in tongues, we ask the Lord to give an interpretation of the word which is often given through someone other than the person who delivered the message in tongues.

(1 Corinthians 14:27). Sometimes God will give the same general interpretation to several people in the assembly. This becomes a powerful sign to all that the message is truly coming from the Lord. When a public message in tongues is given, we will wait for such an interpretation before continuing.
 

4) Praying in tongues will also be welcome in our assemblies, as long as it is not a distraction to others.

As mentioned before, the prayer language, or praying in tongues is available to all Spirit-empowered Christians.

"I would like every one of you to speak in tongues..." (1 Corinthians 14:5)

"For if I pray in tongues, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind." (1 Corinthians 14:14-15a)

This personal prayer in tongues is different from messages given to the church in tongues. It is personal - not primarily given to build up others, but to edify the individual using the gift and to bless the Lord.

"For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit." (1 Corinthians 14:2)

Therefore, although this "prayer language" should be used in the context of worship and intercession, it should not draw attention to itself. Again, it is for the individual, not the entire church. It is important therefore to be respectful and sensitive to others when praying in tongues. (1 Corinthians 13:1; 14:15-17) Tongues is often a starting place or catalyst to the release of other spiritual gifts. (see Baptism in the Holy Spirit - Pastor’s Position Papers). May "every one of us" learn to use this gift to God's glory and our own edification!
 

5) We will practice the ministry of "laying on of hands" at all of our assemblies.

The Bible says that the ministry of "laying on of hands" is a primary doctrine of the church (Hebrews 6:2). According to scripture, it should be an emphasis of all New Testament churches. At the end of each of our assemblies, we will have a team of leaders at the front ready to receive people for prayer. Our model of prayer will include laying our hands on those receiving prayer, and asking the Lord to impart blessing, healing, and spiritual gifts in the lives of those receiving prayer. According to scripture, we believe that God honors this format of prayer and will impart spiritual blessing through the hands of our leaders. (Mark 16:18; Romans 1:11; 1 Timothy 4:14; James 5:14)
 

"My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power." (1 Corinthians 2:4-5)

"For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power." (1 Corinthians 4:20)

Throughout scripture and church history, the Lord has often left His "holy fingerprints" on people when they are receiving ministry from Him. Sometimes this results in people falling on the ground in a semi-conscious or even unconscious state. At other times people will begin weeping profusely or even laughing hysterically. On other occasions manifestations might appear that we may not even be able to define or understand.

We have learned to respect these various phenomena as physical evidence of an internal work that the Spirit of God is accomplishing in the hearts of His children. We do not focus on the outward manifestation, but on the inner work of the Spirit.

However, we welcome whatever manifestation comes, and seek to accommodate and facilitate whatever the Lord is doing in each particular case. As these manifestations are becoming more and more widespread in the Body, it is very interesting that the first major and controversial "attention-getters" (commonly referred to as "slain in the Spirit" and "holy laughter") do have something of a precedent in scripture (many turn to 2 Chronicles 5:14, John 18:6, and Acts 2 to point out that while unusual, these are not "new" or unbiblical manifestations). This is helpful for those who struggle with manifestations that are unfamiliar to them, and for pastors who take seriously the charge to keep (God's) order in the services, and protect their flock from strange or even demonic manifestations.

Recognizing this however, as God's divine way of re-introducing to the modern church what can happen when the Holy Spirit is present in power, we must also note that the New Testament says repeatedly that "signs and wonders" do accompany the preaching of the gospel, strangely without usually specifying the diversity of such miraculous events witnessed by the early church (Mark 16:20, John 20:30, Acts 2:22, 2:43, 4:30, 5:12, 8:13, 14:3, Romans 15:19, 2 Cor 12:12, Heb 2:4). I believe that this helps make a case that God is not limited today to only doing what we know that He has done before (John 20:30), therefore both leaving the church open to fulfill John 14:12, and God himself open to be sovereign Lord, over our experience or even our limited understanding of his Word (1 Cor 13:12). The key to evaluating and testing moves of God is to look at the fruit. Is there evidence of a transformed life afterwards? Look again at the litmus test that Jesus prescribes:

"A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit...by their fruit you will recognize them." (Matthew 7:18, 20)

May all the assemblies and group meetings be completely open to the Holy Spirit of God, that He would be perfectly "at home" with us. According to the Lord's own promise, when two or three are gathered in His Name, He is present in our midst. Every time we come together in the Name of our Lord, may we all come with expectant hearts; and may God give us confidence in His presence, knowing that He who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, is in our midst wanting to pour out blessing on all whose hearts are open to Him.

"For where two or three come together in my Name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:20)

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8)