Whose Pattern Do You Follow?

Build according to the right pattern

  Jesus is our pattern for life; his examples are the pattern to follow. As the dominoes of pastoral pretenders are currently falling in our modern world, our call is to redouble our attention to the one who is greater than everyone else. The godless, corporate religious system provides rules of conduct for leaders to follow and pass on “to their market share of believers” - Steve Thompson. But this system we are following is only a band-aid to the soul of man.

  What is truly required is a deep transformation within. One that remakes the heart and deepens the soul. This is where your soul begins to grasp the vastness of the Father’s heart and is overwhelmed by it. Quick repentance and then jumping back into the saddle of ministry as Chris Reed did… does not produce lasting fruit. No more than repenting of alcoholism and returning to the bars, everyone needs time away from the things that lure them back.

  Jesus was so wildly different than the system the Jewish people knew on that day. It was not that he was bringing something completely new. But he was bringing a restoration to life deeper and wider than the cold hearts of the religious leaders could comprehend.

Modern Ministry

  I am reminded of a quirky but often true quote from Phil Robinson of Duck Dynasty.

  It would seem, in the modern age, that the more we “paint” a ministry or Pastor to make them look “good,” the more spiritual gunk is found under the hood of the ministry. Did Jesus do this? Did he ever inflate or exaggerate his claims? Did he ever hide the issues, or did he tackle them head-on?

  When people looked into the eyes of Jesus, did they feel distrust, or were they drawn closer?

  When Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21 Where do you think his treasure was, could people see it in his eyes?

  Our transformation comes at the edge of surrender, from the abandonment of the stuff of Earth to the first steps of wonder when gazing into the presence of Jesus. Jesus said a radical thing about the Kingdom when he said, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been treated violently, and violent men take it by force.” Matthew 11:12

  A lot of people speculate what he means, but to me, it's fairly clear. Seeking the Kingdom is not a spectator sport like some people within the system would have you believe. It requires you to drag yourself out the door and kill everything that holds you back. And if you grow lazy and slip back into your old ways and thinking, you need to kill it all over again, and that sucks. Because if you don’t, then how can you look Jesus in the eye and be honest?

  And if we don’t look him in the eye, how can we ask him for His vision to see the people of the world around us the way he sees them? Jesus' whole ministry helped people in one way or another. Lifting burdens, closing physical and emotional wounds. His pattern to follow was revolutionary, and even after traveling for some time with his students, he still had to rebuke them for not having the right mindset. Luke 9:54-55

“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit,” Romans 14:17. So here is a question: So what spirit were James and John (the sons of thunder) working in when Jesus rebuked them? Does modern leadership act more like the Sons of Thunder or like Jesus?

“Our” Identity

  For a long time, it would seem that we have used Jesus as the “frontman” for Christianity. We hang his symbols and post the pictures. We share the quotes and sell the T-shirts and mugs to turn the revenue required to keep the religious “kingdom” moving forward. All under some need to display to the world our identity.

  But, do we follow his ways, his teaching, do we seek a consecrated life? When it says about him in Isaiah 53:3, “…he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.” Do you think it was only talking about a one-time occurrence, or are we as a people…is it possible that we could be doing it now? Because if we held him in High esteem, I would think we would honor his ways, wouldn’t you?

  Do we hunger and trust for righteousness? Matthew 5:6

  Have we tested the people who claim to be Apostles? Revelation 2:2

  Or are we like the people of Sardis who have refused to soil our clothes in the world we live in? Have we sought out true righteousness that has come out of the refiner's fire?

  The reality is that due to the circus actions of so many pretenders, the Charismatic faith has become a quagmire that repels the rest of the Body of Christ. This alone should be a testimony, a warning that something is horribly off and needs to be reset. Integrity, Honor, and Respect have become tattered banners to wave from our castles but have not yet lived.

  I am learning, since walking through my own deconstruction, that it is far better to live a simple life while cultivating the presence of God in my life. Then, clamoring and clawing for the next prophetic word to “prove” my spiritual worth so that some ministry can be made, that just striving. It is human, carnal, and will leave a legacy of striving in the wind, not holiness. Do we want to plant striving in our garden or holiness? What kind of harvest do we seek?

  To many leaders like Chris Reed, internal worth is so tied up with who they are or who they think they should be. When they get exposed for their sins, they struggle as quickly as possible to get back into the saddle of ministry before learning what the Lord wants to teach them. As a result, without deep work, the chances of repeating the sin only increase. This is because the only thing that is really learned is how to cover things up.

By the end of 2024, I spent a lot of time discussing and exposing various aspects of my former employer, Rick Joyner. Although I can not guarantee the Lord will not give me more on that issue, I am choosing to step in another direction. I am looking to open the door for others to see (and hopefully get encouraged) how to really walk this life in Jesus. So, from time to time, in 2025, I will still be drawing on examples of bad actors, but this will typically be for the purpose of showing how NOT TO LIVE.

So in 2025, consider carefully whose pattern you are following.

Next Week, “Fiddler on the Roof”