World Changers

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February 2021

I am so grateful for all you do to make it possible for us to continue to fulfill Jesus’ commission to the Church. It seems there is a lot of confusion about what we’re supposed to be doing, and how we are to do it! It is this confusion that has allowed the world to slip into chaos and lawlessness. The Church was the only organism in the entire world that could have kept the world from falling apart, and we failed. But be of good cheer God has not given up on us. We will rise to the occasion and usher in the second coming of the Lord Jesus! With your help, we have continued in Jesus’ commission to share His gospel and make disciples for decades.

Because of confusion, ignorance, or unbelief, many great ministries have placed their gifting above the call and commission of Jesus. I am thankful for everyone who has tapped into unique forms of ministry. Some people specialize in worship, healing, prophecy, inner-healing, and more. All of the gifts and administrations of the Holy Spirit are essential to the body of Christ. We want them all in operation! But if we are to follow Jesus’ calling, we must use our gifting to fulfill Jesus’ calling. Too often, specialized ministries tend to make their particular gifting more important than Jesus’ calling!

In my series How to Find The Perfect Will of God, I talk about the need to put First Things First. When we align our priorities with God, we see what very few believers understand: If we are not obeying God in priority, we are not actually obeying  God. Our particular gifting can help people, but it will only bring a short-term benefit if we don’t deal with the weightier issues. Jesus’ commission must be the priority. Our specialized ministry should only be the tools.

If you’re getting everyone to duplicate your “anointing” you’re misusing your gift! The goal is not to get everyone to prophesy, it is to use prophecy to take the Gospel of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth. It’s the same with healing. God always wants the sick healed; but when people are healed, they must be inspired to take the gospel of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth. We must maintain the priority!

I worked in a facility that built rockets used by the military. The solid rocket fuel, as well as the explosive mixture, was more volatile than nitroglycerin.  Everything had to be done according to very strict procedures. These procedures didn’t begin in the mixing room; they began in the locker room. We were assigned uniforms. The shoes we wore had a nonconductive sole. If we wore the wrong shoes, simply walking on the dust from the mixtures could set off an electrostatic explosion. The shoes were a priority that had to be observed in the locker room before we went out to the plant.

It really didn’t matter if we followed every step of making the rocket fuel and explosive mixture according to procedure, if we skipped this simple step of wearing proper shoes, or decided to do it last, hundreds of people could have died. Be sure to understand this: the explosion that could occur because of changing priorities would not have been punishment by the company; it would have been consequences of changing the priority and procedure. I’m not talking about God punishing you; I’m talking about putting yourself and the world in a precarious position. This is exactly what the Church has done throughout all of history. We ignored the things Jesus said to put first and created an agenda that we preferred.

Pastor Leon Fontaine preached a great series about this years ago. He pointed out how many times Jesus would either say, “Do this first,’ or “do this before you do that.” Too often, we look at the times God’s Word provides essential priorities, and we completely ignore them. One of the great examples is, Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…. The Kingdom should be sought first and it should be preached first!
The two priorities Jesus said to put first are two of the most ignored and misunderstood teachings of Jesus. If we had put Jesus’ priorities first, the world would not be where it is today; there would not be gross injustice; lawlessness would not be the way of life for the world! We would be living in a totally different world if we had followed His priorities.
When we think of the Great Commission, we generally think of Matthew 28:19-20. Sadly, even though many ministers and believers can quote it, few actually make it a priority.  The gospel of the Kingdom is the good news about the authority Jesus has, and we have the right to exercise authority based on His resurrection.

In Matthew 28 Jesus reminded them that He had authority in heaven and earth. As the Son of God, He had authority in heaven; as the Son of Man, He had authority on the earth, which meant all men now had authority. The human race could now do what no one could ever do: we can harmonize heaven and earth.  This has actually been man’s calling from the beginning.

If you’ve read my book, Keys of the Kingdomthe sequel to Heaven on Earth, you understand that binding and loosing is all about bringing earth into harmony with what Jesus accomplished through His death, burial, and resurrection. This brings into focus the first priority in ministry:  preach Jesus’ Gospel of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth. When believers know who they are in Jesus and know what we can do, we will rule in this world!

The Church today is ignorant and impotent.  We pray and beg God to do that which is already done; then we accuse Him of failing us when we don’t see it happen. We don’t seem to understand that everything Jesus accomplished through the cross can be established in earth by binding and loosing! Religion has made the Church impotent. We have stood passively on the sidelines as the world “swirled down the drain.” We’re waiting for God to do something when He has, in fact, done all He can do! If what Jesus did is not enough, there will never be enough!

As the world grows darker and more lawless, righteousness will simultaneously increase. But it will be greater and more powerful than wickedness. Paul said, where sin abounds grace will much more abound (Romans 5:20). It doesn’t matter how evil the world becomes, we are not and will never be less powerful than the wicked or the wickedness! The One who conquered sin, hell, the grave, and stripped the devil of his power to accuse humanity lives in us. It is His power at work in those who believe!

We are coming into a time where the wicked think they have won. But the scales will fall from our eyes as we see and grasp what the Church has never seen. Daniel prophesied that in the years ahead we will come to see and understand that which we have been unwilling to see. “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase” (Dan 12:4). No matter how dark the world becomes we are entering into unparalleled greatness and effectiveness.

That’s why Impact Ministries has always taken more than the message of salvation to the world, we have declared the Gospel of the Kingdom as Jesus taught and modeled. We are taking the light into the world! Daniel also says of these days, “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:3). We are empowering believers with Jesus’ message of the Kingdom, and together we are changing the way the world sees God and the way believers see themselves.

Thank you for all you do; we will continue in Jesus’ commission, then the end will come, and Jesus will return!

 

Blessings,
Jim

 

P.S. Please enjoy the following testimony:

Hello Everyone,

I just finished the teachings “How to Stop the Pain” and “Creating Divine Connections.” It has set my prayer life and who I am on a totally new plane. I have no more worries and I can confidently love others. I have my cloak and ring back.

I love you guys so much for your tenacity in sharing everything you can about how much Jesus loves us.

Be blessed, every one of you.