Movement Basics
I first wrote about movements in my book Unfreezing Moves: Following Jesus into the Mission Field. I described Christianity as an organic movement and compared it to modern day religion. God intended for Christianity to be a movement not a religion. The problem is Christianity has been highjacked by our passion for democracy.
Movements only happen when an individual is free enough to take on the mantel of an apostle. Democracy hates an apostle with a passion- thus we have been free from movements in the U.S. for some time now.
However, over the past few years I’ve watched the emergence of a number of apostolic leaders who are changing the face of Christianity in the U.S. In an article titled “The Apostolic Movement of our Time, I wrote the following about this new movement
- One quality stands out above all the rest in every one of these pastors – they pastor as spiritual leaders who listen to God rather than corporate leaders who lead based on democratic rule.
- The rule of thumb of this new movement – the less democracy in the church the more authentic and effective the church is in advancing the Kingdom of God!
You can read the full article here.
Bill Easum
www.easumbandy.com
August 11th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Dear Bill,
Its been a long time since we have been together. Perhaps the last time was when you were at Mount Pisgah UMC in Alpharetta, GA. A lot has happened for both of us since then. I stepped down as the senior minister of Mount Pisgah in 2001 after 17 1/2 years and spent 2 1/2 years as Chancellor of Mount Pisgah at the Bishop’s request. That was at least a year too long! Anyway, then I spent 5 years on the cabinet - probably 5 years too long. This past conference I took incapacity leave due to my knees. I did this as a means to be able to devote full time to the work of the UMC in Venezuela. See the blog indicated above to see what God is doing here.
I just wanted to give you a greeting and let you know what we have been doing through these years. Thank you for your prophetic voice.
Warren Lathem