Man + Faith in Christ = Priest (The Universal Priesthood) by Chris Hall

To become a priest, pastor, or minister in Christianity today involves quite a lot. Although I’m sure Catholicism, the state churches, the denominations, and any number of free groups all have different qualifications for their clergy, there are probably a few general things they all have in common…

I would imagine that some sort of salvation experience would be necessary. A sense of divine calling, preferable. Some sort of biblical or seminary training. How about having an upright character? Leadership skills are needed. A knack for keeping people happy. Marketing saavy for church growth. We surely can’t forget being a good speaker. Prior experience in the field would also be nice.

To put it into an equation might look like this…

What’s Going On in a Prophesying Gathering? by Robbie Dickinson

I guess for practicality sake and for many of the members’ benefit it’s good to designate an actual church meeting where each one can have the opportunity to prophesy to one another. This kind of meeting is implied in 1 Corinthians 14. However, prophesying can also take place with a minimum of two people where they each share their portion of the word to each other to build each other up; this can happen anywhere and it definitely doesn’t have to be at a designated formal meeting…

1 Corinthians 14 by David Fulton

If you’ve been reading my blogs up to now, you may have detected that my favorite chapters in the bible are mostly the practical ones. Show me where we’re going (Eph 2), how we’re getting there (John 6, John15), and now what we’re supposed to be doing presently.

In Matthew 16:18 the Lord gives the greatest prophecy in the Bible (if not “the greatest”, then maybe “most awesome” or “most epic”): “I will build My church.” And if Matthew was the only book in the Bible, most of us would still be waiting around for the Lord to go ahead and build. I mean, He said that He was going to do it, sounds like the only thing for us to do is to sit around and watch the construction, right?…

“Each One Has?” – Meeting in Mutuality by Chris Hall

In the early 1800s, John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren did something radical… They sat in a square. Rather than having all seats arranged toward a pulpit, they sat facing one another. If their meetings could be characterized by one word it would be this: mutuality.

While places of worship today vary largely in size, most church meetings consist of congregations directed toward a stage of some kind. The underlying assumption of this layout is that a more qualified few will ascend that stage and then carry out a service on behalf of the less capable whole. Of course not all would agree with this statement. Some might argue that those on stage are simply “leading” the assembly, not replacing them. Nevertheless, have you ever been in such a meeting and felt the freedom to stand up and speak something you appreciated from the word? Have you ever been comfortable enough to request a song to be sung?…

To Prophesy: More Than Telling the Future by Chris Hall

What would you say if I told you I’m a prophet?…

You might think a number of things:

1. That I’m claiming to be able to tell your future and/or heal you
2. That I’m liable to declare “Thus saith the Lord!” at anytime
3. That I’m crazy
4. That I’m just lying

To the best of my knowledge I’ve never performed a miracle. I surely don’t consider my words to be God’s direct speaking, and my mental health seems to be doing fine at the moment. According to the New Testament, however, I and so many other Christians are prophets of the most high God!…

God’s Works, Our Words by Kyle Barton

Although God can work through any means, His most intrinsic work is through His speaking.

He produced the old creation (the universe) in 6 days through His speaking. Now He is producing the new creation (the church) but this time through OUR speaking.

He who prophesies speaks building up… -1 Corinthians 14:3

God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light. But God doesn’t say, “Let there be church” and there is church. Christ looks to us for the practical building of His church. The building up of the church is with words- divine words outsourced to humanity, in a sense.

The church is built word by word, not brick by brick…

Working with God by Speaking by Kyle Barton

For most of us, speaking is the thing we do most in life. We are social beings designed for interaction within community.

Whether that communication is verbal or written (more realistically ‘typed’), we do a lot of it. Those who are not that talkative in person may be the most vociferous online. Facebook and the slew of social media outlets that are now entrenched in our society have produced the art of perpetual conversation. Once we click open our browser we can pick up our FB chat right where we left off. Text messaging is no longer a short burst of pertinent or urgent information but a documented, rambling, and never-ending chat. I think chat needs to be redefined. It’s both ephemeral and perpetual. The history is there and yet there is no pressure. No matter what we are doing we are simultaneously speaking about it. And we seem to have no problem with this mode of operation.

How does this relate to God? Humans are speaking creatures because God is a speaking God…