The nation of Israel, when failing God shortly after their miraculous exodus from Israel, found themselves mandated to spend 40 years wandering...Simply wandering; following the same dreary paths over the same terrain for 40 years. Essentially, all they were doing was waiting for a doubt-filled generation to die off. Major bummer; massive waste of time.
When pastors find themselves leaving one church and seeking another church to pastor it has been aptly called 'The Wilderness of the Candidate'. The term 'wilderness' is used specifically to illustrate the difficult, trying aspect of one pastor searching (with no clear road map) for one church that has needs calling for their specific strengths. The challenge of this task, a hopeful pastor seeking a corresponding needy church, cannot be overstated. Whle rarely lasting 40 years (as did the original wilderness wandering) the time spent finding a church to shepherd can seem to last forever.
Many ministers, in fact a great majority of ministers living today, are existing in a 'wilderness' situation, the length and challenge of which are so great that at times the burning, consuming, motivating desire to minister dwindles and often dies completely. The agony and frustration of unfulfilled ministry is not only life threatening (nerves can fail, health may vanish, marriages and even families can crumble) but the core calling of a minister may come into question and ministry, as a life goal, may even be lost or abandoned.
If the church today was as powerful and successful as God planned then the challenge of finding the ideal place for for a displaced minister might be of minor importance. The truth, however, is that the church today is NOT successful and one major reason is that many minister are not fulfilling their calling - they are lost in a wilderness. Reality would indicate that the church today is reeling in a wilderness of free-falling failure while its ministers are stumbling in a wilderness of confusion.
Frankly, I'm not surprised. For years I have believed and shared that the greatest abuse in the American church is the unwillingness to make proper use of God-called ministers. Our lack of Apostolic methodology has resulted in a lack of Apostolic success.
Cities were turned 'upside down' in the New Testament - and this description was made by those who were NOT Christians. When an unbeliever acknowledges the power of a church to alter a city one is experiencing a genuine revival. Revival on this order is what we are NOT having in the U.S. - but we desperately need it.
The American church can have revival any time it wants. But the American church won't have revival until it will claim its ministers from the wilderness. Prayer is key; it always was and still is. We need prayer that God will open doors in churches for ministers to minister. Singular ministry, where one man essentially controls one church (rather the norm in America today in many churches) is unbiblical and is largely responsible for the failure of the American church today. When Samaria needed the Holy Spirit they didn't call for only for Peter: They called for Peter AND John. Jesus didn't send ANY of his disciples out one by one; he sent them out two by two. And this didn't mean husband and wife; a husband and wife equal one in biblical perspective.
We need multiple ministers working together in every church; this is the will of God and was consistently the method used in new testament, biblical ministry. Until we have this as a common practice in America - America won't see the revival she needs.
The thought above is my heart on ministry: We need revival. As one many said, 'We need a weeping revival, a reaping revival and a sweeping revival'. I agree. But it won't happen until we have redeemed many ministers from the wilderness.
For more information on Jonathan please visit his little spot on the web, JonathanMilam.com
When pastors find themselves leaving one church and seeking another church to pastor it has been aptly called 'The Wilderness of the Candidate'. The term 'wilderness' is used specifically to illustrate the difficult, trying aspect of one pastor searching (with no clear road map) for one church that has needs calling for their specific strengths. The challenge of this task, a hopeful pastor seeking a corresponding needy church, cannot be overstated. Whle rarely lasting 40 years (as did the original wilderness wandering) the time spent finding a church to shepherd can seem to last forever.
Many ministers, in fact a great majority of ministers living today, are existing in a 'wilderness' situation, the length and challenge of which are so great that at times the burning, consuming, motivating desire to minister dwindles and often dies completely. The agony and frustration of unfulfilled ministry is not only life threatening (nerves can fail, health may vanish, marriages and even families can crumble) but the core calling of a minister may come into question and ministry, as a life goal, may even be lost or abandoned.
If the church today was as powerful and successful as God planned then the challenge of finding the ideal place for for a displaced minister might be of minor importance. The truth, however, is that the church today is NOT successful and one major reason is that many minister are not fulfilling their calling - they are lost in a wilderness. Reality would indicate that the church today is reeling in a wilderness of free-falling failure while its ministers are stumbling in a wilderness of confusion.
Frankly, I'm not surprised. For years I have believed and shared that the greatest abuse in the American church is the unwillingness to make proper use of God-called ministers. Our lack of Apostolic methodology has resulted in a lack of Apostolic success.
Cities were turned 'upside down' in the New Testament - and this description was made by those who were NOT Christians. When an unbeliever acknowledges the power of a church to alter a city one is experiencing a genuine revival. Revival on this order is what we are NOT having in the U.S. - but we desperately need it.
The American church can have revival any time it wants. But the American church won't have revival until it will claim its ministers from the wilderness. Prayer is key; it always was and still is. We need prayer that God will open doors in churches for ministers to minister. Singular ministry, where one man essentially controls one church (rather the norm in America today in many churches) is unbiblical and is largely responsible for the failure of the American church today. When Samaria needed the Holy Spirit they didn't call for only for Peter: They called for Peter AND John. Jesus didn't send ANY of his disciples out one by one; he sent them out two by two. And this didn't mean husband and wife; a husband and wife equal one in biblical perspective.
We need multiple ministers working together in every church; this is the will of God and was consistently the method used in new testament, biblical ministry. Until we have this as a common practice in America - America won't see the revival she needs.
The thought above is my heart on ministry: We need revival. As one many said, 'We need a weeping revival, a reaping revival and a sweeping revival'. I agree. But it won't happen until we have redeemed many ministers from the wilderness.
For more information on Jonathan please visit his little spot on the web, JonathanMilam.com
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