The Third RenewalHow to help cleanse Christ’s Bride

Bob Boardman - http://www.thelol.co

Contents Page

What Do We Believe? 2

Listening in Word, Spirit & Body 2

Seven Theological Foundations for Including Others 4

11 Ways to Interpret the Bible as Art 7

Nine Guidelines to Oppose Religion 10

Other Visions for the Third Renewal 12

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What Do We Believe?

What we believe deep down will significantly determine how we behave. As Christians, our theology, what we believe about God and the Church, will largely determine how we behave as Christians.

In Western Culture I see that the Church has become significantly divided between fundamentalists (who basically turn the Bible into a divine rulebook) and liberal Christians (who basically see Christ as only human).

However, despite their differences it seems to me that these two factions are merely arguing from opposite ends of the same axis. They are both looking at the Bible through the eyes of our culture, which is dominated by our modern science and individualism.

From visions and understandings that I believe are from God it is my belief that God intends to bring another great renewal in His Church and it will be based on a different plane, a different theological understanding of the Bible than held by either of these two opposing factions.

It will be based on a realization that God is not communicating to us through a divine rulebook or a book of ancient humanistic wisdom but through art - which has the primary purpose of portraying the intimate natures of both God and humanity so that a love relationship is possible between the two.

I believe Christians are called, even more, commanded through the words of Christ in the Bible, to be Lovers. We are commanded to be Lovers who love ourselves, Lovers who love our neighbors as ourselves (for we can only love to that degree), and most of all to be Lovers who love God first.

But do we behave as Lovers? Perhaps many of us struggle to love because what we believe deep down is in error. This paper outlines some basic theological foundations aimed at assisting Christians become the Lovers that Christ desires. Many Christians will find some of the ideas here to be quite radical.

The paper begins with visions for a Third Renewal of the Church – The Renewal of Christ’s Body. This is followed by a discussion about listening to God through the tri-stool of Word, Spirit and Body, with special emphasis on hearing Christ speak through His Body.

The following sections then explain; theological foundations to assist Christians include others; how interpreting the Bible as art (rather than through science) supports the relational purposes of the Bible; and some guidelines to oppose Christian “religion”, whether liberal or fundamentalist in nature. The paper concludes by describing other visions I have experienced portraying the renewal of the Church beginning in this 21st Century.

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Listening in Word, Spirit & Body

The Third Renewal of the Church – The Renewal of the Body

For the Lord, a thousand years are like a day (2Pet 3:8). We have now entered the third millennium since the first coming of Christ. It is now the third day, the day of the resurrection of the Body of Christ. In Biblical chronology (not Geological), it is now also six thousand years since creation. It is thus the beginning of the Seventh Day – The Day of the Lord.

God speaks to His Church, Christ’s Bride, through His Word, His Spirit and His Body (as can be seen in Acts 15). God has already spoken to His Church through great renewals of Word and Spirit.

In the 16th Century, Lord Jesus Christ used the Word to bring a great renewal to the Church through the Protestant Reformation. Then in the 20th Century, Christ brought another great renewal to His Church through the Spirit, in the form of Pentecostalism and the Charismatic Renewal.

Now, from the beginning of this 21st Century and Third Millennium, I believe Christ is going to bring a third great renewal, a Renewal of His Body – The readying of the Bride for Christ’s return.

“I saw a picture of a woman. She was dressed in torn rags of scarlet and white and covered in filth. Her body was grossly overweight, like from lack of exercise and poor food, and some of her members were withered or severed completely from her body. And as I looked closely the woman appeared to be blind and deaf, and hemorrhaging from numerous sores and wounds, as though she had leprosy. She was ’unclean’.

Then I saw Lord Jesus dressed in radiant white, looking upon the woman with great compassion and love. He reached out and touched her and her body was restored, and her diseases cured. Then Jesus handed the woman a garment as radiant as His own. When I looked again the woman was beautiful, dressed as a bride. Jesus was beside her and they stood at an altar before a mighty throne, upon which sat the ‘Ancient of Days’. Then Jesus gave her a gold ring and kissed her as a groom kisses his bride.”

Humility to Enable Listening

A key to all healthy relationships is good communication. As soon as there is a lack of humility, where someone in their religion, pride and self-righteousness thinks that they are better than others, then they cease to really listen to others and communication breaks down. A key trait of all Christians should be humility, enabling them to listen.

Listening To God Through Word, Spirit and Body.

God’s will is generally communicated to both the Church and to individuals through His Word, His Spirit and His Body. We see this all the time in the Church. For example, if a Christian believed the Spirit was calling him or her to be a missionary in Africa, they would most likely seek confirming Words of scripture and consult with their pastor or other mature members of the Body.

When I was studying to be a minister at Carey Baptist College in Auckland, the Principal (Brian Smith) presented a paper about discerning the “mind of Christ” (1Cor 2:16). In this paper the Principle referred to Acts 15, where God spoke to the Early Church through His Spirit, Word and Body about the issue of circumcision. Some

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Jewish Christians had wanted all non-Jewish Christian males to be circumcised, but in the end the decision was, “we should not make it difficult to the Gentiles who are turning to God”. Brian also used the example of slavery, where the Word had been used to both support slavery (Eph 6:5) and oppose slavery (1Cor 7:21). Ultimately the wider Body, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, condemned slavery.

Having explained the principle of Word, Spirit and Body, the Principle then went on to explain that whenever one of these elements was missing, or over-emphasised at the expense of the other elements, there is likely to be an imbalance that will cause problems in the church. For example, When Christ is not heard through the Word there will be error. An over-emphasis on the Spirit is likely to result in emotive excesses, while a focus on the Word to the exclusion of the Spirit is likely to result in a dry legalism and a lack of divine inspiration. And, in particular, if Christ is not heard to speak through the Body, the people will either not own the vision of the church, or they will be controlled by their leaders (either way there will ultimately be hurt).

Word, Spirit & Body in Leadership and Worship

In my experience, the main strategy that Satan uses to attack churches is to send a spirit of religion to divide Word from Spirit, and in so doing deny the life of the Body. The principal battlegrounds where this occurs are in Leadership and Worship styles.

I have observed terrible conflicts where people with different experiences and expectations of how leadership should operate have pitted themselves against each other (eg. when a Pentecostal pastor majoring on the Spirit is called to a Word-based Baptist Church run on an Eldership model).

I have observed the endless frustrations of those who believe church services should be dominated by preaching the Word and singing the great meaningful hymns of Charles Wesley when they pit themselves against the tired exasperations of those who want to sing modern worship songs that evoke the utterances and uplifting experiences of the Holy Spirit.

And I have observed how, as these protracted conflicts linger on, life is sapped from the Body. The members sit in their pews growing spiritually obese and unhealthy, unencouraged to be involved, unwilling to bring others into the unsafe environment, while being spoon-fed Word performances and Spirit performances. People say “what a great message!” and “what awesome worship!”, as they watch their Body receive leprous wounds and their other members, their brothers and sisters in Christ, drop off and rot.

I guess I believe our God is a very big God - not to be found in a little box. There is not just one style of leadership. It does not matter much to me what the style is as long as it seeks to have a Biblical foundation and works. Whatever the style or denominational form of leadership, we will know it works when the mind of Christ is found in Word, Spirit and Body. In this I would say that the task of leadership is not to set church vision themselves, but to bring God’s vision together from Word, Spirit and Body.

Similarly, our God is creator of the universe. Look at the stars in the sky! Look at all the creatures in nature! There are multitudes of styles and ways to worship Him. I would say that preaching and reading the Word, and singing songs of sound theology carry as much importance as moving in the Spirit with all the Spirit’s fruit and giftings. And, most importantly I would say that “worship” must not just be a performance of Word or Spirit by “performers” up front, where the participation of the Body is excluded. God must not only be heard to speak through experts preaching the Word and experts making music in the Spirit, but also in the whole life of the Body being involved and ministering to one another.

From this base understanding, I believe the Holy Spirit is showing the nature of the next great renewal of Christ’s Church.

Seven Theological Foundations for Including Others

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1. See Church as a Very Large Playground – Inclusive of Others

Surely the aim of a Christian is to be in relationship with as many other Christians as possible – to never exclude others from Christ if possible. Surely our loving God is very big and will not fit into a little box. Our aim therefore is not to define some narrow path of belief but to define only the boundaries of a very large playground where there is a very wide choice of swings and slides and other things to play on. And the boundaries that we do define are only there for safety – for God does not want His children to wander from the safety of His playground (to play on the wide highway to destruction!).

I argue that there are only three things a person must do (three boundaries not to be crossed) to be part of the Church and receive eternal life. These are:

To believe in the resurrection of Christ from the dead - literally (Rom 10:9). To seek to live under Christ’s Lordship (and all that this means) (Rom 10:9). To accept the whole Bible (all orthodox translations) as the primary revelation of who God is (God is

Christ and Trinity).

2. Allow Room for Other Beliefs – But Not Idolatry

Surely, anyone who believes and holds to these three things (above) is a brother or sister in the family of Christ. Even if someone has other beliefs/values, provided the other beliefs do not assume equality with or superiority over these three things, then that person is a brother or sister in Christ. If however, other beliefs assume priority, the person is living in a form of idolatry where something else is worshipped above God in Christ and Trinity. Such a person is not a brother or sister in Christ.

3. See God as a Divine Family, a Community of Perfect love.

In loving others, it is most helpful for Christians to see God as love, with this love being found in the perfect relationships between the three persons of the Trinity. This implies worshipping God as a family or community of Father, Son and Spirit, who are so perfectly in love that they are one being, one flesh, one God. And it is also helpful to see that their desire is to bring us all into the family of God, the community of perfect love. From the Bible we understand that we who love Christ are His Bride, the Daughter-in-Law. Thus the divine perfect love and oneness of the family and community of our God can be seen as our model for marriage, community and all of life.

4. Accept that Calling Christ “Lord” Means Obedience to His Commands

A Christian obeys the commands of Christ. This is what it means to follow Christ as “Lord”. The great commandments of Christ are to "love" and to "go and make disciples" (Mat 22:36-40 & 28:18-20). These

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are the sum of Christ’s teachings. If we accept that Jesus (God) is the epitome of love, another way of putting it is, “To know Jesus and make Him known”.

To obey these teachings means; to love God, love myself, love my family, love all other brothers and sisters in the family of Christ, and to love those in the world – all of whom Christ loves and died for. It also means going to those whom Christ loves, and modeling and explaining that love, so they too obey His commandments to love and to go.

This is what it means for Christ to be our “Lord”. His “Lordship” over us means that Word and Deed should go together. The deeds we practices should prove the Word of God and the Word we preach should explain the deeds we do because of Christ. A Christian is neither a hypocrite who preaches the Word but does not practice it, nor simply a “do-gooder” (a social-welfare agent) who practices the Word but does not preach it

5. Accept that Islamic, Buddhist (and Possibly Other) Scriptures May Have Similar Teaching Value as the Old Testament (OT)

I think a Christian should always be interested in building relationships, including with other faiths. One means to do this is to view the stories, scriptures and prophets of other religions (such as Islam and Buddhism) as having value. Christians accept the OT as having value. Thus, by implication, Christians also see value in Judaism, which is based on the OT, even though Judaism has a “works” based approach (where salvation is “earned” by keeping God’s OT Law). In a similar way, the faiths of Islam and Buddhism (and many other belief systems) have a “works” based framework.

The Jewish 10 Commandments, the Buddhist Four Noble Truths and Eight-Fold Path, and the Islamic

Five Pillars of Faith, all arguably represent systems for adherents to “work” their way towards Nirvana or Heaven. All arguably have much good to commend them, although they are not the means to God’s “grace”.

On this basis, Christians may accept that the scriptures of Islam and Buddhism, and the words of Mohamed and Buddha, can have similar teaching value to the OT and its prophets. This means accepting a degree of “natural theology” - where something of God is revealed in ways other than the person of Jesus – who is primarily revealed in the New Testament.

6. Agree that All Roads May Lead to the Mountain, but Accept that Only One Descends

Some Eastern religions have a saying that “all roads lead to the mountain”, meaning that many religious paths lead to God. It the sense of natural theology, a Christian may accept that many roads lead towards “God” (even though some would argue that the concepts of God in different faiths are so different that they are different “mountains”). This understanding provides avenues to build relationships with other faiths.

However, a Christian can only ever accept that one road, Christ, comes down from the top. And it is God who builds the road from the top of the mountain – and this is the road by which one is saved. For someone who has heard the Gospel of Christ, salvation can only be received by faith in Christ through

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God’s grace. To be saved by God’s grace means that we are saved through God’s love and not by the “works” of any religion.

7. Accept that Those Who Never Hear Christ’s Message Still Have the Opportunity to Know God’s Salvation.

It is helpful for Christians to refer to Romans 1& 2 when considering the salvation of non-Christians. This is where the Apostle Paul speaks of how those who have never heard the Gospel message about Jesus Christ still have the opportunity to receive salvation. Paul says in Romans 2:6-16:

“God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done’ (quoting from Psalm 62;12 and Proverbs 24;12). To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first

for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism. All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) This will happen when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.”

However this understanding should be balanced with the teaching that those who hear the gospel message about Jesus but then ultimately reject it, condemn themselves. As Jesus says in John’s Gospel 3:16-18:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

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11 Ways to Interpret the Bible as Art

1. See the Bible Primarily as Art/Story, with the Purpose of Bringing Humans Into Love Relationships with God and Each Other.

It is helpful for a Christian to see the Bible as ancient art, not as a product of modern science. It is helpful to see the Bible as story & poetry, magnificent word sculptures, a masterpiece of ancient literature, a work of art written long before our scientific age (in fact it is many works of art). It is helpful to see the primary purpose of this work of art as a means to bring about love relationships between God, ourselves and each other. A Christian who adopts this approach may see their approach as distinctly

separate from both fundamentalist and liberal views of the Bible. The Bible is not merely a book of God’s rules and laws (as fundamentalists often portray it) nor is it merely a human history (as liberals often maintain).

2. Find the Primary Message from Bible Characters Acting in Context.

When the Bible is seen as art and story, the primary message/knowledge comes from seeing the characters acting in context with others in their culture. If, for example, we wanted to know the character of Sherlock Homes - the great detective, we could gain an appreciation by reading several Sherlock Homes stories which show the character acting in context in the 19 th Century with others characters such as Watson. Similarly, we come to know something of the character of Jesus in context by reading the Gospels. And Jesus says, “If you really knew me you would know my Father as well” (John 14:7a)

3. See that the Main Purpose of the Bible is to Build a Love Relationship Between God & Ourselves.

The two main characters in the Bible are selfish (sinful) humans acting in context (you and I) and our loving God (eg. as portrayed through the stories of Jesus). The main purpose of the Bible therefore, is to bring us into a deeper understanding of these two characters so that a growing love relationship is possible between the two. As an example that symbolizes this relationship, the Bible refers to those who come to love Christ as His “Bride” (2Cor 11:2, Rev 19:7).

4. Find God’s Message in the Stories, Not Through Inerrant Words

When the Bible is viewed primarily as art/story it is not essential that the words be exact or inerrant (without error) – for they are merely a vehicle to carry the message. For example, a story of the shepherd-boy who falsely cried “wolf” three times in Europe will convey the same message as the watch-girl who falsely cried “lion” seven times in Africa, even though the words are different (ie. The message from both stories is that if you keep telling lies people won’t believe you when you tell the truth).

With this kind of understanding a Christian can accept that the Bible is the perfect message and revelation from God to every person, contained in an imperfect medium of words written by human authors who made mistakes. It is the Holy Spirit who

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reveals, in God’s time, God’s perfect message in the Bible’s imperfect human words, to bring those whom God chooses into relationship with Him.

5. Listen to the Stories Like a Little Child

Jesus said “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Luke 18:18). Think of a little child as he or she hears a wondrous story, the innocent wide eyes and acceptance with which they receive what they hear. When we hear the stories in the Bible we are called to receive them in the same literal way. We may intellectually and scholarly dissect those stories to analyze who were all the authors (like the liberals do) or to identify all the prepositional truths (like the fundamentalists do) but the call of Christ is to accept the messages in the stories about his Kingdom into our hearts at face value, as little children would.

6. Literally Accept Bible Messages - But Not Bible Inerrancy

The literal acceptance of the messages within biblical stories (as little Children would) is not the same as inerrancy (which is believing that the words of the Bible are without error). Inerrancy, when pursued systematically requires textual harmonisation. Since the inerrant Bible (as understood by fundamentalists) is expected to correspond to historical real events in real time, fundamentalist commentators try to edit apparent differences and contradictions into a coherent narrative structure.

For example; In Mathew, Mark and Luke, Jesus’ cleansing of the temple occurs at the very end of his ministry while in John it occurs at the very beginning. Fundamentalist commentators say it is because Jesus cleansed the temple twice, while liberal commentators say this is because John used the account for literary reasons.

7. See Bible Stories as Like Paintings By Different Artists

We understand that art is not always like a photograph. In a similar way, the stories in the Bible are like word paintings (or word sculptures) – they are impressions painted in words by ancient artists and are not necessarily exact impressions or “scientific photographs” of some reality. For example, while the best way to view the Gospel of Luke may be to see it as close to a “photograph” (close to historical reality), perhaps the best way to view the Genesis creation story is to view it as like a Dali or Picasso.

8. Do Not Fall into the Trap of Believing that the Message or Truth of One Bible Story Depends on Another

Because Biblical messages are conveyed through art/story, the words of one story do not determine the truth or reliability of another story. For example, the inerrancy or not, of the words in the Creation account in the first three chapters of Genesis does not determine the reliability of the Resurrection account in the Gospel of Luke.

The purpose of the author(s) of Genesis is to show the superiority of God over the rival gods of Israel’s neighbors. According to the conservative Word Biblical Commentary ….Gen 1 is a deliberate statement of Hebrew view of creation over against rival views. It is not merely a demythologization of oriental creation myths, whether Babylonian or Egyptian; rather it is a polemical repudiation of such myths”- page 9.

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On the other hand we find that the author of Luke actually states that his purpose is to “write an orderly account” of the story of Jesus based on the author’s investigations (Chapter 1, Verse 3). Therefore, the historical accuracy of the account in Luke, which includes the resurrection of Christ, is arguably much more important than Genesis. (And in fact, Luke is viewed by many scholars as being first rank as history!)

9. Accept that Jesus the Divine “Son of God” can also be the Human “Son of Man” Descended from Apes

A Christian with a relational/art view of the Bible is able to accept that the message/truth of one Biblical story does not determine the truth of another. For this reason, this Christian is also able to accept both the resurrection of Christ AND the concept of evolution, if he or she chooses. It is possible to accept that the evidences for both are overwhelming and that there is no contradiction.

This means it is possible to accept that Jesus is both fully divine, the risen Son of God, and also fully human, the Son of Man, evolved from ape creatures. In fact, this Christian may go one step further and say that arguments over the theories of creation or evolution in relation to Genesis are irrelevant to the core of Christian faith, which is faith in Christ’s resurrection as described in Luke and the other Gospel stories.

10. See No Real Contradiction Between the Bible and Science

Much of past Christian opposition to science has been based on opposition to theories such as evolution. When a Christian recognizes the Bible as art this same Christian is able to see no real contradiction between the Bible and science. For this reason this Christian can also be open to other scientific concepts such as huge geological timeframes and the possibility of life on other planets.

11. See that the New and Old Testaments are Different

Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). A Christian with a relational view of the Bible will see the character of Jesus acting in context, as providing the best means to know the nature of God. For this reason, this Christian is likely to give priority to the Gospels and New Testament (NT) stories as the means to understand the person/character of God – His Grace rather than His Laws.

This however, is not an argument to say that the Old Testament (OT) has less importance. The OT is of vital importance, not the least because it provides the background context in the overall story of Jesus (it is part of His story). The OT also foretells the coming of Jesus in numerous ways (for example, reportedly in over 300 OT prophesies).

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Nine Guidelines to Oppose Religion

1. Oppose All Religion, but Especially Christian Religion

Religion is defined here as any belief system or framework that leads someone to believe they have some right to look down on others, and/or have a right to kill, enslave and oppress others. By this definition, “religion” includes forms of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Nazism, Communism, Capitalism, Tribalism, Humanism, Atheism, Science, and numerous cults and criminal gangs (eg. Mafia), etc.

It was Religion that killed Christ (in the form of the actions of the Jewish religious leaders). Normally, Religion is characterized by a lack of grace and humility. The worst form of Religion is Christian Religion because it purports to be from Christ but undermines the true Gospel of Christ’s love. It is not righteousness but self-righteousness. It is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Because the whole focus of a Christian is to build loving relationships, the right action of a Christian is to oppose any interpretations of the Bible that leads to Christian Religion.

2. Defend Religious Tolerance

For any relationship to be truly loving, there must be freedom, or we would be slaves or robots. Christ on earth did not compel anyone to follow Him by force. God gives everyone the right to choose what they believe. A Christian will therefore proactively support and defend the right of others to believe whatever they choose (including non-Christian beliefs), so long as those beliefs do not, and will not, result in the denial of life, denial of freedom and denial of freedom to choose for others (death, enslavement and oppression).

3. Endorse the Use of Force Against Religion

A Christian may strongly support the use of laws and force (pre-emptive if necessary) to protect the freedom of others from death, enslavement and oppression by Religion, including protection from Christian Religion. In doing this though, great care needs to be taken that those using the force do not become superior in their beliefs and/or oppressive, defying the purpose of protecting freedom of belief (or one evil will have become as bad as the other). The following Creed may be of value:

A Creed Against Religion

1. I will not do harm to force others who hold non-harmful beliefs to accept my beliefs.2. I will do harm, if necessary, to protect others who hold non-harmful beliefs from being

forced to accept any beliefs (including my own) that they do not freely choose to accept. 3. I will do harm, if necessary, to protect others who hold non-harmful beliefs from any

systems of belief that results in their harm, or in my view, will result in their harm.4. Harmful beliefs are any framework that leads to harm. What is harm? Harm is the denial

of life (death), the denial of physical freedom (enslavement), and the denial of freedom to choose (oppression).

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5. And to those who apply this creed to the letter, rather than to its spirit, I count you as among those whose beliefs will bring harm.

4. Oppose Religion But Not Mission

A Christian is by nature against belief systems or frameworks that lead adherents to adopt superior attitudes and/or oppressive behaviors towards others. However, a Christian is not against belief systems that express or model their arguments and carry out mission or evangelism to convert or persuade others to their beliefs. A belief system should stand on its witness – if it cannot, let it perish.

5. Do Not Be Bound by Versions of the Bible

Regarding versions of the Bible, a Christian will logically seek versions that are true to the original Greek and Hebrew texts but also best communicate the messages of the Biblical stories to today’s audiences. For a Christian who sees the Bible as art with the purpose of building relationships, the words used in different versions may differ but the main thing is that the meanings within the stories are conveyed. For this reason, many different versions of the Bible may be appropriate in different settings. Therefore, a Christian who seeks to love others may not accept that any Liberal version (eg. a politically correct version) or any Fundamentalist version (such as the King James) is the only acceptable version. If however, a version of the Bible departs from the original texts, with additions, exclusions or non-scholarly translations, its legitimacy and message should be very seriously questioned and probably rejected.

6. Do Not Be a Christian Liberal

When a Christian best understands the Bible as art, they may well reject much of “Liberal Christianity” as a product of science, both in its emphasis on Biblical criticisms that “scientifically” deconstruct the Bible into numerous authorships and historical settings, and in the acceptance by liberals of scientific views denying the divinity of Christ and the Bible.

A Christian will specifically reject liberal views that over-emphasise the humanity of Christ and the Bible at the expense of their divinity. In particular, a Christian rejects Eastern pantheism (that everything is God) and Universialist views (that all roads lead to salvation), and seeks to avoid overemphasis on the social gospel at the expense of preaching (ie. emphasising the love of Christ without the truth of Christ).

7. But Accept Liberals

Having rejected “Liberal Christianity”, a Christian can happily accept that many valuable learnings have been found from scientific analysis of the Bible and can happily accept and respect people with liberal views, although they may debate with them and may not accept them as Christians if they deny Christ’s resurrection or Lordship, or if they deny the primacy of the Bible. Christians may not accept persons with liberal views if those persons are espousing some form of Christian Religion.

8. Do Not Be a Christian Fundamentalist

When a Christian best understands the Bible as art they may well reject much of “Fundamentalist Christianity” as a product of science, in that it is a reaction to science and Liberalism. Fundamentalism dogmatically adheres to Biblical inerrancy to defend against attacks by science on faith in the divine nature of Christ and the Bible. However, in the process, Fundamentalism has developed its own pseudo-creation science to counter scientific theories such as evolution, and has deconstructed the Bible into numerous laws, prepositional truths and principles that often appear to cloud the stories of the Bible with legalism.

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As a result, Fundamentalists often come across as oppressive and intolerant, emphasising the divinity of Christ and the Bible at the expense of their humanity, and preaching God’s love without practicing it (often the opposite to Liberal Christianity). A Christian therefore, may struggle with the Fundamentalist doctrines of inerrancy and opposition to evolution, and be wary of approaches that have the effect of turning the Bible into a law book.

9. But Accept Fundamentalists

Having said all this, a Christian can happily accept many valuable learnings have been found from systematic analysis of Biblical teachings and can happily accept and respect Christians with fundamentalist views (although they may debate with them). Christians may not accept persons with fundamentalist views if those persons are espousing some form of Christian Religion.

Other Visions for the Third Renewal

The Bride for the New Age

The old Church, despite her imperfections, has carried the message of Christ across the centuries. We might see this old Church as like a great ruined fortress, cracked and crumbling with age and many battles, but still containing the flickering flame of the Gospel in many of its rooms, waiting to ignite blazing fires of the Spirit. This fortress is the Institutional Church, Christian Religion with all its crusades, persecutions, divisions and abuses.

Now, according to the New Age movement, the heavens (the stars) show that the old Age of Pisces is passing to the new Age of Aquarius. The Age of the Fish, the

Christian symbol, symbolising the old Church, is at its end. (I am not a New Ager but I don’t disagree with them about this point.) Now, in the clouds of stars, is coming the crucified figure with the beam across His shoulders, bearing living waters to His Bride to wash away her filth. The Age of Aquarius is upon us.

The Treasure Ship

In September 1997, I was at a Sunday morning service when I saw a vision. This vision began with a picture of a magnificent sailing ship, a beautiful galleon carrying a priceless treasure and standing majestic on a sea of blue glass. But as I looked more closely I saw that the ship was drifting and there was no sign of the crew – they were all asleep or dead! And the ship appeared to have been drifting for a long time – the sails and rigging were rotten and covered in lichen, and below the water the hull was covered in barnacles and seaweed.

Then as I watched, the ship became small and I saw other sailing ships on the sea and storm clouds on the horizon. The next thing I saw was another picture of the ship being tossed by violent winds and huge waves in the darkness of night. The question came to my mind “Will the crew be ready for this coming storm?” I was not sure whether the ship with its priceless cargo would sink or if it would use the coming winds to take the cargo to its destination.

From this picture I felt God was saying that a great storm is coming that will test many churches. Will the people wake up in time to make their ships ready to ride out the storm and catch the winds, or will their ships with their precious cargo be sunk?

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The Menorah Trees

In mid 2000, I was at a combined Anglican, Catholic and Baptist Alpha camp praying with my wife Helen and with a friend called Jan. (Helen and I were leading the Baptist group and Jan was leading the Catholic group). While praying I saw a series of pictures where I sensed that God wanted to do a new thing.

Firstly, I saw a seed bursting forth with new growth. Then I saw the new growth as a plant but it looked like an undesirable weed that no one would like. Next I saw a thin tree growing tall and straight. And after that I saw a plantation of these thin trees being buffeted by storms but not being harmed. Lastly, I saw a mature plantation of trees. Some were still thin as before but a certain number had grown huge, each with seven great branches like a menorah – a Jewish lampstand. These huge trees were bathed in golden light streaming through the forest canopy and I had the impression that they were worshipping God. I sensed these trees represented churches.

Some months later I was at a Pastor’s three-day prayer summit with seven churches of different denominations represented and I again saw a vision of a menorah on a great mountain. I then saw a branch broken from the menorah and sensed God saying that this was the condition of many churches. Alone they gave insufficient light to light up the world, and broken from the tree they withered and died without fruit. It was only when the branches were united in Christ that they became the Tree of Life and the Lampstand that held up the Light of the World.

Later again (3 June 2002) Helen and I went to a multi-denominational prayer meeting. At that meeting I saw another vision of a huge Golden Menorah. The Menorah had seven branches and on each branch there were knobs that symbolised fruit. As I gazed at this huge object I had the sense that it was worshipping and glorifying God.

I understood from these visions that God was bringing about a new thing. It would look like a small, unwanted weed to begin with, growing up amongst the single stand-alone churches. But in time the little weed would grow to become mighty. Like the great Golden Menorah, these menorah-churches will be the True Church that worships God, holding up the light of Christ to the world and giving out the fruit of eternal life to those who would join the banquet.