Rev. Paul Bonanno, D.D., Ph.D – Pastor, Founder & President
Opened The Church – August 17th, 2003, Now Open 4 Years, specializing in International Ministry, Associates of Practical Ministry, ( B.A. Major-Theology, and Biblical Counseling (Summa Cum Laude), Doctor of Divinity, and Ph.D. - Biblical Studies, Masters Certificate of Continuing Studies Award In Biblical Counseling, Two Semesters of Sign Language for the Deaf, Pastor has the gift of healing along with many other gifts. Musician, Singer, Songwriter, Also- Member of the International Chaplains Association, U.C.F.M. Member of the International Alliance of Web based Churches, Member of the International Alliance of Ordained Ministers, plus Prayer Partners with the Presidential Prayer Team, True Grace Ministries, True Grace Ministers Association, Kids in Need of Prayer, The Voice of Martyrs / & Persecution.com + Prisoner Alert .com The Evangelical Free Church of America, Deo Valente Mission, Mike's Prayer Friends, The Prayer Chain, Gospel for Asia, His Will Ministry, Spiritual Warfare Prayer Warriors, Family Friendly Sites, Gideon Gospel Ministries, Prayer of Faith, and Living Waters Ministry, Church Office Location- Papaikou, Hawaii--- 24/7 Private Prayer Cell Line- any Emergency- 808.938.0013
November 30th 2005 The Church Ministries became incorporated and non-profit,
Board Members
Treasurer Lynne Workman, Christian saint, purely gifted by God, takes care of animals almost like St. Francis of Assisi, true hands of healing to all, has many of the spiritual gifts, caring loving with true kindness toward all people and animals. She also has many of the spiritual gifts, She has much experience in the banking field, money handling and good with figures and calculates numbers in her head. A true prayer warrior that does not give up, Perfect trust in the Lord, this Church is poor but God hears her cry’s and is in prayer constantly, and we are still active. Location Hilo, Hawaii
Bishop Director Paul Ciniraj, A man that has been in operation for the people in ----India-- for a long time, ------ planting, helping the poor with food, clothing and medicine throughout ------ even through the heavy Jungle areas where no one gets to, and his work would "cover this page". He is my age and I am honored to have him on our team, he is able to give me news that happenes that day and hour, he also works as a missionary far beyond any of the other missionaries, He brings people food, medicine clothing all kinds of things even lumber and doing a lot of the work himself, and he also is the director of his own ministry- the Salem Voice Ministries which is a non-profit- incorporated Mission http://salemvoice.orgor http://salemvoice.bravehost.com - Location ------, India-Rev. Paul Ciniraj- President.
Bishop Director Jacob Chacko- Pastor of Missions Asia -In the Area of the ---- Islands, ----, Jacob and Daisy have been prayer partners and very close for almost 3 years, I hoped we would be doing more prayer and comunication together even though I got sick, but they both are very close to my heart. He also is a member of the World Mission Ministerial Association, USA, also active in the Fellowship of World Christian In London, England, The International Network of Prison Ministry, USA, World Christian Fellowship, USA. Plus a member of the U.C.F.M. USA. Jacob has most of all the spiritual gifts and is able to spread them to others. He is now running a school that teaches women how to operate and to work and make clothing with donated sewing machines after the Great Tsunami, he now travels both the islands -------------------- teaching in different villages and towns. The islands are closer to Thailand and Burma, Location ------- A&N islands.
Bishop Director Joaquim Kangomba Kalala, Has a wide range of credentials, minister, and a local elder for the U.C.F.M. Has been taking over the extra load for the prayer ministry, a gentle kind and compassionate man, having many of the spiritual gifts, and you can tell when he writes a prayer he is quite a man of God, He writes beautiful words to people that he does not know and he knows how to touch people's hearts to have extra hope and faith, with grace and love, what a blessing to have have a person like this he is doing excellent work with full love and compassion, he sends me everything he sends out and his words would make any soul feel better, He has done so much for this church, and I still have not have gone into the hospital yet, but if I do I will place Bishop Joaquim as the Assistant Senior Pastor. Many things have changed over these 9 months and Bishop Joaquim is using his own time and not getting any pay, and he loves his work, I pray the Lord give him the desires of his heart, he well deserves them. Location Angola, Africa
Bishop Director Andru Vijay Kumar, Now here is a pastor of his own church in a very poor area but he makes ends meet, he has a congregation of about 175 and he also teaches a boys school on Wednesday’s he is a very active and wonderful man of God, the writings captivated me, every time he wrote, we could see that the man was not only intelligent but had wisdom and so much love for his people and for me, and I could sit there and read one of his letters and just cry, this man is a true love of God, his face probably shines when people meet him. I did a lot to get his name on that roster because they forgot it and I kept calling back the people. I said this church would not be totally complete without him. Location- India
Special
See Below
My dear friend of Jesus
Praise God
Pastor Paul Ciniraj's wife Mrs. Mercy Ciniraj write. I unable write. My husband in hospital. Last wednesday admitted. My husband riding motorbyke. He going for ------- translation work in------ society office. A auto riksha (three wheeler) speedly came. Auto riksha followed my husband. Auto riksha hit my husband's motorbyke's back. My husband alone in motorbyke. He thrown out. Lord Jesus cared my husband. He in Lord's Hands. His leg's knee bone fractured. People took him hospital. Only after few hours I knew. I and my children ran hospital. We all in hospital. Last Thursday my husband's knee bone a major surgery. Police registered case. Police doubt auto rikshaman a hired killer. He anti christian man. He tried kill my husband. He and autoriksha hide. Police not found.
My daughter Hepzy write public exam. She in 10th class. That is school final class. My one friend took my daughter Hepzy in their home. They send Hepzy for exam. After exam she go that friend's house. My sons Besly, Lesly with us in hospital. They afraid. So they fever. Lesly admitted for fever. A week before he was fever and in hospital. Now second time he fever and again admitted.
Today only I came home. So I send this mail. My husband and sons in hospital. so I go back hospital. I not know what say. You please pray. My husband unable receive mail. My husband's reply you not get. Everything I only manage. I not know what do. My Lord Jesus help. I am trouble. I am helpless. I cry. I your help need. Jesus You my only Lord. You my only saviour. help. I cry. Amen.
Your sister of Jesus Christ
Mrs. Mercy Ciniraj,
Pastor Paul Ciniraj's wife,
Salem Voice Ministries,
My dear friend of Jesus
Praise God
I thank your mail. I thank your prayer. My husband thank your prayer. We thank your love.
My husband (Pastor Paul Ciniraj) suffer pain. Again one surgery doctor said. I sold my gold ring. Surgery advance Rs. 25000/- paid in hospital. One hospital staff sister told bill come over Rs.100000/-. I afraid. I cry Jesus. Jesus my help. Please pray. Again please pray. I not know what do. Police not catch autorikshaman. He a anti christian's hired killer. He tried kill my husband.
You talk my husband? some ask. You can talk. His cell phone: --------------------. I stand his side.
Besly's fever down. He better. Lesly's fever fully not down. But down. Hepzy's exam run. They thank your prayer.
Again I thank your love
Your sister of Jesus Christ
My dear friend of Lord Jesus
Praise God
Yesterday my husband's second surgery. Now he in room. Suffer big pain. Because second surgery. I thank your prayers. I thank your love. Again few days we in hospital. Please pray paying hospital bill. A big amount. Police try find autoriksha man. no idea.
Besly, Lesly better. Now they no fever. Because your prayer. we thank your prayers.
Your sister of Jesus Christ
My dear friend of Lord Jesus
Praise God
We in big trouble. Yesterday night I, my daughter Hepzy, small son Lesly stayed in our home. My husband Pastor Paul Ciniraj and big son Besly in hospital.
Night (2.40 am) some sound I heard. strange sound. I looked through window. I saw two men jumped inside gate. Their hands I saw iron pipes, other iron weapons. They knocked. I did not open door. I tried call police station. But telephone line cut. I saw they forcely tried open door. I thought they kill me, Hepzy and Lesly. I thought it our last day. We loudly call Jesus. We loudly cried Jesus. I know God worked. God with us. God protect us. Our neighbors heard our cry. They switched on lights. Suddenly those two men again jumped gate outside and ran away. They came kill us. My children afraid. Now also we shiver.
My husband's first surgery's stitch today removed. But suffer big pain of second surgery. We asked doctor when discharge. Doctor said try discharge April 5. Please pray.
Your sister of Jesus Christ
Please Pray for the whole family of Bishop Director Paul
My dear friend of Jesus Christ
Praise God
I ask urgent prayers. I in a big fire. I burn. My children upset. Again my small son Lesly big fever. He saw enemies in night. He afraid. He talk with fear. Again he admitted in hospital. This month third time he in hospital. I not know what do. I believe Jesus. He my Lord. He my healer. He my helper.
Also my husband Pastor Paul Ciniraj sad. His pain big. He turn left side. also turn right side. Again left and right. Doctor said April 5 discharge. I again burn. I not know how pay hospital bill. My one friend said she ready give gold necklace. We will get Rs. 30000/- if sell that necklace. But that not enough. Again need a big amount. Please pray. God help. Also doctor said 6 months rest my husband will take. Nobody help us, but God help.
I shy beg. I shy ask help. I ask Jesus help. I ask prayer.
I sorry say this. I not ask money. Help who can. God is big helper. Who cannot help, prayer is big help. Your prayer our fort. In our town (Kottayam) Western Union got agents. I able receive money. Also I able receive cheques, money orders. Cheques, money orders our bank change soon. Below my address:
Mrs. MERCY CINIRAJ,
SALEM VOICE MINISTRIES,
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I know you pray for us. I thank your prayers. I know you love us. We thank your love. We all love you so much.
How are you? We do pray for you, your household and your international ministry. How is everything going on? By God's grace I am with you as a key partner of the international ministry.
I praise and thank God for His indescribable gifts. He has enabled us to pay all the bills related on my treatment. I have mere words to thank you for your love, prayers and the helps you have given me in the time of our need. We pray for you all. May our Lord bless you abundantly.
By the grace of our Lord I am slowly recovering. Now I do go to the bathroom by myself by the help of a framer, though I cannot use the left leg to walk at all. Also I can sit on the bed or even the chair. Still I have pain, but God strengthens me to suffer it. Yes! His grace is sufficiant for me. It would be great if I get a pair of crutches and a wheel chair. Our Lord is our treasure. Without any failure He leads and feeds us daily. Our prayer also is "give us this day our daily bread". So we don't worry for tomorrow and we don't have any earnings for tomorrow. Our Lord is our earning. So kindly continue praying for us. I hope God will enable me to walk and witness Him as before within two months.
.
53 children of our orphanage are waiting to open their classes on 1st of June itself. Kindly pray that God shall provide their school materials. They need school bags, umbrellas, geomatrical and arithmetical instrument boxes, study books for 13 subjects, notebooks etc. etc. Senior students may have more than 55 USD for their materials. But junior students will be having less than 30 USD only. We have claculated and average 42 USD will have to spend for each students. We don't want to give them uniforms now, for we have already provided them new clothes on Christmas. Kindly pray for these precious ones.
Mercy, Besly, Hepzy and Lesly are conveying their greetings and prayers to you all. Besly, Hepzy and Lesly are also waiting to open their schools on 1st of June. (Besly will be starting his plus two classes; Hepzy is waiting for the result of her public examination and want to join Higher secondary School for Plus One; Lesly will be in 7th standard).
Once again I thank and praise God for your love and kindness. We love you. We love you so much. My wife Mercy is asking me to say her special love alongwith her personal thanksgiving to you and your family. I see her eyes are filled with tears of joy when she says about your love and prayers. She says your prayers made her stand during the last two months. Yes. Once again we thank you, thank you so much for your love and prayers.
Convey our special thanks to your pastor and all the members of your congregation and church and the prayer fellowships for the prayers they did for me and my family. And ask them to continue praying for us and our ministry in ----- and the third world.
And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. Matt. 10:7-8
The Church Ministries, Inc. is a free church, with a non-profit clasification of a Pubic Charity Status 501(c)(3) under section 170 with all of us as volunteers, and we don't sell anything we are able to function on the Lord and His Blessings and anyone who would like to help, plus we are tax deductible.
"The Protestant Reformation was a major 16th century European movement aimed initially at reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Its religious aspects were supplemented by ambitious political rulers who wanted to extend their power and control at the expense of the Church. The Reformation ended the unity imposed by medieval Christianity and, in the eyes of many historians, signaled the beginning of the modern era. A weakening of the old order was already under way in Northern Europe, as evidenced by the emergence of thriving new cities and a determined middle class.
"In 1517, in one of the signal events of western history, Martin Luther, a German Augustinian monk, posted 95 theses on a church door in the university town of Wittenberg. That act was common academic practice of the day and served as an invitation to debate. Luther’s propositions challenged some portions of Roman Catholic doctrine and a number of specific practices.
"The movement quickly gained adherents in the German states, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Scotland and portions of France. Support came from sincere religious reformers, while others manipulated the movement to gain control of valuable church property.
"The term Protestant was not initially applied to the reformers, but later was used to describe all groups protesting Roman Catholic orthodoxy."
As the hope of reforming the Roman church faded, the "protestants" were forced to separate from Roman Catholicism resulting in Lutheran churches in Germany, Scandinavia and some eastern European countries, the Reformed churches in Switzerland and the Netherlands, Presbyterian churches in Scotland, and the Anglican church in England, and other diverse elements all of which have evolved into the Protestant denominations of today.
Protestant Reformation
Precursors to the Reformation
John Wycliffe (1330-84) attacked what he saw as corruptions within the church, including the sale of indulgences, pilgrimages, the excessive veneration of saints, and the low moral and intellectual standards of ordained priests.
Wycliffe also repudiated the doctrine of transubstantiation, held that the Bible was the sole standard of Christian doctrine, and argued that the authority of the Pope was not grounded in Scripture. Some of Wycliffe's early followers translated the Bible into English, while later followers, known as Lollards, held that the Bible was the sole authority and that Christians were called upon to interpret the Bible for themselves. The Lollards also argued against clerical celibacy, transubstantiation, mandatory oral confession, pilgrimages, and indulgences.
John Huss (1369-1415) -- A Bohemian priest, excommunicated in 1410, and burned at the stake for heresy in 1415. His death lead to the Hussite Wars in Bohemia. Huss followed Wycliffe's teachings closely, translating Wycliffe's Trialogus into Czechoslovakian, and modeling the first ten chapters of his own De Ecclesia after Wycliffe's writings. He believed in predestination, regarded the Bible as the ultimate religious authority, and argued that Christ, rather than any ecclesiastical official, is the true head of the church.
Prominent figures in the Reformation
Martin Luther (1483-1546) -- In 1517, nails his 95 Theses onto a Wittenberg Church door. These theses were Latin propositions opposing the manner in which indulgences (release from the temporal penalties for sin through the payment of money) were being sold in order to raise money for the building of Saint Peter's in Rome.
Huldreich Zwingli (1484-1531) -- Swiss theologian and leader of early Reformation movements in Switzerland. Vigorously denounces the sale of indulgences in 1518.
John Calvin (1509-64) -- Calvin was a French theologian and reformer who fled religious persecution in France and settled in Geneva in 1536. He instituted a form of Church government in Geneva which has become known as Presbyterian. He insisted on reforms including: the congregational singing of the Psalms as part of church worship, the teaching of a catechism and confession of faith to children, and the enforcement of a strict moral discipline in the community by the pastors and members of the church. Geneva was, under Calvin, essentially a theocracy.
John Knox (1513-1572) -- An ardent disciple of Calvin, Knox established Calvinistic Protestantism as the national religion of Scotland. He left a powerful political legacy within the Calvinist or Reformed branch of Protestantism, a political legacy known as Presbyterianism.
Henry VIII (1491-1547) -- In 1533, Henry was excommunicated by the pope for marrying Anne Boleyn and having the archbishop of Canterbury sanction the divorce from his first wife, Catherine. In 1534, Henry had Parliament pass an act appointing the king and his successors supreme head of the Church of England, thus establishing an independent national Anglican church.
Theological Issues of the Reformation
The theology of the Reformers departed from Romanism primarily on the basis of three great principles:
Sole authority of Scripture,
Justification by faith alone, and
Priesthood of the believer.
(cf. Eerdmans' Handbook to the History of the Christian Church, Tim Dowley editor, p. 364ff).
Sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone) was one of the watchwords of the Reformation. This doctrine maintains that Scripture, as contained in the Bible, is the only authority for the Christian in matters of faith, life and conduct. The teachings and traditions of the church are to be completely subordinate to the Scriptures. This of course flew in the face of Romanism, then and now, where the Scriptures are put on a par with the traditions of the Roman church and its interpretation actually subordinate to the teachings of Rome over the years.
Sola Fide (by faith alone) was the other watchword of the Reformation. This doctrine maintains that we are justified before God (and thus saved) by faith alone, not by anything we do, not by anything the church does for us, and not by faith plus anything else. It was also recognized by the early Reformers that Sola Fide is not rightly understood until it is seen as anchored in the broader principle of Sola Gratia, by grace alone. Hence the Reformers were calling the church back to the basic teaching of Scripture where the apostle Paul states that we are "saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God," Eph. 2:8.
The third great principle of the Reformation was the priesthood of all believers. The Scriptures teach that believers are a "holy priesthood," 1 Pet. 2:5. All believers are priests before God through our great high priest Jesus Christ. "There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus," 1 Tim. 2:5. As believers, we all have direct access to God through Christ, there is no necessity for an earthly mediator. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox concept of the priesthood was seen as having no warrant in Scripture, viewed as a perversion and mis-application of the Old Testament Aaronic or Levitical priesthood which was clearly fulfilled in Christ and done away with by the New Testament.
As a result of these principles, the Reformers rejected the authority of the Pope, the merit of good works, indulgences, the mediation of Mary and the Saints, all but the two sacraments instituted by Christ (Baptism and the Lord's Supper), the doctrine of transubstantiation, the mass as a sacrifice, purgatory, prayers for the dead, confessions to a priest, the use of Latin in the services, and all the paraphernalia that expressed these ideas.
Even though the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches fall within Orthodoxy as most would define it, much of their teaching beyond the basic tenets is regarded as erroneous by conservative Protestants. In fact, they would say much of it is clearly to be regarded as false teaching which has perverted the gospel of God's grace in Jesus Christ. In general, evangelical Protestants see the Reformation as simply a call back to biblical Christianity.
The Solemn Covenant of the Southwark (Horse-lie-down) Church in 1689.
“We who desire to walk together in the fear of the Lord, do, through the assistance of His Holy Spirit, profess our deep and serious humiliation for all our transgressions.
And we do solemnly, in the presence of God and of each other, in the sense of our own unworthiness, give up ourselves to the Lord in a church state, according to the apostolic constitution, that He may be our God, and we may be His people, through the everlasting covenant of His free grace, in which alone we hope to be accepted by Him, through His blessed Son Jesus Christ, whom we take to be our High Priest, to justify and sanctify us, and our Prophet to teach us; and to be subject to Him as our Law-giver, and the King of Saints; and to conform to all His holy laws and ordinances, for our growth, establishment, and consolation; that we may be as a holy spouse unto Him, and serve Him in our generation, and wait for His second appearance, as our glorious Bridegroom.
Being fully satisfied in the way of church-communion, and the truth of grace in some good measure upon one another’s spirits, we do solemnly join ourselves together in a holy union and fellowship, humbly submitting to the discipline of the Gospel, and all holy duties required of a people in such a spiritual relation.
1. We do promise and engage to walk in all holiness, godliness, humility, and brotherly love, as much as in us lieth to render our communion delightful to God, comfortable to ourselves, and lovely to the rest of the Lord’s people.
2. We do promise to watch over each other’s conversations, and not to suffer sin upon one another, so far as God shall discover it to us, or any of us; and to stir up one another to love and good works; to warn, rebuke, and admonish one another with meekness, according to the rules left to us of Christ in that behalf.
3. We do promise in a special manner to pray for one another, and for the glory and increase of this church, and for the presence of God in it, and the pouring forth of His Spirit on it, and His protection over it to His glory.
4. We do promise to bear one another’s burdens, to cleave to one another, and to have a fellow-feeling with one another, in all conditions both outward and inward, as God in His providence shall cast any of us into.
5. We do promise to bear with one another’s weaknesses, failings, and infirmities, with much tenderness, not discovering them to any without the Church, nor any within, unless according to Christ’s rule, and the order of the Gospel provided in that case.
6. We do promise to strive together for the truth of the Gospel and purity of God’s ways and ordinances, to avoid causes, and causers of division, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. [Ephesians 4:3].
7. We do promise to meet together on Lord’s-days, and at other times, as the Lord shall give us opportunities, to serve and glorify God in the way of His worship, to edify one another, and to contrive the good of His church.
8. We do promise according to our ability (or as God shall bless us with the good things of this world) to communicate to our pastor or minister, God having ordained that they that preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel. (And now can anything lay a greater obligation upon the conscience than this covenant, what then is the sin of such who violate it?)
These and all other Gospel duties we humbly submit unto, promising and purposing to perform, not in our own strength, being conscious of our own weakness, but in the power and strength of the blessed God, Whose we are, and Whom we desire to serve. To Whom be glory now and for evermore. Amen.”
Prayer
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15 Theses for a New Reformation
by Wolfgang Simson
God is changing the Church, and that, in turn, will change the world. Millions of Christians around the world are aware of an imminent reformation of global proportions. They say, in effect: "Church as we know it is preventing Church as God wants it." A growing number of them are surprisingly hearing God say the very same things. There is a collective new awareness of age-old revelations, a corporate spiritual echo. In the following "15 Theses" I will summarize a part of this, and I am convinced that it reflects a part of what the Spirit of God is saying to the Church today. For some, it might be the proverbial fist-sized cloud on Elijah's sky. Others already feel the pouring rain.
1. Church is a Way of Life, not a series of religious meetings
Before they where called Christians, followers of Christ have been called "The Way". One of the reasons was, that they have literally found "the way to live." The nature of Church is not reflected in a constant series of religious meetings lead by professional clergy in holy rooms specially reserved to experience Jesus, but in the prophetic way followers of Christ live their everyday life in spiritually extended families as a vivid answer to the questions society faces, at the place where it counts most: in their homes.
2. Time to change the system
In aligning itself to the religious patterns of the day, the historic Orthodox Church after Constantine in the 4th century AD adopted a religious system which was in essence Old Testament, complete with priests, altar, a Christian temple (cathedral), frankincense and a Jewish, synagogue-style worship pattern. The Roman Catholic Church went on to canonize the system. Luther did reform the content of the gospel, but left the outer forms of "church" remarkably untouched; the Free-Churches freed the system from the State, the Baptists then baptized it, the Quakers dry-cleaned it, the Salvation Army put it into a uniform, the Pentecostals anointed it and the Charismatics renewed it, but until today nobody has really changed the superstructure. It is about time to do just that.
3. The Third Reformation.
In rediscovering the gospel of salvation by faith and grace alone, Luther started to reform the Church through a reformation of theology. In the 18th century through movements like the Moravians there was a recovery of a new intimacy with God, which led to a reformation of spirituality, the Second Reformation. Now God is touching the wineskins themselves, initiating a Third Reformation, a reformation of structure.
4. From Church-Houses to house-churches
Since New Testament times, there is no such thing as "a house of God". At the cost of his life, Stephen reminded unequivocally: God does not live in temples made by human hands. The Church is the people of God. The Church, therefore, was and is at home where people are at home: in ordinary houses. There, the people of God: -Share their lives in the power of the Holy Spirit, -Have "meatings," that is, they eat when they meet, -They often do not even hesitate to sell private property and share material and spiritual blessings, -Teach each other in real-life situations how to obey God's word, dialogue - and not professor-style, -Pray and prophesy with each other, baptize, `lose their face' and their ego by confessing their sins, -Regaining a new corporate identity by experiencing love, acceptance and forgiveness.
5. The church has to become small in order to grow big
Most churches of today are simply too big to provide real fellowship. They have too often become "fellowships without fellowship." The New Testament Church was a mass of small groups, typically between 10 and 15 people. It grew not upward into big congregations between 20 and 300 people filling a cathedral and making real, mutual communication improbable. Instead, it multiplied "sidewards", like organic cells, once these groups reached around 15-20 people. Then, if possible, it drew all the Christians together into citywide celebrations, as with Solomon's Temple court in Jerusalem. The traditional congregational church as we know it is, statistically speaking, neither big nor beautiful, but rather a sad compromise, an overgrown house-church and an under-grown celebration, often missing the dynamics of both.
6. No church is led by a Pastor alone
The local church is not led by a Pastor, but fathered by an Elder, a local person of wisdom and reality. The local house-churches are then networked into a movement by the combination of elders and members of the so-called five-fold ministries (Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Evangelists and Teachers) circulating "from house to house," whereby there is a special foundational role to play for the apostolic and prophetic ministries (Eph. 2:20, and 4:11.12). A Pastor (shepherd) is a very necessary part of the whole team, but he cannot fulfill more than a part of the whole task of "equipping the saints for the ministry," and has to be complemented synergistically by the other four ministries in order to function properly.
7. The right pieces - fitted together in the wrong way
In doing a puzzle, we need to have the right original for the pieces, otherwise the final product, the whole picture, turns out wrong, and the individual pieces do not make much sense. This has happened to large parts of the Christian world: we have all the right pieces, but have fitted them together wrong, because of fear, tradition, religious jealousy and a power-and-control mentality. As water is found in three forms, ice, water and steam, the five ministries mentioned in Eph. 4:11-12, the Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers and Evangelists are also found today, but not always in the right forms and in the right places: they are often frozen to ice in the rigid system of institutionalized Christianity; they sometimes exist as clear water; or they have vanished like steam into the thin air of free-flying ministries and "independent" churches, accountable to no-one. As it is best to water flowers with the fluid version of water, these five equipping ministries will have to be transformed back into new, and at the same time age-old, forms, so that the whole spiritual organism can flourish and the individual "ministers" can find their proper role and place in the whole. That is one more reason why we need to return back to the Maker's original and blueprint for the Church.
8. God does not leave the Church in the hands of bureaucratic clergy
No expression of a New Testament church is ever led by just one professional "holy man" doing the business of communicating with God and then feeding some relatively passive religious consumers Moses-style. Christianity has adopted this method from pagan religions, or at best from the Old Testament. The heavy professionalisation of the church since Constantine has now been a pervasive influence long enough, dividing the people of God artificially into laity and clergy. According to the New Testament (1 Tim. 2:5), "there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." God simply does not bless religious professionals to force themselves in-between people and God forever. The veil is torn, and God is allowing people to access Himself directly through Jesus Christ, the only Way. To enable the priesthood of all believers, the present system will have to change completely. Bureaucracy is the most dubious of all administrative systems, because it basically asks only two questions: yes or no. There is no room for spontaneity and humanity, no room for real life. This may be OK for politics and companies, but not the Church. God seems to be in the business of delivering His Church from a Babylonian captivity of religious bureaucrats and controlling spirits into the public domain, the hands of ordinary people made extraordinary by God, who, like in the old days, may still smell of fish, perfume and revolution.
9. Return from organized to organic forms of Christianity
The "Body of Christ" is a vivid description of an organic, not an organized, being. Church consists on its local level of a multitude of spiritual families, which are organically related to each other as a network, where the way the pieces are functioning together is an integral part of the message of the whole. What has become a maximum of organization with a minimum of organism, has to be changed into a minimum of organization to allow a maximum of organism. Too much organization has, like a straightjacket, often choked the organism for fear that something might go wrong. Fear is the opposite of faith, and not exactly a Christian virtue. Fear wants to control, faith can trust. Control, therefore, may be good, but trust is better. The Body of Christ is entrusted by God into the hands of steward-minded people with a supernatural charismatic gift to believe God that He is still in control, even if they are not. A development of trust-related regional and national networks, not a new arrangement of political ecumenism is necessary for organic forms of Christianity to reemerge.
10. From worshipping our worship to worshipping God
The image of much of contemporary Christianity can be summarized, a bit euphemistically, as holy people coming regularly to a holy place at a holy day at a holy hour to participate in a holy ritual lead by a holy man dressed in holy clothes against a holy fee. Since this regular performance-oriented enterprise called "worship service" requires a lot of organizational talent and administrative bureaucracy to keep going, formalized and institutionalized patterns developed quickly into rigid traditions. Statistically, a traditional 1-2 hour "worship service" is very resource-hungry but actually produces very little fruit in terms of discipling people, that is, in changed lives. Economically speaking, it might be a "high input and low output" structure. Traditionally, the desire to "worship in the right way" has led to much denominationalism, confessionalism and nominalism. This not only ignores that Christians are called to "worship in truth and in spirit," not in cathedrals holding songbooks, but also ignores that most of life is informal, and so is Christianity as "the Way of Life." Do we need to change from being powerful actors to start "acting powerfully?"
11. Stop bringing people to church, and start bringing the church to the people
The church is changing back from being a Come-structure to being again a Go-structure. As one result, the Church needs to stop trying to bring people "into the church," and start bringing the Church to the people. The mission of the Church will never be accomplished just by adding to the existing structure; it will take nothing less than a mushrooming of the church through spontaneous multiplication of itself into areas of the population of the world, where Christ is not yet known.
12. Rediscovering the "Lord's Supper" to be a real supper with real food
Church tradition has managed to "celebrate the Lord's Supper" in a homeopathic and deeply religious form, characteristically with a few drops of wine, a tasteless cookie and a sad face. However, the "Lord's Supper" was actually more a substantial supper with a symbolic meaning, than a symbolic supper with a substantial meaning. God is restoring eating back into our meeting.
13. From Denominations to city-wide celebrations
Jesus called a universal movement, and what came was a series of religious companies with global chains marketing their special brands of Christianity and competing with each other. Through this branding of Christianity most of Protestantism has, therefore, become politically insignificant and often more concerned with traditional specialties and religious infighting than with developing a collective testimony before the world. Jesus simply never asked people to organize themselves into denominations. In the early days of the Church, Christians had a dual identity: they were truly His church and vertically converted to God, and then organized themselves according to geography, that is, converting also horizontally to each other on earth. This means not only Christian neighbors organizing themselves into neighborhood- or house-churches, where they share their lives locally, but Christians coming together as a collective identity as much as they can for citywide or regional celebrations expressing the corporateness of the Church of the city or region. Authenticity in the neighborhoods connected with a regional or citywide corporate identity will make the Church not only politically significant and spiritually convincing, but will allow a return to the biblical model of the City-Church.
14. Developing a persecution-proof spirit
They crucified Jesus, the Boss of all the Christians. Today, his followers are often more into titles, medals and social respectability, or, worst of all, they remain silent and are not worth being noticed at all. "Blessed are you when you are persecuted", says Jesus. Biblical Christianity is a healthy threat to pagan godlessness and sinfulness, a world overcome by greed, materialism, jealousy and any amount of demonic standards of ethics, sex, money and power. Contemporary Christianity in many countries is simply too harmless and polite to be worth persecuting. But as Christians again live out New Testament standards of life and, for example, call sin as sin, conversion or persecution has been, is and will be the natural reaction of the world. Instead of nesting comfortably in temporary zones of religious liberty, Christians will have to prepare to be again discovered as the main culprits against global humanism, the modern slavery of having to have fun and the outright worship of Self, the wrong centre of the universe. That is why Christians will and must feel the "repressive tolerance" of a world which has lost any absolutes and therefore refuses to recognize and obey its creator God with his absolute standards. Coupled with the growing ideologisation, privatization and spiritualisation of politics and economics, Christians will, sooner than most think, have their chance to stand happily accused in the company of Jesus. They need to prepare now for the future by developing a persecution-proof spirit and an even more persecution-proof structure.
15. The Church comes home
Where is the easiest place, say, for a man to be spiritual? Maybe again, is it hiding behind a big pulpit, dressed up in holy robes, preaching holy words to a faceless crowd and then disappearing into an office? And what is the most difficult, and therefore most meaningful, place for a man to be spiritual? At home, in the presence of his wife and children, where everything he does and says is automatically put through a spiritual litmus test against reality, where hypocrisy can be effectively weeded out and authenticity can grow. Much of Christianity has fled the family, often as a place of its own spiritual defeat, and then has organized artificial performances in sacred buildings far from the atmosphere of real life. As God is in the business of recapturing the homes, the church turns back to its roots, back to where it came from. It literally comes home, completing the circle of Church history at the end of world history.
As Christians of all walks of life, from all denominations and backgrounds, feel a clear echo in their spirit to what God's Spirit is saying to the Church, and start to hear globally in order to act locally, they begin to function again as one body. They organize themselves into neighborhood house-churches and meet in regional or city-celebrations. You are invited to become part of this movement and make your own contribution. Maybe your home, too, will become a house that changes the world.
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This prayer is about 11 months old Bishop Director Paul's leg and his wife Mercy and the children have gone through a lot, his leg is healed, but we need to pray and up date the prayer, to protection and comfort.
Protestant Reformation Below
I had to leave out some of the locations to the homes of some of our Bishop Directors, for safety reasons.
16th Century
Dear blessed Bishop Paul Bonnanno
Praise be to the Lord Jesus
I have put my hands on your message, sealed you with the precious blood of Jesus and prayed over it.
May our Lord miraculously heal you and make use of you mightly as a good vessel. We regularly praying for you. Rev. Paul Ciniraj President and Director of The Salem Voice Ministries 5-8-07
Bishop Secretary Rev. Keith Ratcliff a close friend and brother whom I have known for years, he always wanted to be apart of The Church, and now he has given so much to me with the emails, and phone calls about my health, The Church the members, the web site- his ideas are right from the heart of divine love. We shared so much when his wife was in the hospital with terminal cancer, with a month to live; he sat with her everyday- every moment, until she took her last breath in his arms. It was so hard for him to loose her, and we helped each other get back on track, knowing she is with Jesus and not in anymore pain, or fear or hurt feelings. She really loved Keith, and he loved her so much. I talked and prayed with her, she had love for me and I had so much love for her. I wanted so much to fly out to Amarillo, Texas to lay hands on her, those were the times I wish I had money to take a trip like that, plus I didn’t even know if I physically and emotionally could have made the trip even if I was rich. I really wanted to see some change from my prayers, I hoped praying with her on the phone would help, she did feel better after I talked with her, and Keith was so thankful. I wanted so much for her to just sit up and walk right out of the hospital healed, I felt my prayers just weren’t strong enough, that was a year ago, now I am a lot weaker physically, but spiritually Keith was a major influence on me not to loose hope, he built up my faith and prayed for me continually, one time for more than an hour, he just was casting evil away from me, constantly in word and prayer until I felt totally different, strong and filled with faith, even the pain went away for a time. He is one of those tender hearted people, that cares for everyone, plus The Church its members and friends of our other ministries. He has his own websites but he is so excited to be apart of The Church Ministries. It is a wonderful feeling to have a staff that is so caring and helpful to so many others. Praise God for such a blessing.
