Revival/Reformation (2)
Reformation Reports
Table of Contents (Scroll down to view all)
1. Two Night Visions
2. Apostolic Training Centers
Two Night Visions
By Lanny Swaim
For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.
Job 33:14-17 (emphasis added)
Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
Habakkuk 2:2-3
In the early 1970’s, as a young Christian, I attended Sunday morning meetings in the home of Doug and Miriam Carty in High Point, NC. We met in their basement, sitting in folding chairs in a circle, with an inner circle and an outer circle. When I attended there, there were usually about 60 people present at each meeting.
We met according to 1 Corinthians 14:26:
How is it then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying
We started each meeting by passing around bread and wine (actually grape juice), partaking of what is commonly referred to as communion.
From that point on, no one led the meeting except the Holy Spirit. There was no preacher, no worship leader, other than the Spirit.
Most of our meetings were probably 80% to 90% praise and worship, with different ones beginning songs, mostly short choruses we all knew. We all joined in acapella and sang each chorus several times. Sometimes we would sing familiar hymns we knew. Occasionally someone would play guitar and sing a song to the group, often something that person had written.
Sometimes someone would read a scripture. There would be messages in tongues with interpretation, usually by two different people. Often just a prophetic word would be given. Occasionally there would be a short teaching, usually around five minutes or less.
We were encouraged to keep whatever we contributed short, leaving room for everyone else to contribute.
There were four elders in the group, and usually at least three of them were present. However, they were not there to lead, but simply as overseers. If someone got out of order, they would correct, if possible after the meeting instead of embarrassing the person who was out of order during the meeting.
In the two years I attended I only recall that happening once.
We were encouraged to always be led by the Spirit and not to just interject something we wanted to say or do. Amazingly, in a group that large, it was rare that two people ever started to speak at the same time.
At the end of each service, there was always a recognizable theme that flowed throughout the meeting, even though it came from numerous individuals with no preplanned agenda.
It was a beautiful thing to behold and always edifying. God’s presence always manifested and I think was felt by all.
Eventually I left there for various reasons and attended more traditional church gatherings, but I was never quite satisfied with anything else.
Over thirty years ago my wife and I attended a large Vineyard Church in Wilmington, NC. The Vineyard movement was known for much praise and worship, and the Vineyard we attended had several worship teams that took turns leading on Sunday mornings.
The Vineyard we attended had cell groups that met in homes during the week. We attended one and I had hoped it would be like the house church I attended in High Point all those years ago. But each week the cell group leaders were given a sheet by the leadership at the Vineyard, giving the cell group leader control over the meeting with subject matter, etc.
At best these cell group meetings were Bible studies and social get-togethers, which are okay, but I had hoped for more.
The Vineyard Movement was started by John Wimber, a musician himself, and had many good aspects. What I am about to write is in no way intended belittle The Vineyard Movement. I am just reporting what happened.
While we were attending The Wilmington Vineyard and involved in a cell group that met on Oak Island, the Lord appeared to me in a night vision. I was asleep but it was too real to have been just a dream.
He was sitting on a very large throne, which appeared to be a rock structure. His face was brighter than the sun, but I knew He was looking at me and I could look straight at Him without being blinded.
He said, “The Vineyard has it backward. They think the church meets on Sunday morning and breaks up into cell groups during the week. But the cell groups are the church, and they come together on Sunday morning.”
Four years later He appeared to me again in the same way and said, “It is time to start that church.” I said, “But Lord, I’m not a pastor,” thinking that most independent churches were started and led by pastors. He replied, “You are an apostle.”
The next morning my question to Him was, “Okay Lord, what is an apostle? What does a modern day apostle really do?”
He led me to 1 Corinthians 3:10, where the apostle Paul wrote:
According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. (emphasis added)
The word masterbuilder is translated from the Greek word, architekton, where we get the English word architect. So an apostle is an architect. An architect has the blueprint and knows how a building is to be built.
But the Church is not a building made with hands (see Mark 14:58 & Acts 17:24). Instead, it is a people.
A true apostle understands this. The Church was never intended to be an organization and it certainly is not a brick and mortar building. The true Church, which is not a good translation of the Greek word Ekklesia (meaning a governing/legislative body), is a people.
A thorough study of The New Testament reveals that this people in the first century met primarily in small groups in homes, breaking bread (communion) and assembling together according to 1 Corinthians 14:26 (above).
Occasionally they came together in larger groups, perhaps in a rented or borrowed facility, such as when Paul was in Troas (see Acts 20:6-8).
Occasionally there were other types of meetings, like when Paul preached every day for about two years in the lecture hall of Tyrannus in Ephesus (see Acts 19:9-11), or when the Jerusalem church met daily in the temple and from house to house (see Acts 2:46).
But I think we can glean from scripture that the most normal, regular way the first century church met was in small groups in homes. And this is confirmed by what Jesus said to me in those two night visions over 30 years ago.
Since that time, He has taught me other functions of an apostle, which in some ways and at various times include all the other five-fold giftings mentioned in Ephesians 4:11. Perhaps one of the most important functions of an apostle is prayer (intercession), which I often find myself doing during the night when I am unable to sleep.
Today there are many house churches meeting in The United States and throughout the world. James Rutz documented this in his book, Megashift, which I highly recommend.
From my observation, here in The United States, most house churches are meeting independent of other house churches. Some are meeting for good reasons, but others for the wrong reasons, such as having been hurt (wounded) in traditional churches. Many are meeting in much the same way as larger more traditional churches, just in a smaller group in a home, with perhaps a little more freedom for individuals to ask questions and/or express their thoughts. For the most part, apostles are not involved in or have any oversight of these house churches.
The Lord has made it clear to me that it is time for that to change. He is going to establish models of apostolic hubs overseeing networks of house churches.
If you have any thoughts about this, I welcome your comments and/or questions. I will be sharing more on this subject in upcoming Reformation Reports, because, surely we were born for such a time as this.
Apostolic Training Centers
By Lanny Swaim
I have found favor with you here in eastern North Carolina. I will personally visit you. There will be a revival greater than that of the great Wales Revival at the turn of the century (20th Century). There will be kings and leaders who will come from north and south and east and west to study the eastern North Carolina phenomenon.
This prophetic word was given by Derek Prince on Sunday, April 6, 1975 at Deliverance Evangelistic Temple in Jacksonville, NC.
Derek Prince was a well-known teacher during the Charismatic Movement of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. The last years of his life he lived in Jerusalem.
All these years later, some believers in Eastern North Carolina are still aware of this prophetic word. Some are convinced that it will never come to pass, while others are still waiting for it.
I find it interesting that after all these years it is still known and remembered. Recently, I actually met a lady who was in that meeting in Jacksonville all those years ago.
Several years ago I was holding monthly meetings in several different cities in North Carolina. One of those meetings was in Jacksonville. I had been made aware of this prophecy and always had copies, which I made available on my sales table for free.
The Jacksonville meetings started out small and didn’t grow. At best only four or five people were attending every month. I was considering shutting it down but as I was lying on my couch unable to sleep one night, the Lord spoke to me and told me I had to continue going to Jacksonville.
A couple (Robert and Anne Meadows) from Maysville, a few miles up US Highway 17 from Jacksonville, attended the Jacksonville meeting every month. The hotel room we met in cost $100 each month, and at the end of every monthly meeting Robert would put a $100 bill in my hand, which covered the cost of the meeting room. So even though the meeting remained small, the only cost to me was traveling to and from Jacksonville.
Robert was aware of the Prince prophecy and we sometimes talked about it. He told me about a vision he had while driving on NC Highway 58 that runs between Maysville and Cape Carteret. Robert’s family farm, which he owned with his siblings, is on Highway 58 and Robert lived on one corner of the property (Robert has since passed but Anne still lives there as of this writing).
While Robert was driving home one day on Highway 58, suddenly he saw in an open vision a very large building with acres of parking lot out in the cotton field on the family farm. He asked the Lord what that was and the Lord told him it was a training center where people would come in for a period of time and then go out all over the world.
Robert later learned that a friend of his had seen the same thing, and that his daughter had dreamed it. Since then others have seen it.
I met Robert at his home one Monday to pray about the Prince prophecy, his vision of the training center, and the monthly meeting I continued to hold in Jacksonville. As we were praying, I looked at Robert and told him that every time I thought of the training center, I heard the Lord say, 16,000 people.
Robert told me that when he had the vision, the Lord told him the main auditorium in the building would seat 15,000 people.
While we were praying that Monday, we were led by the Lord to move my Jacksonville meeting to a church building across the road from Robert’s house, which I did. He and Anne had started the church meeting in their home and then put a modular building on property across the road from their house. The meeting did grow some there but still wasn’t very large. However, we continued to meet there for several months.
On my way home that Monday, while driving south on Highway 17 toward Jacksonville, I asked the Lord, “Why did you tell me 16,000 people and you told Robert 15,000?”
Immediately I heard Him say, “The main auditorium will seat 15,000 with a 1,000 seat overflow room, where smaller meetings can be held as well.”
Then I asked Him, “What is the phenomenon in the Derek Prince prophecy?” Phenomenon seemed to me like a strange word to be in a prophecy.
He said, “It is my glorious Church, built according to my blueprint and functioning according to my plan.”
I suddenly realized that is what kings and leaders will come from north, south, east and west to study.
This will be no less that a new reformation of the Church, comprising networks of house churches connected into apostolic hubs.
I believe the training center Robert and others saw in that cotton field will not only train and equip believers to go out all over the world, but will be a gathering place where networks of house churches can come together periodically for large worship services and teaching, plus fellowship and interaction for edification and unity.
While it will take finances to build, maintain and staff such a facility, imagine if all the money spent to build, maintain and staff all the church organizations and buildings scattered over the landscape was not necessary. With believers meeting primarily in homes with no paid staff, a tremendous amount of money would be available to send people all over the world.
Perhaps the biggest problem with current teaching on The Kingdom of God/Heaven is that most are still trying to fit it into the old model of church. That’s trying to put new wine into old wine bottles. We are in a time of transition, and while God has allowed it and even blessed the current system, the time is at hand when the new wine (revelation) of the Kingdom now being received and taught will have to be put into new wine bottles (a new reformation of the Church), or the bottles will break and the new wine will be wasted.
I have learned that a new system cannot be started simply by criticizing the old system. A new system has to be put in place of the old system, and saints of God, it is time.
But God is going to have to build it.
Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it.
Psalm 127:1
However, we do have a part to play in the building of it. And for those of us who can see it, we will do our part, because, surely we were born for such a time as this.