My coming to Georgia has caused quite a stir on my phone and Natalie’s phone over the past two years. Believe me, leading a new church was a pipe dream—or so I thought. As much as I begged God throughout my life to allow me to do it, I didn’t think it would ever happen. I’m just as surprised as all those who have filled our email and text boxes!
I now know God was getting me ready. The good days and the bad days all meant something. Walking away from the “system” was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. Natalie and I have experienced every emotion imaginable through this transition: the pain of being misunderstood and gossiped about; having untrue things said about us; being praised for making such a bold move; receiving reams of letters thanking us for the lives we touched; and even seeing long friendships come to an end because we were viewed as “abandoning the ship.”
As I look around at Grace Resurrection, it fills my heart and spirit with joy, gratitude, and great hope. Watching people come to this place for membership, baptizing two teenagers in just the past few months who have given their hearts to Jesus, seeing God bring staff members to our team who are focused, kind, and willing to sacrifice—not to mention the commitment I’ve witnessed in our small groups, men’s ministry, women’s ministry, and outreach ministries—is simply incredible. The four retired pastors I’ve had the privilege of working with in this new endeavor, and then having one of my former associate pastors from Kentucky rejoin me here—just wow. I’m not smart enough to make all of that happen. I believe in a supernatural God more at this moment than I ever have.
Being the church in the twenty-first century is very different from what we’ve encountered in the past. The family of God—the different parts of the body—is not the problem. Churches all over the world are filled with good people who are at the mercy of the darkness only because they don’t know what to look for. We become so focused on legalistic rule-keeping, morality, and traditions that mean nothing to a holy God that we unknowingly fuel the enemy’s plans by staying focused on the wrong things: systems, organizational structures, and personal theology that fits our preferences instead of the ways of Christ.
I had become more committed to surviving as a pastor than thriving as a child of God. A scarcity mindset, a self-righteous religious business plan, and petty disagreements among our brothers and sisters in Christ have held us back long enough. The enemy—the evil powers in the heavenlies, the rulers of darkness—is assaulting many people of God right now. But we are going to turn the tables on Satan, and through the refining fire we are going to become a stronger, purer church—and that means all of the Church.
Jesus says He is coming back for a church “without spot or wrinkle” (Ephesians 5:25–27). And you know what a wrinkle is, right? A wrinkle is a gathering in the wrong place! 😀🤷🏻♂️
God is saying to the Church, “Take your eyes off people and fix your eyes on Me, and I will be exalted as your Lord. I am the Lord who heals you. I will deliver you. I love you. I forgive you, and I will restore you.”
We are not to fight one another. We are to fix our eyes on Jesus, submit to God, and resist the devil, and he will flee. That is God’s command to us today.
You are never to strike back at a brother or sister in Christ. You are never to strike back at another believer, even if you think they’re wrong. If a brother or sister is doing wrong, you walk with them, forgive them, love them, and, in the proper time, restore them. Both bishops—such godly men—whom I had the pleasure of serving with modeled and taught me that.
We don’t ignore evil; we repent of it. We repent of all the works of darkness. We are not to choose sides. We are not to bow to a denomination. We are to bow before the Lord Jesus Christ. We are His body. We are the people of God—of all races and all backgrounds. Let it be said emphatically: God is purifying His whole Church. If I’ve seen nothing else over the past ten years, I’ve seen that… clearly.
We are called to worship God in spirit and truth—Methodist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Baptist, Independent, Episcopal, Anglican, whatever we are. We’re not to be a Baptist ministry, a Methodist ministry, or an Independent ministry. We are to be a New Testament, Jesus-centered ministry. Denominational names are merely handles. Remember CB radio handles? They identify where we lean, perhaps even a church’s personality, but they are not who we are. Biblical, Christ-filled bodies are who we are to be. That is what God wants.
He doesn’t want to destroy any denomination. God allows denominations because our human hearts are hard at times. But He wants to lead us all to repentance so that He can restore all churches. Without repentance, restoration, and the heart of Jesus, a church is just another VFW or Rotary Club.
If you’re a pastor reading this, I beg you: step out of denominational bureaucracy. I’m not saying leave it—just use it as much as possible to spread the Gospel, but focus on the meat and spit out the bones.
The future of the Church is here. It’s now. God wants to pour out His Spirit on all flesh. And He will do that through people who will repent of their sins, repent of dead works, walk away from church politics, and receive the fullness of God in the freedom of the Holy Spirit. That will release the life of God to our communities, our congregations, and to the ends of the earth.
The stage is set right now for that to happen. The door is W-I-D-E open.
Take advantage of it.
And live. ✝️
In Christ,
James