Over the years I’ve often heard people talk about ‘THE move of God’ in such and such a place, usually followed by all the reasons why we should all jump on a plane and go. This kind of thinking is fuelled by the belief that God occasionally does one big special thing in our lifetime that some people call ‘THE move of God’ and to miss it would be akin to missing our destiny.
As a local church builder for over 30yrs, I’ve always found this stuff at best distracting and at worst divisive. I thank God for all the high profile moves of God in recent history like Toronto, Pensacola etc. But we only know about them because they received so much Christian media attention and they usually get that attention because they are a manifestation-based move. The truth is that God is moving all over the earth, in possibly millions of simultaneous moves of God most of which we will never hear about.
To call anything ‘THE move of God’ is to suggest that everything else is just an ordinary move of God and therefore of less importance and significance. I often ask churches whether they believe Hillsong, Joyce Meyer, Alpha or Lakewood are moves of God; to which, after a bit of thought and realizing its not a trick question, they cautiously reply ‘yes’. Then I ask, ‘do you believe that your local church is a move of God?’ Which is usually met by silence. We seem to think that for something to be called a move of God it always has to be somewhere else because what we are doing is far too ordinary for such a special title. I believe the local church is the best idea God ever had; it’s where I’ve given most of my life. The local church will be there long after many other moves of God have come and gone.
So I write this blog in the hope that every local church Pastor and their members will realize afresh – just like Dorothy did in the Wizard of Oz – that there’s no place like home! You are at the heart of a generational move of God. Your local church is just as much a move of God as anything anywhere else called that. Your local church may in fact be the only move of God your town or city ever sees. So don’t go chasing ‘THE move of God’; just be A move of God where you are.
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