April 11, 2016 "Culture of Honor" by Danny Silk
Day 102
Rusty and Janet Richards were over for dinner this winter. Their presence warmed my soul, our souls. As we sat around the table I shared my frustration with what I call toxic churches lacking healthy cultures. Why is no one talking about the culture of a church? In his understated, yet directed way Rusty said, "They are talking about culture." My mind went on alert mode, I was all ears.
There began Rusty's introduction to "Culture of Honor" by Danny Silk. Mind you, my person is like the Ephesus church desperate for everything to line up with the word of God, so my entrance door is well guarded. I have held the charismatic movement at a comfortable arm's length certainly not denying it but equally not embracing it fully for fear of... who in the world knows what!!! I have called it the charismatic movement in a distancing sort of way which keeps me from all affect. But the Trinity is asking me to go beyond the stigma and enter into the fellowship leaving fear at the door.
So, I follow for I am alive and being led to a fuller understanding of the work of the Spirit. It is a result of my nose, eyes, ears, head and shoulders, knees and toes dunked in the word of John and specifically chapters 14, 15,16,17. I will never be the same. Nor do I want to be.
With this book my eyes are opened, pulling things together that have been confusing within the church walls. Faces of individuals fly into my brainscape and fill me with more compassion and understanding as I learn about the Five fold ministries. This is making a significant dent in my walk with Jesus.
There is a great analogy Danny Silk uses to lead to a deeper understanding of what is called the Fivefold anointings, ministries. In my attempt to move along at a clip I will briefly share his definitions. He describes "what might happen if they all arrived together at the scene of an accident.....The Pastor is the first one out of the car. He scrambles to assess the situation and begins a triage approach in applying First Aid to injured victims... The Teacher.... studies the situation in order to figure out what caused the accident. He steps back, notices the patterns of the skid marks and the distance each car moved before and after the impact... The Evangelist arrives on the scene and asks everyone lying in a safe, comfortable place (thanks to the pastor), 'If you were die as a result of your injuries, do you know where you would go - Heaven or Hell'....The Prophet knew this was going to happen because he had a dream about it the previous night....When he discovers the one in charge, he discerns whether this is God's chosen leader or not...The Apostle prays for the injured.... He invites the supernatural healing touch of God into the scene...He then opens a school for those who arrive at car accident scenes and sends them all over the world to do signs and wonders."
Here are some targeted quotes, certainly not in the order seen in the book, flying straight to my heart causing it to grow and discern.
Maybe you will enjoy them as well. One never knows.
~"The kingdom of Heaven invading the earth is the goal, not unsaved people invading the Church."
~"A culture of honor is created as a community of people learn to discern and receive people in their God-given identities."
~"Honor is the hardware that bolts all this plumbing together. This 'funnel' is actually a network of relationships, relationships in which the 'flow'....only continues as we learn to recognize these God-given roles and anointings, release people to operate in them, and receive what they have to give."
~"The fivefold design for leadership is obviously a team design, so the one-man show version of Church leadership is clearly not an expression of it, and neither is the bureaucratic, homogenous, 'everyone can do every job' style of leadership."
~"The way we parent our children when they make mistakes reflects most clearly what we believe about human failure, particularly sin. So many of us think that sin, mistakes, and falling short are more powerful than God's heart for us. So many of think that human failure is this powerful force that will overcome us, and that therefore we must manifest pseudo power over it through partnership with a spirt of fear!"
~"Through the cross, Jesus introduced something into the world that we still don't understand. He has made each and everyone of us unpunishable."
~"Shame tries to keep people trapped in their mistakes by convincing them that there is nothing they can do, that they are powerless. When we lovingly removed the shame over them, these two became powerful again, faced their consequences, and went around cleaning up their mess."
Therein ends the hodgepodge of quotes stirring within my being as the Spirit moves me lovingly forward.
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