Transformation - Forget the narrow way, emphasize the popular wide road:

 

"As soon as we produce some church models that are culturally acceptable to Hindus, we could see an additional 7- to 100 million secret Indian Christians go public." [page 15]

 

"We are in the early stages of a total transformation of our planet." [page 27]

 

"This global power shift is giving you an opportunity leave behind bad habits and sins, deadening relationships, a weak self-image, ignorance, sickly finances, anger, bitterness in your past, or anything else that could slow your sprint to the finish line. .. God is using these heart-turning miracles to challenge you to change your outlook and your values." [page 20-21] See "A New Mask for an Ancient Secret"

 

Positive thinking -- a new formula for power?

 

"Notice three things: ... you didn't.. speak one word of negativity into his life..... Second, this had a tinge of prophetic authority to it..... Third, this was not a prayer. You invoked God's blessing at the end... but this was mainly your blessing from your hands....." [170-171]  See "The Secret"

 

"...except for very brief blessings, it's always wise to call on the Lord to give your friend some specific blessings related to your blessing. This usually involves a sentence starting, 'May God....'" [page 172]

 

Salvation based on exciting miracles, not timeless truth

 

"When the pastor finished ministering (miracles), he asked how many people wanted to receive Jesus as their personal Savior. About eight hundred people came and received Christ...."  [page 36]

 

"When her little team enters a village, they ask God to show them the house of a 'man of peace.'...  In every village, as they pray, the Holy Spirit points out to Kamla a certain house -- and reveals unknowable things about the occupants.... Then they just knock on the door. Most of the people are so touched that they quickly accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and become the hub of a new house church." [page 68]  [But they haven't even heard the gospel!]

 

"Asking May we pray for you? is a bit like asking Would you like to receive Christ?" [page 183]

 

Driven by people, not by God: People assume the place of the sovereign Creator! See What God calls great and God's Wisdom versus Human Pride

 

"Why the sudden flood of resurrections? In part it's because Christians around the world are starting to realize, Hey, we can do this!"... Are you ready to move up?" [page 30]

 

"There's a new Christianity unfolding before our eyes, and it's bringing enough adventure to fill a Hollywood action movie. .... We have streamlined the church by cutting out the middlemen (the pastors...) and dealing directly with God. We're helping Him create a new world...

    "Faith creates new realities. That's what the Bible means by, "Faith gives substance to things hoped for." (Hebrews 11:1)." [page 28]

 

"David Yonggi Cho....found Samuel, his five-year-old son, dying....

       "I had to watch him grow cold and stiff, yet I still could not five up. I told God, I will not leave this room until You give me my son back....

      "Samuel told his father that he had met Jesus in heaven and ... had seem many deceased Christians from Cho's church there, who shouted, 'Look, here comes the pastor's son!'

       "Then Jesus told the boy, 'I cannot keep you here because your father will not let you go. So I'm taking you back to him.' Samuel is now president of a computer company..." [page 34-35]

 

Assumes God thinks and feel like finite humans: See Knowing God

 

"The Lord has a warm place in His heart for folk who believe in Him without seeing any miracles. That's the purest faith." [page 38]

 

"Nothing reveals the wrath of our loving God faster than a rejection of His love as shown in His miracles." Numbers 13:17-14-35

 

"Being part of a small group takes effort. It requires thinking.... But it's work the work. Whereas traditional churches tend to produce spiritual babies, small groups tend to produce maturity....The body of the group will buff your character, soothe your sorrows, sprout your gifts, heal your wounds, lift your spirit, teach your mind, disciple your soul, and bring you face to face with God again and again." [page 66]

 

"When the churches of a city get their act together and pray and reach out in unity, God is much more motivated to move on  a wide scale. [132]

 

"In the new churches we prize the Presence above everything else. If God is there in His power, love, and majesty, we can tolerate a lot of slop: inappropriate contributions, flawed thoughts from entry-level prophets, teary tales of woe.... Perhaps the biggest sin of the old church today is valuing order above life." [page 138]

 

"Yes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, as Jesus said in Luke 18:7. Yes, there is a time to be whiny as a four-year-old in a toy store. ....  

Your heavenly father is an actual person, and as such appreciates a little gratitude and warm love now and then. So when you talk to Him, try at least to remember to kick things off with some thanks and praise. If you don't, there's a danger of focusing 100% on what you don't have, and that can create an atmosphere of negativity and doubt." [page 169]

 

"I have this private theory--which nobody agrees with--that Jesus wasn't actually planning his ascension right at that moment, but when He heard that, he said, Father, beam me up before I start banging heads together!" [page 213]

 

 

Attribute what we want to God:

"Open Church Minsitries is almost wholly devoted to helping people plant networks of new churches composed--preferably--of new Christians or church dropouts. It's far more fruitful,...

   "Why should we keep changing? Because the world is changing daily, and God is rapidly opening up:

      - new ways for doing church

      - new methods of dismantling the kingdom of darkness

      - and a wide new range of miracles.

Old wineskins simply will not hold new wine..." [page 142] 

 

"When God moves, He moves quickly." [page 151]

 

"God is a bit like Mr. Bear. He's willing to respect our turf, to let us have our pre-programmed, human-led, pulpit-centered meetings. He even graciously adds great blessings to them if our hearts are in the right place.  But when a meeting is totally under  His control and wonderful things are happening, He gets royally riled if someone takes charge and jerks people's attention away from Him." [page 153]

 

Mocking Biblical Christianity and traditional church seating

 

"....core apostolics" are a powerful mix of Charismatics, Pentecostals, and Evangelicals.... The term excludes those groups that are so liberal in theology, so isolated in structure, or so deeply rooted in medieval tradition that they are hardly growing at all." [page 15]

 

"Welcome to team Christianity. People with ears, working in teams, will sooner or later outnumber those sitting in rows." [page 20]

 

"At long last, there is a way to use it [your spiritual gift] -- and it's not by wasting away in a pew counting the dead flies....."[page 27]

 

"Do you have a Christian background? If so, I hope you love the tradition-encrusted church--with all its faults--as much as I do. But perhaps you're one of those who just can't push themselves to show up on Sunday morning anymore. You love God and believe the Bible, but were disappointed in the church because it just didn't meet your needs or make you feel significant.... If that's you, then rejoice: There is now a different universe for you to inhabit.... Pushing the envelope of faith is our lifestyle." [page 28-29]

 

"The Holy Spirit is rapidly revising Christianity. He is putting at the core of His new church small groups that are interactive, informal, exciting, and geared to rapid multiplication. This is the beginning of the end for Spectator Christianity. Suddenly, it's out of style to be a pew potato...." [page 65]

 

"Pew warmers are passé. They're stuck at half past yesterday..... Two generations ago, eminent Christian spokesman A.W. Tozer thundered, '...We are making converts to an effete type of Christianity that bears little resemblance to that of the New Testament." [page 87]

 

"True Biblical authority doesn't just sit like a golden crown upon the brow of the ecclesiastical elite. If flows and grows as elders and equippers help others develop their gifts." [page 139]

 

 

Forget preaching -- Focus on feelings and excitement

 

"The Roman believers who received Paul's letter didn't have Bibles, and they were mostly illiterates anyway.... Yet he strongly states to them in 15:14, 'I am quite certain, my brothers that you are full of goodness, complete in knowledge, and competent to instruct one another.'

    "Wow. This radically fresh idea is a foundation of the new Christianity. It means that ordinary, run-of-the-church Christians are now qualified to instruct [admonish, teach, counsel] each other rather than relying on a more gifted person to do it for them." [page 159]

 

"Private confession between you and god is basic and good. But it brings no immediately visible assurance of forgiveness.... If people don't know where you've failed, they can't help you in that area." [page 161]

 

"Don't ask members to give full-length talks. .. How can a member know if a topic is good...? Basically, if it gets him or her excited, it will get everyone else excited." (Anything but preaching the truth) [page165]

 

"...intensity is not a magic trick, but it does count." (James 5:16) [page 183]

 

"Awhile back I went to a novelty shop and blew five bucks on a silvery magic wand set with big jewels. So now in my seminars I walk down the aisle and canonize folks, touching them on the head and saying, 'I pronounce thee Saint Kevin; I pronounce thee Saint Heather,' etc. Instant sainthood! My ritual may not be as impressive as the full-on Vatican treatment, but it has the advantages of no dying and no waiting." [page 93]

 

"Three earmarks of a true prophecy: A. It's fitting and becoming to the mood and content of the meeting.

B.. It passes the Bible test.

C. It passes the sniff test. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge." 1 Corinthians 14:29 [page 182]

    "the great majority of prophecies today are positive, supportive, and confirming of what the recipient may have already known or felt..." (But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men." 1 Corinthians 14:3 "...prophecies should be constructive, stimulating and encouraging. But there are always a small number of wannabe prophets who keep coming up with warnings of dire events that will ensue unless the recipient takes serious remedial action. These sad, troubled souls feel shut out and insignificant, and this is a simple way for them to gain some sort of power. Almost always, they are so deluded that they truly believe their own gloom and doom. My advice: Don't listen to them." [page 183]

 

 

Forget uncompromising Christians -- the old Church. They hinder change

 

"Your second priority should be those dropouts, the de-churched, the 2 million (in the US) who have accepted Christi but don't find it worthwhile to regularly attend church anymore....

   "Then you have the active pew-sitters. Over time, hundreds of frustrated but dutiful church members will find you and be eager to join you....However... be aware that this type may lobby forever to get the group to meet the expectations gained from their good or bad experience in the pews. ..As Carol Davis overstates, 'If you want a really powerful church start, find people of peace. Bar the Christians; don't let them in. They mess things up in the early stages." [page 238]

 

What if someone drifts into a topic that is controversial or even borderline erroneous? It depends. Some subjects are so controversial, they're like lightening a fuse to dynamite; schism could follow quickly. And in rare instances, some errors are so far off from truth or so destructive that you have to stop them in progress. Your call... The general principle here is that you don't alienate them or boot them out, you simply tell them not to teach what they're teaching. Happily, heresies have been a rare problem among new saints." [page 166]  

 

"If your team has too many hidebound traditionalists and not enough new saints, it may keep sliding back into oratorical prayer." [page 168]  

 

"Dump the orations. Do conversation." Old-style prayer is starting to fade because so few really like it. It's unnatural and foreign tot he way humans converse." [page 167]