Author: hicweb

Understanding God is a progressive journey, this is true in two thousand years of church history, and also true of my 49 years of Christian life. From being an atheist to becoming a believer and then a pastor; from being an extreme conservative to becoming a charismatic, I have diligently pursued God all along and my mindsets have been changed. The Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. I kept searching, like a blind person feeling his way across the river, stumbling from time to time. It is also like making donuts, being knead, baked, deep fried, and then having syrup poured on and fillings added, until suddenly the fragrance breaks forth. The process is not easy, I myself do not comprehend, but at long last I have come out of the tunnel, shaken off the mud, joy welled up from the depths of my being, and others cannot understand… I am grateful that I am alive today and I still have a chance to run after the will of God according to the drumbeat of heaven (Heb 10:36). Any price is worth it. When the American west was being developed, on average, one person died every 16 miles, but look at how prosperous the west is today! Years ago when the cross island highway in northern Taiwan was being built, quite a number of those involved also lost their lives or injured, but today tour buses are going through one after another! Anything God desires to have, is worth dying for, do you agree?

What is the progressive revelation of God for this generation? It is “the family’. For 20 years, “Homecoming”(or called Family Journey) has been impacting nations, and the most noticeable was first the “Convergence” at IHOP Kansas City in September and then “Onething”in December, 2018. Mike Bickle has announced that this“Onething”would be the last after 19 years. Also in many other countries, churches are no longer holding big conference, because they heard God say, “I don’t want conferences, I want a family.” 1982 in Cairo, Egypt, with an audible voice God said to Mike Bickle, “I am going to change the understanding of Christianity on the whole earth in one generation.” and Mike acknowledges that today is that generation! The church is no longer an organization, it is a family; no longer membership, but sons and daughters. What’s important is not doing, but being, it is clearer in English—not doing a son, but being a son. Sons and daughters are to receive inheritance because God is our Father! What Jesus accomplished for us on the cross is much more than just being saved and going to heaven, it is family and the Kingdom! It is all God’s doing, I did not choose Him, it is He who chose me. It is He who merged me into a body and adopted me into His royal family! Father is the King, that makes you and I princes and princesses! After the process of being made into fragrant donuts, we get to sit on the throne with the Father and reign with Him! It is unimaginable! The understanding of Christianity has truly become clearer, black and white turns to color, flat now changes to 3D, and today is that generation.

Actually, these understandings and revelations are already in the Bible, but we are too slow to understand. As early as (Isaiah 66:1) God is mourning, “Heaven is my throne, earth is my footstool, where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?” For two thousand years, we sincerely listen to this and listen to that, earnestly build this and build that, but in the end, it is only what men think, not necessarily what God wants. God’s desire is actually simple: not an organization, not an institution, not membership, but a family. In a family there are parents, children, love, order, peace and joy. The enemy knows what God wants, so he does everything he can to destroy families, relationships, create church divisions, and even try to confuse the gender and distort one’s identity on children. We must build the family to demolish the work of the devil. Turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers so to remove the curse of the land (Mal. 4:6). But as we look about us, for two thousand years, many pastors are still orphans, how can we build a family? Pastor Grace Chiang of California had a sudden insight one day and said, “I myself am a big orphan and function as the director of an orphanage!” What is an orphan? It is one without parents. Without a farther and mother one becomes an orphan. Church lacks no teachers, Paul said, “Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers.” (1 Cor. 4:15) However, we think, who is qualified to be a father? It is true, no parents are perfect, but as long as there are parents, the children feel secure, and each morning the parents do not choose whether they want to be parents for that day. It is a matter of heart (Mal. 4:6).

The enemy is desperately wanting to destroy the family, but the moment man lost in the Garden, God began His mission. God appeared to the forefathers and on Mount Sinai appeared to His chosen people. After the tabernacle was established God spoke from the tabernacle. In the New Testament, Jesus came and made His dwelling among us, His name is Immanuel, God with us. And at the end of Revelation He still says, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.” (Rev 21:3) This is the heart of our Dad. There are two aspects to the entire redemptive plan: (1) You and I are saved and become living stones; (2) living stones are being built into a temple, a spiritual house where God can dwell (1 Peter 2:5; Ephesians 2:2). David Demian said, “God’s end time army is not generals, but parents; not soldiers, but sons and daughters, not weapons, but the presence of God.” The most important thing is the family, the relationship, and that is why the Lord repeatedly said, “A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35) And He said, “That all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in me and I am in You. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that You have sent me” (John 17:21)

Our church has taken Bill Johnson’s Leader Development Program online, the very first lesson was “the Kingdom of God is a family.” In recent years more people are talking about the five-fold ministries. Although that is right, I believe the end time church not only needs to restore the five-fold ministry, but more fundamentally, restore the family. The five-fold ministry is not a new organization nor new titles in the church, but mature fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters in the family. We need to be parents first then become apostles and prophets; be parents first, then be evangelists, pastors and teachers. This is the right order so the family will be healthy, and church will be what God desires.

God’s new wine need to be put in the new wineskin. The new wine is to become a family, a dwelling place for God; it is no longer just ministry, organization or institution. The new wineskin is having God’s perspective, willing to be stretched, letting go of the past pride, inferiority, injuries, offenses, orphan mentality, disobedience, temper, wanting things my way, disunity with others, and even be willing to put down titles and degrees. Although there is nothing wrong with titles, they just are not necessary when you are in a family. I love to visit my son’s home. When he comes back from work, I never hear his wife or children calling him, “Doctor Hsu”. When a CEO of a company returns home, he takes off his office clothes, rolls up his sleeves, helps to take care of the children, dumps the garbage, changes the light bulbs, and cooks a meal…, because he is a father at home! As children get older, they also learn to help, set up the table, wash dishes, vacuum the floor… Everyone plays a part. This is a home. Now we are the mature children of Father God, we have grown up, so shall we come build together a happy and glorious family of our Heavenly Father? This New Year I wanted to give Dad a gift. A few days ago while sharing with Molica, I told her with excitement: “I got an idea!” I used to give myself a nick name “Abbalove”, but this new year I will take another one, “Family builder.” I used to be pleased to know I am the Father’s beloved; but now I am determined to build the family for God. I believe this is God’s destiny for me and the church. Pastor Anton Cruz prayed for us in 2013, “Many fathers and mothers will be raised from this church.” I believe this is also God’s calling for many churches which are maturing.

Pastor Peter Smith from Philadelphia shared an analogy: There are several lanes on the highway, most of the churches are on the “church” lane, a few moved to the “church and Kingdom” lane, and fewer people moved to the “Kingdom and church” lane. This has to do with the leaders’ heart and their understanding of the Father. I can see clearly that I am changing lanes. I also encourage aboriginal leaders to move from the “tribal” lane to the Kingdom lane, and encourage the Taiwanese pastors to shift from the “Taiwanese” lane to the Kingdom lane. The “Chinese” lane, “my needs” lane, and “child-centered” lane…, all need to shift, because only God’s desire is really our pursuit.

It is time to rise up, “for the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.” (Romans 8:19). I can almost feel the tremor of the ground, the creation can’t wait to see us grow up! Today’s battle between the darkness and the light are turning white-hot. The church must engage in the battle, no longer slumber. We can’t be like the frog stay complacently in a kettle and get slowly cooked alive. The end time army is the parents, children and the presence of God. The spiritual United Nations is taking shape. It’s time we enter our destiny, stand in the position and begin to see His Kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven, now!

There is a price to pay. As a forerunner one can be mocked and criticized, but do not be afraid, there are plenty revolutionary martyrs that paid the price for their ideals. It is normal to have casualties in battles. Like Gideon chose the 300, those who were afraid were let go. To be an overcomer one must die to his old self. The Lord had made it clear, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.And anyone who does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26-27) When you join the army, you need to shave your head, change into uniform, obey orders, are you willing?

However, the Holy Spirit is encouraging us. We are the Kingdom people, the spiritual house being built with the living stones to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. We are also a river of the living water, full of love, joy, childlike purity, simplicity, vitality and the power of the Holy Spirit. Wherever this river flows the Kingdom of God is brought there also— to our loved ones, friends, neighbors, to the Chinese, non-Chinese and to the aborigines. In the desert of the church the oasis is appearing, and one is connecting to the other. The oasis is the family that God desires to have. We are saved! And the world also rejoices with us!