Today’s 333 Devotional: “Less Denominationalism”

I grew up my whole life under the Protestant wing of the faith. My family attended the Methodist church. I accepted the Lord in an Assembly of God church. I helped start the first Calvary Chapel in Las Vegas, which later became non-denominational.

I then went to seminary and graduated with a Masters of Theology and a Masters of Divinity. Afterward I became the senior pastor of the church in Las Vegas and after 10 years brought it under the Foursquare Denomination. I presently pastor a Foursquare church in Mesquite, Nevada.

You might say I’ve seen my share of denominationalism, and what I’ve found is that we need to become a whole lot more biblical in our faith and calling, and a whole lot less denominational.
Church
In other words, we have to be more balanced in our presentation of God’s word. Instead of teaching doctrinal positions as gospel, we need to teach God’s whole word and not just denominational talking points.

In the church, there’s a lot of formalism and control over everything that is of God, and in the process, we have lost a lot of the zeal God would desire for us to have; a zeal for God’s word, a zeal for prayer, a zeal for the Holy Spirit, a zeal of the lost, and a zeal for God’s calling.

There is a quotation by Leonard Ravenhill I believe to be true, and that is the church today is so subnormal that the church we read about in the New Testament seems abnormal. What was once considered normal and God’s plan and purpose for the church now seems abnormal if kept.

The church today is going through a paradigm shift, but not for the better. In its attempt to become more palatable to the world it has lost its way. So we need to wrestle with what it means to be a Christian and God’s calling for the church. And this is going to take both vision and passion.