Presence Driven

Presence Driven

Hi all,
A good friend sent me an article that another friend had written that defined the various types of churches available today. Larry Keefauver, Senior Editorial Advisor for Ministries Today magazine, came to the conclusion we need Presence driven churches - which is exactly what we are trying to do in our network of house and relationship based churches. I've listed his 4 categories with my comments below. I'd also like to share how to enter into his presence - how to be 'in the Spirit', or at least what works for me.

Types of churches he lists
1) The past-driven church. It's always remembering big events of the past, their history, their legacy with the idea God will move again!
2) The policy-driven church. This church has a model and follows it, whether denominational or holding to a founder's way of doing things, and those policies often take precedent over people.
3) The personality or pastor-driven church. It's often led by a very strong personality, and passes the church to family members or a close associate. This is the type most closely resembling a family business.
4) The purpose-driven church. This church has a core set of values, picks a main purpose, and builds around that purpose - if a program doesn't fit the purpose, it gets shut down.

I would add
5) The gift-driven church. This type of church focuses on being a "worship center" or "family ministry" or maybe "Word church", or other label. They state up front what they are all about and that is their strength.
6) The cutting edge-driven church. They are the first to jump on whatever and wherever God seems to be moving, and usually have room for all the fleshly manifestations one could want, often highly emotional.
7) The "we're-not-like-the-rest"-driven church. They often appeal to youth, people in alternative lifestyles, people with different worship tastes than Integrity, Hillsongs, choirs, or 1960's era TV evangelist style.
8) Home based churches of all flavors - some emphasize the home, some meet anywhere and perhaps emphasize 1 on 1 accountability, some center around the Lord's Supper, etc, etc.
9) Seeker friendly churches - easy in and easy out, no pressure, everyone feels good.

I'm sure the reader may come up with more types of churches, but my point today is that we all need to be presence-driven no matter the form. What I mean by presence-driven is that a meeting is focused on doing what it takes to bring in the presence of the Lord.

Many worship schools teach worship leaders to start with happy, bouncy "horizontal" songs that are centered about what the Lord has done for us and usually he is referred to in the third person - I can run through a troop and leap over a wall, I traded my sorrows, I've got the joy, joy, joy - and so forth. All focused on earth and more importantly, on "me".

But horizontal songs do little to usher in the presence of the Lord. About the time most worship services go vertical - songs directed to the Father or Jesus in the first person and when God's presence actually manifest in a tangible way, there is only time for 1 or 2 songs, and the flow gets cut off for the announcements.

Good quote
Another friend sent me this quote a couple weeks ago:
"In the New Testament church it says they were all amazed - And now in our churches everybody wants to be amused." -Leonard Ravenhill.

So many people think a meeting was anointed if they laughed a bit, learned a bit, and left feeling really good. I can't count the number of times I've seen a leader has wiped his brow with a hanky after either a hip hop worship time or some yelling/preaching, and proclaimed the presence of the Lord in the place. Sweat doesn't equal anointing for me. I don't like getting yelled at by the preacher and I don't like services where the worship leaders judge you on how active or bouncy you are. Some may feel God's presence in those types of services, but on the whole I wonder if people think emotion equals anointing

The presence of the Lord can also be found and felt in an in-depth study and discussion of God's Word. One of the most intimate times with the Lord I've had in a meeting was around a breakfast table with our house church here in Tulsa - the closeness and love between each person during the meal, discussion, and songs were all super glued together by the tangible presence of the Lord.

Presence driven, what it means
King David was a presence driven man, and being presence driven holds a special place in the Father's heart I think. After all, Jesus said the Father is looking for people who will worship Him in Spirit/spirit and truth, thus true worship certainly brings the presence of the Lord.

In II Samuel 6 David brings the Ark of the Covenant into town, sets it in a tent, and worships the Lord directly, minus any priesthood, brazen altar, laver, show bread, incense, menorah or anything else resembling Moses' tabernacle! He was worshipping more in a New Testament manor than Old Testament, because he was seeking the presence of God, and the Lord not only allowed it, but defended him in it.

To me, a presence driven meeting means everyone comes together for one purpose, to come into the presence of God. That is what drives all participants.

I've often pondered why the New Testament doesn't say more about how the early church met in homes - what meetings looked like. Certainly we are told in I Corinthians 14:26 that worship, revelation, teaching, and the gifts of the Spirit are all manifest, but no form is mentioned in terms of what it actually looked like.

I've come to the conclusion that is because they were presence-driven meetings, and they recognized that the Lord's presence would manifest through the gifts within the people because He lives in each. Participatory in nature rather than sitting back and listening to 1 person share his or her gift, home based meetings offer everyone the opportunity to become involved in whatever is happening- worship, teaching, revelation, the gifts of the Spirit, etc.

But meetings are made up of individuals
If you examine "good" worship services in a traditional church, you'll find many people know corporate anointing and they enter into the presence of the Lord in that way, but relatively few know how to enter into his presence 1 on 1; just them and the Lord alone at home.

I've traveled all over ministering in churches of all types, and honestly, few pastors and worship leaders really know what to do with the presence of the Lord. Some have told me they were trained not to have any times of silence in a service, to keep things moving. One told me he felt awkward when there was silence, not knowing if the congregation was waiting for him, or if he should wait for them to start singing on their own.

Presence driven meetings offer only the lightest touch from the presence of God unless those attending know how to get into the presence of God on a personal level. I was leaving a service in a traditional church one day when a lady commented about how strong she felt the presence of the Lord in worship. I too felt he presence of the Lord, and it was wonderful, but it was cut off before the congregation could move deeper. I thought how much stronger I've felt his presence at home in my living room - but all they knew was the corporate anointing. We need both, don't get me wrong, but nothing replaces personal time in his presence.

This has caused a mind-set to develop that one must go to church to get into the presence of the Lord, which is error and leads to a weak and spiritually anemic congregation.

I can only share the grace given to me, but for me, it's a discipline. As soon as I wake up, and I mean as soon as I'm coming out of that 'twilight zone', I start praying in tongues and I always ask (this may sound funny) "So what do you think Father?"

I don't know why I do that, it just happened one day years ago, coming up out of my spirit, and now it happens every morning. As soon as I am even 1/2 way awake, I want to know what he is thinking, what I should know, what's going on that day. Then I mentally survey all in my 'circle' so to speak, and as I pass each name in my mind I sense if I should linger or pray for them in particular.

That process goes on throughout the day, when I have a chance to break from what I'm doing in one area, and that 'front burner' before the Father is my 'neutral' so to speak. Whenever I can I am praying in the Spirit under my breath - it's habit now! I pray in tongues when reading the paper, when listening to an oldie song on the radio, when listening to talk radio, as I'm typing now - basically if I'm not talking more often than not I'm praying in tongues under my breath.

Each season of life offers a perspective from the Father. When our sons were young, the things I thought on and talked to the Father a lot about had to do with fatherhood. Part of it was how could my dad leave my mom and us 4 kids, part 'Father keep me from ever doing something so horrible', part amazement of what it meant to be a father.

Now I'm a grandfather times 5, and that's a whole other season of reflection and prayer; thinking of the generations that have passed before the Father, how timeless he is, and so forth.

Discipline yourself to be presence driven - first you have to have the heart, then you have to have the follow through. Find what works according to how He built you - a walk in nature, a warm bath, a drive in the country, early morning or late at night - discover what works best, and follow it. He will show up!

Presence driven in life,
Blessings,
John Fenn
www.iFaithhome.org