Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." -- Matthew 9:17 (NIV)
https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/79763-why-we-need-to-immediately-stop-doing-church-as-usual-2
One of the goals of the NAR is to literally change the way the bible outlines church to be. They will say that people are bored of such church. They will say that people are clamoring for a new thing. Their thing. That they want power and majesty. They want some elusive sense of revival. That they want a free flow of the Holy Spirit. While this all sounds pious the truth is that they abhor church as usual because it still relies upon the bible as the final arbiter of truth. The NAR relies upon experiential Christianity which elevates our personal experience to an equal or surpassing level of scripture.
Do not be deceived! This is the end times plan for Satan. To grow the apostate church while compromising the true followers of Jesus Christ. It is this apostate church that relentlessly pursues this dominionist revival. It is this apostate church that is constantly attacking those who rely on scripture and insist on doing church as such. It is this apostate church that will lead the world into the end times one world religion. How else can people buy their latest books? With this as our backdrop, let us reason together once more through the above linked article from NAR preacher, John Burton, who will again make the argument that we need to stop doing church as usual and stop doing it now.
'"I just can't sit through one more church service!" This is the cry of our current remnant generation. Pastors, are you listening? My wife and I were so excited to reconnect with a couple of friends yesterday. This couple has been invested in the prophetic and in the local church as powerful regional leaders for years. We spent the evening talking about the state of the church, and how the new wine simply must come, yet the church is far from ready. One of them simply stated, "I just can't sit through one more church service!" Such a simple statement, yet it resonated powerfully in my spirit. I can't either. This afternoon I talked on the phone with another regional leader, a pastor who is more done with church as usual than any I've ever met. He's longing for God to identify like-minded pastors and leaders who are absolutely desperate for reformation and revolution in the church. He's crying out for revival and he is discovering it's challenging to find remnant leadership--fiery, broken and hungry pastors who no longer care about growing their church, adding programs, gaining notoriety, raising funds or seeking after "success." His passion is to connect with others who are done and undone and longing for a pure, holy move of God.' -- John Burton
Yeah that feeling you are having in church that makes you feel like you can't stand to sit through another service? That's called conviction. The church does not need reformation or revolution. It just needs the Gospel. Apostate pastors crying out for more apostasy is unimpressive. Make no mistake. What Burton is advocating for here is to have churches become like Bethel in Redding California. To have lunacy rule the house of God and call it a move of the spirit. While we are at it; stop with the new wine references! This comes from the teachings of Christ highlighted in the key verse above. This is about a contrast between salvation by grace, the new wine, and works, the old wine. You cannot mix the two! That is the point! It is a pretty important part of the Gospel and Burton and his Charismaniacal compatriots miss the point in pursuit of their butchering of what church services are supposed to be. They want people shouting in unintelligible gibberish. They want random people pretending they can prophesy. They want people rolling on the floor and barking like dogs. God does not want any of that but Burton is all in.
People Are Leaving The Church in Droves. Research by Ryan Burge, an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, reveals: In the early 1970s, about 38% of Americans attended church nearly every week or more. A third rarely or never attended church, while the rest attended once in a while. That all changed in the early 1990s, when the rarely/never attending category began a slow and unmistakable climb. Today nearly half of all Americans attend church once a year or less, and only about a quarter attend on a regular basis. A similar number attend once in a while. I believe the bottom line is that a growing number of people see little purpose for the church. To them, the value of participating is greatly diminished. Why even go? The last thing we need is a natural, logical solution to this problem. I believe it's critical that we function as the church, and gathering together as the ekklesia is commanded in Scripture. However, more programs, minor tweaks, practical adjustments or gimmicky ideas is not what is needed. And let us consider how to spur one another to love and to good works. Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but let us exhort one another, especially as you see the Day approaching (Heb. 10:24-25). We need a full deconstruction of today's model. Full-blown reform is required. Today's powerless, predictable, boring church service simply must go.
What exceptionally carnal thinking. People see little purpose for church so you think the solution is to provide them a purpose? How in the world is that remotely biblical? Now Burton is right that we do not need a logical solution but rather a supernatural one. The answer is not in misunderstanding what the word ekklesia means. The answer is always the preached Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is how we grow as Christians into the fullness of the measure of Christ. That is also how the unsaved are drawn by the Holy Spirit. The Gospel is the only thing with the power of God unto the salvation of man. It will lead us into greater love and works as a result of being saved. Burton and the NAR always preach this backwards. There is no "spurring on" the unsaved to true biblical love and greater works. The things of God are still foolishness to them. It is staggering to see a supposed pastor quote the biblical truth about not forsaking the fellowship and in the same breath call for blowing it up. Is Burton suggesting that the way Paul outlined church in the New Testament was wrong? Is he suggesting that for millennia, everyone has done church wrong until John Burton came along? Or is he selling the typical NAR purpose driven nonsense that THIS generation cannot be reached merely with Christ's Gospel but that we must design a marketing plan around it? Whatever the rationale, Burton is simply wrong. If the Gospel is preached it can never be "boring" to the saved because it nourishes their soul and spirit. If the saved are listening to what sayeth the pastor regarding some carnal unmet needs that have nothing to do with the cross, well no wonder they are bored!
