IN SEARCH OF A NEW WINE SKIN

A TESTIMONIAL BY DAN HUBBELL           

I am so grateful to the Lord for my Christian heritage.  It was my privilege to have been born into a home where my family was deeply rooted in the Christian faith.   My father died when I was only five.  Not having an earthly father to whom I could relate, I became as it were a “Samuel child”, for when I was very young, my mother dedicated me to the Lord. 

My mother and grandmother were to me much like Eunice and Lois were to Timothy.  My early life was a very childlike walk with the Lord.  I remember saying to the Heavenly Father similar words as Samuel, “Speak Lord, I’m listening”.

It was in Southern Baptist churches and institutions that I was saved and baptized at the age of nine, licensed to preach at sixteen, ordained at nineteen and trained for the Gospel ministry.  It was my joy to minister in Southern Baptist churches for over twenty five years.  My last pastorate was a wonderful ten year ministry, from 1969 to 1979, with the First Baptist Church of Winnsboro, Texas.  In fact, our family still makes Winnsboro our home, which we have done now for more than thirty years.

I have nothing but love and gratitude for my Christian background and pastoral experiences.  In fact, I realize now more than ever, that all of my life’s experiences have contributed toward the preparation for my present ministry of “pouring new wine into new wine skins”.  My motivation for ministry is a deep love for Jesus and His Body, the Church!

My sincere desire throughout my pastoral experience was to allow God to work through me in bringing new life and renewal to the churches where I ministered.  I remember so clearly the glimpses that God would give to me over the years of the contrast between the New Testament Church and the churches I pastored.  This troubled and burdened me deeply.  I would often attempt to avoid thinking about this obvious contrast.  At times, I would rationalize it or make excuses for it but I could never really get it out of my mind.  I wanted so much for God to use me in making a “new church out of an old church”.  I alternated between doubling my efforts to bring renewal and resigning myself to giving up altogether.

I had heard all the sermons about what was wrong with the Church but no one gave any real solutions except to suggest more of the same, that is, another program. There seemed to be no alternative except to continue to do the best I could with what I had to work with, in spite of my frustration. After all, I kept trying to convince myself over and over again, what I had was better than anything else I knew about. 

As early as 1966, I had a special word from the Lord about the characteristics of the early New Testament Church.  It was just a brief skeleton outline of some of the early Church’s priorities.  He revealed such things as: The disciples’ focus on Jesus,  loving fellowship, breaking bread together, meeting from house to house, emphasis upon prayer, preaching on the cross and resurrection, teaching the Word, witnessing to the lost, discipling and equipping the saints, etc.

As a pastor, I tried over and over again to implement these things into the life of the traditional churches, but there always seemed to be a limit to how far I could take them before they refused to go any farther.  The futility of my renewal efforts led me to a “ministry crisis”! 

Some seem to be able to cope with the limitations of traditional church structures, but I had come to the place where I just could not do so anymore. This deep frustration came to a climax during the year of 1976.  I told my wife Laurel that I was going to spend the night in my study at the church office and seek the face of God.

I locked myself in my study that night to pray and fast before the Lord.  I was willing to stay as long as it took to receive some word from the Lord.  I desperately needed to hear from God!  I remember weeping bitterly before Him in deep humility and brokenness. 

It was about 2am when God broke the silence and began speaking powerfully in my spirit.  In essence He said, “Stop pouring new wine into an old wine skin!”  I really did not know at first what He meant.  Until He spoke those momentous words, I did not realize that this was what I had been doing in my ministry.

God revealed in my spirit that He had allowed me to spend the previous years of my pastorate doing everything that I knew to do to try to patch an old garment.  I had tried shrinking the new cloth before putting it on the old garment.  I had attempted to dye them both the same color.  I had tried weaving it together.  I had tried washing the new piece so that it would look old and thus fit into the old garment better.  To understand my frustration and to better identify with me, let me illustrate.  One time I encouraged the change of the order of worship by simply suggesting that the offering be received at the end of the service instead of before the special music.  Several weeks after this change was implemented, the ushers signed a petition stating, “Unless the offering time is placed back to when it used to be, we will all resign as ushers!”

Another example was when I trusted the Lord to lead our worship without a bulletin format.  The entire hour was often spent in just singing or testifying or praying.  Some would leave the service and tell me at the door, “We didn’t come to church to hear testimonies, singing and praying!  We came to hear preaching!”

Still another incident was when I kept the baptistery filled at all times so that we could immerse converts at the time of their commitment to Christ, night or day.  I was told, “This is not the way we do it here!”  I suggested that we call Sunday School, Bible study and was told, “That is not Southern Baptist!”  It was my desire to reach out through evangelism to all races and classes of people in the community.  When people of other races and economic status attended, I was told, “They are not our kind of people!”When we witnessed throughout the neighborhoods in town, several denominational ministers came in a delegation and told me, “You leave our families alone; your church is pressuring our people to “get saved”!  

When I encouraged the church to have more frequent observances of the Lord’s Supper, which I suggested should be held at least monthly, I was told, “This is not Baptistic!”

There were appearances of a repaired and useful garment and times in which God did bless in spite of my mending efforts.  I discovered, however, that in all honesty, I had spent most of my time fixing the rips and tears in the old garment.

God ministered to me that the same was true of my efforts of pouring ‘new wine into the old wine skins”.  I had tried soaking the old skin to soften it so that it would not crack and break with the new wine. 

I had attempted to dilute the wine so that it would not ferment so rapidly in the old skins.  I had tried mending the cracks.  I even poured water into the skins to make it useful while I desperately figured out what else I could do to make the skin contain the new wine!  I went through much inner turmoil during this period, as I seemed to make so little progress.

Please note, I share these stories not to disparage or make light of the traditional churches but rather to show the struggle that continually goes on within many churches today. 

I tried to teach the deacons about the New Testament concept of their ministry being one of service and the importance of a servant’s heart.  I was told, “We became deacons to run the business of the church not be servants!” 

I attempted to stress that everyone was to be a minister and use the gifts that God gave them to minister to others.  I was told, “You’re the minister and that’s what we pay you for!” 

In trying to stress the need for the plurality of leadership I tried to share responsibilities with the deacons and staff and was told, “You’re the leader.  Stop shirking your responsibility!”

In teaching on the fruit and gifts of the Spirit, I was confronted with, “That’s too Charismatic and besides, the gifts are no longer for today.”  When I encouraged prayer and anointing for the sick, I was reminded, “We don’t do that here!” When I would use such terms as, ‘God told me’ or ‘God led me’, I was reminded that “God doesn’t speak like that to people today!” 

Soon after I had resigned from the church, I received an “official” letter from the “deacon board” stating, “Since you don’t believe the same way we do, you need to take your membership elsewhere!”  This response hurt me deeply and yet I understood how they felt.  I wrote back stating, “It is not my desire to separate from any part of Christ’s Body.  If there is any separation, it will have to be on your part, not mine.”  God gave me the grace not to hold any ill feelings but rather pray for and love those who misunderstood my decision to follow the leading of the Lord in my life to “pour new wine into new wine skins”.

At times, it appeared that the old skins would hold the water or water-wine mixture.  However, when I poured the real New Wine into the old skin, it would always burst.  I again would find myself spending most of my time trying to catch the new wine as it leaked out of the skin to keep it from being completely wasted.

I finally realized that what Jesus said to me was literally true and that He meant exactly what He had said in Matthew 9:16-17, “No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.  Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.” 

I repeat this revelation, not redundantly but to emphasize the fact that God literally compelled me to come to grips with this spiritual truth once and for all: “YOU DO NOT POUR NEW WINE INTO OLD WINE SKINS AND YOU DO NOT PUT A NEW PIECE OF CLOTH UPON AN OLD GARMENT WITHOUT IT BREAKING AND TEARING!” Matthew 9:16-17

The Lord made clear to me that if we learned anything from church history, it should be the truth that we as Christians had spent most of our time mending our old garments and old wine skins.  All the while, we should have been pouring “new wine” into “new wine skins” and making new garments for the growing, expanding, maturing Church of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the history of the past 2,000 years.

We seem to make the same mistakes over and over again.  The traditional Church has often done just as the Nation of Israel by making their relationship with the Lord so set  in  tradition, that when God has desired to move and do a new thing among His people, they would not follow.  At times, He has led to discard the old garments and old wine skins and move to more flexible containers. 

As I began to reflect upon the various spiritual movements in the history of the Church, I was surprised to discover how true this fact really was.  Historically, the traditional Church was often the last to move with God, if it ever did so.  This truth saddens me greatly but more importantly, it grieves the heart of God!

The desire of God seems to have always been for His people to have a mobile relationship with Him, as illustrated by the Tabernacle in the wilderness.  When God moved in the “cloud by day or the fire by night”, His people would pull up their temporary stakes in the world and move with God wherever He directed.  The only way that we today can be such a pliable people is to pattern ourselves after the design of the New Testament Church. 

The early Church was truly such a flexible structure. The Church gathered from “house to house”.  No matter what happened in the world, such as when persecution came, they simply scattered to the next town, then to the next territory, and then on to the “uttermost part”.   When God moved, all the Church had to do was to move to the “house joined hard to the synagogue” and continue doing the new thing the Lord was saying at that time: “Go to the Gentiles!”

In that momentous night of crisis in my ministry, the Lord basically told me two of the things that He desired of His people today: “stop pouring new wine into old wine skins and to begin pouring new wine into new wine skins.” 

As this related to me in my personal ministry crisis, this meant I was to resign my pastorate of a traditional church and to begin pouring His “new wine”, which was His Life, into a “new wine skin” which was only described to me that night as a “church in the house”. 

This word from the Lord came to me in 1976 and He impressed upon me then that this new ministry in “house churches” was to begin three years later which was in 1979.  So I continued to pastor a traditional church for three more years, knowing all the time that I was to resign at the specific time the Lord told me.

Before the experience of that unforgettable night, I never had any intention of leaving the traditional pastorate.  In fact, it was the farthest thing from my mind.  I certainly did not then, nor do I now, want to be a part of the beginning of a “new denomination”, which would only be like patching the old garment or wine skin! 

Rather, what the Lord wanted was an entirely “new wine skin” into which He could pour the “new wine” of His Word.  This “new wine skin” was to be patterned after the New Testament Church, which was a simple “house to house” assembling of His Body under His Lordship, walking in obedience to His every Word.  He stressed the importance of this being accomplished only through a vital connection and relationship with the whole Body of Christ throughout the entire world.

Several weeks later, when I was simply sitting at that same office desk, God spoke again in my spirit and made known to me my personal sins of traditionalism and denominationalism! This experience led me to the literal and painful listing of my personal and pastoral leadership sins and the sins of the traditions of the Church. 

To me, this experience was like “judgment first beginning in the House of God”!  The Lord led me through His Word to reveal what He had to say about old wine skins and traditionalism.  During this momentous experience, He led me to some of the following insights.

In Matthew 9:16-17, the Lord was not condemning the Old Covenant, for “He did not come to destroy but to fulfill”. Rather He was condemning the traditions that had gathered on Judaism like barnacles on a ship.

In the same way Jesus is not condemning the New Covenant but rather the barnacles of traditionalism and denominationalism that have attached themselves to Christianity.  In this passage, Jesus is clearly saying that we are “not to put new cloth on an old garment nor new wine in an old wine skin”. 

If we insist on doing so, we will tear both the garments and the wine skins.  Thus, the new cloth and new wine would be unnecessarily ruined.  By putting new cloth on new garments and new wine in new wineskins, both can be preserved.

In Matthew 15:2-9, Jesus said, “Why do you transgress the command of God by your tradition?  You have made the command of God of none effect by your traditions.  In vain they do worship me teaching for doctrine the commandments of men.” 

Also, in Mark 7:3-9, Jesus said, “Laying aside the commandments of God, you hold the traditions of men…full well rejecting the commandment of God, that you may keep your own traditions.” 

Again in Mark 2:21-22, we are told not to “sew a piece of new cloth on an old garment.  The new piece takes away from the old and the rent is made worse.” 

In Luke 5:36-39, Jesus states again, “You do not put a new piece of cloth on an old garment for then both are rent.  Put new wine into new wine skins and both are preserved.  THOSE WHO ARE SATISFIED WITH THE OLD WILL NOT DESIRE NEW WINE, ‘THE OLD IS BETTER’, THEY WILL SAY!”

This last statement of our Lord pricked my conscience painfully and brought about a profound sense of guilt and awareness of this sin in my life from which I needed to repent.

In Colossians 2:8, the Scripture states, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ.”  And, in Ephesians 5:6, “Let no man deceive you.”

Finally, in I Corinthians 11:23, 15:3 and II Thessalonians 3:6, it is important to note that  traditions are not wrong as long as they are received from the Lord as delivered to us  through His Word.

After the Lord ministered to me in the Scripture the above truths, He literally forced me to put down on paper the following specific sins of traditionalism and denominationalism in my personal and pastoral ministry.   It was one of the most painful and humbling experiences of my entire Christian life. 

Now I simply open my heart to you and share the intimacy of that moment of truth in my life:

 …You have grossly neglected purity and holiness!

  With your emphasis upon salvation (regeneration) and heaven (glorification), you have neglected the truth of sanctification

.…Water baptism has been delayed unnecessarily with the excuse of convenience

.…The Spirit baptism has not been taught nor appropriated.

…There has been a failure to teach and practice the continued filling of the Spirit.

…Too little emphasis has been given to brokenness; humility; having a servant’s heart;  repentance and confession; and thus leading to the sin of pride.

…You have failed to wash one another’s feet which was so graphically and humbly illustrated by our Lord.

…You have substituted magazines, books, tapes, quarterlies, etc., for the Bible!  The Bible in practicality has become a word rather than THE Word of God to be obeyed.  

…You have been treating the Bible like a cafeteria, picking and choosing what you like and do not like.

…You are to stop doing so much “talking about the Word” and begin to “act in faith on the Word”.  Practice it and not just preach it.

…The Lord’s Supper has been neglected in worship and relegated to a quarterly observance instead of being a vital part of each regular gathering of the assembly of believers.

…Little or no emphasis has been given to spiritual warfare, putting on the whole armor of God or knowing the enemy.

…There has been a neglect of intercessory prayer and praying in the Spirit.

…Worship has become a form with little or no power, joy or praise.  It is man-planned rather than Spirit led.

…You sing about the Lord but not to the Lord. 

…Worship is performance and spectator oriented.

…Witnessing has become, at best, a program rather than a life style of “witnessing unto Jesus as you go”.

…You have failed to differentiate between body, soul and spirit, thus you are not able to cooperate with God with a life of “yieldedness” in being conformed to the image of His dear Son.

…Your Biblical priorities have been out of order and out of balance.

…Family relations have been sorely neglected.  You have allowed the programs and activities of the church to literally destroy your homes.

…You have relegated the spiritual instruction of your children to Sunday Schools or Christian schools rather than to the parents.

…You have lost sight of the Biblical patterns of joyful giving and substituted legalism instead, by the election of treasurers rather than laying gifts at the feet of apostles and elders to meet needs as they arise.

…Materialism has become your god: buildings, property, fixtures, furnishings, etc.  You have spent lavishly upon yourselves while the world dies of physical and spiritual starvation.

…You have allowed your churches and families to pattern your finances after man’s business procedures rather than God’s Biblical patterns such as “owe no man anything but love”.

…You have failed to disciple new believers.  You baptize them and often

forget them.  They have to do the best they can on their own.

…You have failed to train every believer in the basics of “proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom; casting out demons; healing the sick; ministering in the Word so that God can confirm with wonders, signs and miracles”.

…You have neglected to teach your people the authority that God has entrusted to you in Jesus’ mighty Name.

…You have operated your churches by human talents of the people rather than by equipping all believers to minister in the supernatural gifts of the Spirit.

…You have depended upon human organizations and committees rather than upon every believer discovering, being equipped and ministering their spiritual gifts in the power of the Holy Spirit.

…You have substituted buildings for the Body concept of the Church. 

…The Church has become a place, location, building, sanctuary or temple rather than being a people in whom Christ dwells, called out to assemble from house to house, as a spiritual family, which is His living Body.

…You have tenaciously hung on to the Old Testament

temple system (buildings) even though you take pride in thinking that you have loosened yourselves from the law, the sacrificial system and the priestly patterns.

…You have allowed your limited human resources, including your finances, to be substitutes for God’s unlimited resources. 

…You have neglected your total dependence upon the Lord for everything, by not walking daily in faith and by not feasting on daily bread, like the manna of old.

…Democracy, or the rule of the people, has taken the place of

Christocracy, which is the rule of Christ.

…You have organized your churches into officers and committees instead of equipping saints to do the work of the ministry.

…You have encouraged spectators rather than participators in the life of the Church by “hiring” it done; letting the choir or praise team do the singing; or the preacher do the witnessing.

…Deacons have too often become church bosses and business heads rather than Biblical servants of the Church.

…The pastoral role has been reduced to the single “lone ranger” style ministry rather than Biblical plurality. 

…The pastor is expected to do the work of all the saints and to possess all the leadership gifts of the Spirit in pampering the desires of the people!  …The pastor seems only to have the choice of becoming a slave to every whim of the congregation or being a dictator-ruler, lording it over the people.

…You have mistakenly looked upon the Church of a city as churches plural, divided into denominations, division, splits, etc., rather than upon the Church singular in the city as one Body even though the believers may assemble in different locations.

…Denominationalism has contributed to the fragmentation and schism of the Body of Christ.  God does not see His Body as denominations but rather as a whole Body.

…You have become program oriented rather than people centered in your ministries.

…Your involvement in activities has wrongly been substituted for and equated with spirituality.

…Politics, back-scratching, going places, climbing the ladder, are all common place within the local churches and denominations.

…Your emphasis has deteriorated to “come and hear” rather than “as you go, witness unto Jesus”.

…You invite people to your classes, programs, to hear your choirs or preachers, rather than to Jesus.

…Your churches have become human organizations rather than Divine organisms.

…You have allowed your church rolls to be made up of the lost, carnal and spiritual alike, under the mistaken guise, of “letting the tares grow together with the wheat”, and failing to realize that the “field” is the world, not the Church.

…You have failed to minister church discipline.  You do not have purity and holiness because you are afraid of hurting peoples’ feelings or running folks off.

…You have emphasized the priesthood of believers to the neglect of the submission to authority.  You have created a people of independent and often rebellious spirits.  Biblical submission has been sadly neglected.

…Fellowship has often deteriorated to cookies and punch rather than sharing in common the Lord Jesus.

…You have too long rallied around the wrong things like buildings, programs, pastors, etc.

…You have based your fellowship around everything, except what the Scriptures plainly state in I John 4:15: “Hereby know you the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God; and whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God.”

…You have come to equate success with large numbers and budgets, neither of which have any basis in Scripture as evidence of spiritual significance in God’s eyes.

…You have made “reaching the lost” as the major purpose of the gathering of the Church in public assembly, when in fact, the early Church had a balance of worship, discipleship, equipping and witnessing. 

…Witnessing in the early Church took place, not so much in the assembly, but rather as they went everywhere “witnessing unto Jesus”.

…Today, there is commitment to the church, pastor, program or organization rather than to Jesus as Lord.

…You do not have a reverential fear of a Holy God, but rather a terrifying fear of what men think of you or say about you.

…You as a pastor are often enslaved by the pressures and fears you feel from fellow Christians at all levels of the church and denominational  life as to how you act, minister, respond, whether or not you get another church, etc., rather than being totally responsive to the leadership of His Holy Spirit.

…About the only boldness you express today in the churches is when you do not get your own selfish way rather than demonstrating a holy boldness in ministry and witnessing, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

…You are guilty of showing respect of persons who are not of your own color, race, status; and show preference toward the rich, influential and powerful.

…Today, even the world senses the urgency of the times while most of the churches do not have the slightest inclination about what God is doing prophetically.

…The world is making human preparations for what they perceive as an uncertain future while the Church, whose future is certain, is constructing buildings as monuments to herself.

…Your relationships with your own spiritual brothers and sisters are shallow and superficial, with little or no Biblical relationships expressed, such as loving one another, forgiving, bearing burdens, praying for one another, confessing faults, etc.

…Churches get pastors from other churches rather than allowing God to raise up leaders from within the local church fellowship.

…You have not only neglected the plurality of elders today but you do not think that a church can be organized without a pastor when in fact the churches of the New Testament did not always ordain their pastors with elders/bishops used interchangeably, until the apostles’ return visits.

…Even the apostles were not always present when some of the churches were begun, such as in Rome, but later came on the scene to confirm what the Holy Spirit had already established.

…Your church organizational age grouping is based on the worldly standard of separating and segregating various ages within the church rather than the Biblical, family oriented ministry which leads to greater spiritual maturity.

…The young people in your churches were meant to learn primarily from their parents and not their peers. 

…Social contact and interaction have too often been your primary objectives for separating age groups.

…You have often made a “sacred calf” out of many of your organizations, i.e., your Sunday Schools are only about 200 years old and the Church functioned for nearly 1800 years with out it.

…Programs i.e. the Cooperative Program have often been made the major point of fellowship rather than Jesus.

…Missionary boards have replaced the apostolic Church planting, foundation building and equipping accomplished by Spirit-gifted apostles, prophets, evangelists, and the continuing development, equipping and oversight of local assemblies to be accomplished by the pastor/teachers (elders and bishops).

…Seminary training has been substituted for allowing the Holy Spirit to raise the gifted leaders of apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor/teachers, (elders and bishops) from each local assembly who in turn equips all the other saints in each assembly for the work of the ministry.

After the Lord completed ministering these words of judgment to me, I was completely broken before Him!  I wept bitterly for my sins and sins of the Church!

Over the final three years of that pastorate, from 1976 to 1979, the Lord continued to prepare me for the new ministry of “pouring new wine into new wine skins” by bringing great brokenness into my life. 

Many humbling experiences occurred in my ministry that were necessary to develop a servant’s heart in me.  I refer to these periods in my life as my “Arabia” experiences which were those times of being alone with God; being completely open to Him in all that He desired to teach me; and being absolutely obedient to His will.  During these times of brokenness, the Lord ministered to me such great truths as: Godly contentment; changes in my priorities; a willingness to give up position, traditional ministry, salary, financial security, friends, pastor and denominational associates, etc. 

Many examples could be given at this time which describe these “Arabia” experiences, but I will share only enough to illustrate what was going on in my life during this crucial time. 

The spiritual battles and struggles were so difficult that it is really hard to put into words!

First, there was the effect upon my physical well being.  The prior knowledge that I had of my resignation being three years in the future, brought great stress upon my mind and body.  I began to have physical symptoms which caused illnesses, serious enough to incapacitate me at home and also for me to be hospitalized.

Also, the mental anguish was frightening!  I began to think about the uncertainties of my future after I was to resign from the “security” of the traditional ministry.   Such things as, what would people think about me?  How would my friends react?  What would happened to my retirement funds in the Annuity Program?  How would I make a living to provide for my family?  How would fellow pastors and denominational leaders react? 

God also continued to work on my priorities.  I did not realize it at the time, but I had put the church responsibilities above the Lord and even above my family.  I had to confess this to the Lord and my family.  In the area of contentment, the Lord made me realize how unimportant “things” were.  Such things as future promotions, bigger churches, climbing the ladder of success, larger salaries with better benefits; all raced constantly through my mind! 

Perhaps the most challenging thing of all was the “balancing act” I felt that I was forced to do in continuing to pastor a traditional church, knowing the exact date I was to resign and begin an entirely new and different type of ministry of “pouring new wine in to new wine skins”.  This all forced me to totally depend upon the Lord constantly for guidance and leadership, which of course was exactly what He intended to teach me.

During this same time, other unusual things began to happen.  For example, there was a cardboard box from a shipment of books that had been left in my office.  I had told the custodian to throw the box away and (then to his dismay) when he came to discard it, I had to tell him that I had changed my mind and wanted it left in my office.  I had no idea how to explain to him my change of mind, so I did not even attempt to do so.  For you see, the Lord had begun to direct me to put certain things into that box which would pertain to my future ministry of “pouring new wine into new wineskins”.

Over the period of the three years that followed, that box was soon filled with various teachings on the New Testament Church.  I have since filed those same teachings into a large carrying case which I have carried with me literally around the world as I have shared the vision that the Lord gave to me.

Another illustration of my frustration and inner turmoil during this time was contacts from several pulpit committees and denominational leaders trying to get me to accept new pulpits and denominational positions.  Some of the churches were very large and prestigious.  One of the greatest “temptations”, however, was a position offered by the Texas Baptist General Convention to give leadership throughout the state in key Evangelism Programs. 

I began to rationalize how I could be of greater ministry Throughout the nation.  I thought of how I could influence the denomination to have a greater openness to the Spirit’s leading.  I thought all of this in lieu of entering this “strange” new ministry of “pouring new wine into new wine skins”!  It was as if the Lord were allowing me to be tested to see if I were really committed to do His perfect will in my life.

When it finally came time for me to resign the church in 1979, I prepared a lengthy resignation letter, trying to somehow explain my reason for leaving the traditional ministry and the details of my future ministry.  But the Lord would not allow me to give any explanation.   Instead He told me, "I would rather the church be united against you than be divided over you”!  That was a very heavy burden to carry at that time, and I had to give it to the Lord before it overwhelmed me.

The incidents which followed were also difficult.  Just a few days after I had resigned from the pastorate, I was going to eat at a local restaurant.  When I entered, I saw several former church members standing in line to eat.  As I had done many times before, I asked if I could join them for lunch.  They ignored me at first and then told me very bluntly that there was no room at their table for me. 

I was devastated because I knew that they did not want to have anything to do with me anymore since I was no longer their pastor.   Most of all, it was because they did not understand what God was calling me to do.  I know they felt rejected by me since I was leaving them without adequate human explanation.  

I sat alone at my table feeling sorry for myself.  In my heart, I was crying out to God, “It is just You and me, Lord.  You are all I have left.”  In a loving way and yet in a very stern tone, the Lord answered me, “Son, who else do you need?”

I then went from a dejected feeling to an uncontrollable giggle, realizing what I already knew in my heart: the faithfulness and sufficiency of the Lord!  These words from the Lord have sustained me throughout the uncharted paths which I have traveled in the “house church” ministry.

Sometimes my wife, Laurel, would see church members in the stores in our little town.  She would greet them as she always had and they would turn and walk away without acknowledging her.  I also would see friends downtown and they would refuse to speak to me.  It was as if they did not even know us.       

I had a very close minister friend, on whose board of directors I had been asked to serve, tell me that he did not want me as one of his directors because it would look bad for his denominational reputation.

One of the saddest things to me in all these events was that the church from which I

 had resigned felt so threatened by my leaving that they hurriedly secured another

 pastor so that I would not be able to “take members away from the church” to be a part of my “strange new ministry”.  This, of course, was the last thing that I wanted to do, but they had no way of knowing that at the time.

I had purposely not told them about my future plans because the Lord instructed me that He did not want the people to follow me just out of loyalty.  God emphatically impressed upon me that He would supernaturally lead whom He chose to be a part of the journey of “pouring new wine into new

wine skins”.

The new pastor, who was hurriedly called by the church after my resignation, felt so threatened by my ministry that he did everything he could to intimidate me.  I was accused of everything from thinking I was “Noah”, to my beginning a “cult”.  If it had not been so sad, it would have been humorous.

Through all these experiences of “persecution”, the Lord gave Laurel and me grace and peace, and for this we give Him all the glory.  God’s strength was so reassuring that it enabled us to continue to love the pastor and church in spite of some of their negative reactions.

Incidentally, the fall of 1979 was the same time that the Jim Jones’ mass suicide occurred, which really added to the difficulty of my beginning this “strange” ministry and also to the potential misunderstanding by the public in general.  This was another real test of my determination to obey the Lord, no matter the cost.

In all this mistrust and suspicion, one of the greatest spiritual lessons we learned was to be able to respond in a godly way “by praying for, loving, saying good and doing good” to those who were abusing and mistreating us. 

God was faithful to honor His Word.  Over the years since these challenging events occurred, the personal and corporate relationships have come full circle.  The people, who once misunderstood or mistrusted us, now reach out to us for prayer, counsel, friendship and fellowship.

As we continued this walk of faith, the Lord also ministered in my spirit the importance of the balance of His Word.  He revealed that for every Scriptural truth there is a perfectly balanced Biblical teaching.  Truth is to be taught only in balance, completeness and wholeness.

The Lord also ministered to me that I had to be willing to lay aside ALL traditions that were contrary to His Word.  This included both those traditions that were not expressly taught or illustrated in the Scripture or were not within the spiritual context and clear principles of the His Word.  I was strongly commanded to check out all traditions in the light of Scripture by fasting, praying and waiting for confirmation by the Holy Spirit.

Back in 1976, when the Lord began adding flesh to the skeletal  revelations of the New Testament “house church”, He forbade me to read any books or magazines, listen to any tapes or watch any videos or TV about the Church or its teachings.

I later realized that this was absolutely essential so that the Holy Spirit could teach me solely through the Scriptures.  It seemed that the Holy Spirit jealously separated me from all others, their ministries and teachings.  At times, I felt so isolated!  I was not released from this restriction until many years later.  Now, as I read or hear teachings, it is a definite confirmation of what God has taught me by His Spirit through the Word!  Now, I do not have doubts about where I have received the insights or revelations.

During the subsequent years, from 1976 to the present, the Lord continued to give me detailed insights of the “new wine and new wine skins”!  It seemed somewhat similar to the way God must have revealed to King David the absolute necessity of doing things His way in carrying the Ark back from aptivity.  The Lord impressed upon me the absolute necessity of the explicit structure and exact design of the New Testament Church, including the “new wine skin” and the “new wine”.

These detailed revelations have made me feel so unworthy of His trust in giving these truths to me.  I continue to feel such an awesome stewardship responsibility before the Lord.

From 1979 until 1987, the Lord put me through what I refer to as a “crash training course”, which can best be described as a “spiritual boot camp” experience!  It was a time of intensive training, painful learning and difficult testing to accurately apply the many new Scriptural lessons and truths that the Lord had given me through the years.  It seemed as if everything that we had learned and taught in the Scripture was immediately tested in the life of the “house church” ministry.  We lived out these experiences with various churches the Lord raised up at that time in the East Texas area, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Central and South Texas and the Republic of South Africa.

It is of importance to note here the fact that both positive and negative things were experienced during this time of “crash leadership training”; however, all of these experiences were absolutely necessary, in order for me to be equipped and trained for the leadership role the Lord had ordained for me according to His timing in the future.  

The Lord also taught me to “wait” upon Him.  It was a time of learning what I had come to realize to be one of life’s most difficult lessons…that is, being “still” and “waiting” upon the Lord.  For me, this was another challenging experience on my spiritual journey, but a most important one.

From 1987 to 1998, the Lord continued to teach me additional, important and necessary spiritual lessons, such as the necessity of absolute obedience to His will, regardless of the cost.  God also ministered to me the fact that “I was to trust Him and Him alone”.  He instructed me to lay down “my” ministry; and to learn from Him to have a servant’s heart by literally “taking the towel” and becoming a servant to others.  It was during this critical time in my spiritual journey that the Lord specifically told me to “serve” the city of Winnsboro and surrounding area in a variety of different ways.

First, since the Lord had impressed upon me the necessity of having a servant’s heart, and that I was to literally “take a towel” and serve and wait on people, Laurel and I began operating a bed and breakfast accommodation in Winnsboro, known as Thee Hubbell House.  We made beds, cleaned rooms, cooked, waited on tables and “served” approximately 3,000 guests a year.  These guests came from all over the world to spend the night with us.  The “mission field” literally came to us!  In addition to serving these guests at Thee Hubbell House, we also had the privilege of ministering to them.  We prayed for, counseled with and witnessed to scores of people.

During this time, the Lord also led me to serve as the mayor of the city of Winnsboro.  The “City Fathers” approached me to run for this position during the time of a near collapse of our local economy.  This was during the gas and oil crisis of 1987-1988.  When they first approached me, I could not give them an immediate answer because I really had no interest in any political office.  They told me that they were not interested in a politician, but rather they wanted someone who could “hold the town together” during the economic crisis of our city.  I asked the city delegation to give me time to pray about their request.  

When I laid this before the Lord, to my surprise He gave me the freedom to accept their invitation by revealing to me the examples in Scripture where spiritual leaders also served in government positions as they were specifically directed by the Lord.  I also served briefly as the municipal judge of Winnsboro. 

This position came about when the presiding judge died suddenly of a heart attack.  It was by the appointment of the Winnsboro City Council that I served in this capacity.  It was quite a unique experience, sitting in judgment over citizens, especially those whom I had pastored years before.

Then I was asked by the Winnsboro Chamber of Commerce to work on a temporary, volunteer basis to help them out of a financial crisis.  That “temporary” position turned out to be a ten year term of serving in many civic positions, too numerable to list here, and from which I resigned in October of 1998. 

It was during this time period that the Lord directed me to minister to the whole Body of Christ in the city of Winnsboro.  He gave me opportunities of preaching in churches of many denominations, including Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Assembly of God, Charismatic, Independent and African American congregations.  At one time for nearly two years, I was the interim minister of both a Southern Baptist church and a Disciples of Christ church at the same time!  One met on Sundays at 9:30am and the other at 11:00 am. I continued walking in this unusual ministry to Christ’s Body and through the “inexperienced and untested waters” of civic “servant hood” to the people of Winnsboro until 1998.

Finally, the Lord broke the “waiting”, “serving” and seemingly silent period of my spiritual sojourn by several incidents which occurred during that same time frame of 1987 to 1998.    

One such incident was in 1995, when He ministered in my spirit the impression to place my large carrying case by my bedside.  This case had been stored in a closet during the time that I had been “waiting”, often impatiently, for further instructions from God.  It was the brief case where I had previously filed all of the house church teachings that He had given me over the previous years.

The next clear word which came from the Lord was in 1997, when He had me to go through this same carrying case and remove everything in it that was not given directly from Him to me.  At the time, I did not really know what He meant.  But, obediently, yet with reluctance, I opened the case and began to go carefully through each teaching notebook, page by page. I found several teachings inserted in various places in the note books that the Lord had not directly given to me.  Those teachings were excerpts from other people’s Biblical research. 

At first, I rationalized that the persons who had shared these studies with me were good and sincere people.  But it was to no avail.  God demanded that I literally tear them out.  After that, I even attempted to put them in another place for future reference.  The Lord would not allow it.  He clearly instructed me to throw them away!  This certainly was not what God would have one to do in every case, but I felt that in this instance the Lord wanted to protect the purity of the message He had revealed to me.

As I have testified in previous examples in this book, during my “younger years” in the ministry, the Lord gave me several visions and revelations concerning the New Testament Church. 

This seems to be fitting with the Scripture in that it says, “In the last days, young men shall see visions”.  And, now as I am “growing older”, I seem to be having dreams, which again is in keeping with the foretelling of Scripture, that “old men will dream dreams”. This present testimonial is not the forum to share all the dreams that I have had from the Lord; therefore, I will only relate a few occurrences.  In one significant dream, which occurred in 1997, I saw a person, whom I recognized and yet had not personally met.  He delivered a message to me as from the Lord that “God had a special anointing upon my life and ministry for these last days”! 

Another memorable dream was in 1997, where I saw great devastation.  All around me was death, destruction and a wounded mass of humanity.  I did not know what caused the catastrophe, but it was horrible!  People were screaming and crying out in desperation for help.  As I found myself in the midst of this horror, I had such a feeling of helplessness and uselessness.  I noticed other people just standing there, doing nothing to meet the needs of the hurting multitudes.  I strongly felt the Holy Spirit urging me to do the most unusual thing and that was to begin singing a song, the words and melody of which I had never heard before.  It was a simple song and the words were, “I’m learning to serve.  I’m learning to serve.  I’m learning to serve according to God’s Word.  I’m learning to serve.  I’m learning to serve.  I’m learning to serve as God shows me.”

When I first began quietly singing this song, the Spirit instructed me to begin doing what I could to alleviate the suffering.  Then, as I began to serve and to sing the new melody, timidly at first, I kept thinking how hopeless and futile it was for me, as one person, to make any significant difference in this seemingly devastating situation.  But, as I became obedient to the Lord in serving and singing, the other people who had previously just been standing around, also joined in reaching out to the needs of the suffering and wounded. 

As they ministered, they joined me in singing the simple melody that the Lord had given me. The only difference was, they substituted the word “serve” in the song, with words describing what they were individually doing in their various ministries on behalf of the hurting and wounded, such as “heal, help, feed, clothe, teach, deliver, pray, sing, worship, praise, etc.”  Those individual voices soon became as an “angelic” choir resonating as one voice, united in a magnificent orchestration, lifting praise to the Lord Jesus Christ!

A third dream of importance occurred in 1998, where I saw the Lord examining my life by casting some kind of radiant light upon me which showed clearly everything in me that was displeasing to Him!  I then saw some kind of earthen vessel or jar that I reached into and began pulling out garments, which were dirty and tattered.  Those garments seemed to have represented various sins in my life.  As I removed them, they would disappear.  As I reached into the jar for what was to be one final time, I drew out a clean, white garment which the Lord told me to put on.  I somehow perceived that this garment was “His righteousness” with which I was to be clothed.  

As I put on the robe like apparel, I immediately fell to the ground and felt as if I had died.  Then, in my dream, I saw my wife, Laurel, standing by me and as I lay on the ground, she exclaimed something like, “What a wonderful way to die and to go be with the Lord!”  Then, in what seemed to be just a split second, to both our amazement, I stood to my feet!

The next thing I remember was that I entered, what can best be described, as a great crowd or convocation of believers.  As I came onto that scene in my dream, the people did not seem to see me, but rather the “righteousness of Christ” exemplified by the garment I was wearing.  It was not I whom they saw, but the person of Christ who had clothed me in His righteousness. 

Suddenly, one by one, their countenance and behavior began to change from solemnity, sadness and despair to jubilance, rejoicing and praise.  Some of the most solemn people even began to dance before the Lord!  Soon the entire convocation erupted into a triumphant chorus of singing, praise and worship of the Lord Jesus! 

I did not understand the significance of this particular dream until one day I was reading passages in Isaiah 61:10 and Zechariah 3:3-8 where similar incidents occurred and it was from these passages I gained a better grasp of its meaning.

The final dream that I will share at this time occurred on Christmas night 1998.  The Lord taught me a song in the night entitled, “O Bless the Name of Jesus!”  It was one of the most worshipful melodies I had ever heard.  The words were: “O bless the Name, the Name of Jesus! O bless the Name, the Name of Jesus.  O bless the Name. O bless the Name”.  When I awakened from sleep, I began singing the song to my wife, Laurel and we both sang and worshipped the Lord together in the bed.  What a wonderful Christmas present from our Lord!

It is important to note that as of early 1999, we had divested ourselves of the Bed and Breakfast “tent making” and home-based business in accordance to the Lord’s explicit directions.  We have been given renewed “marching orders” to continue ministering full-time to the Body of Christ around the world in preparation for things to come.

Now over thirty years have passed since the year 1966 in which God initially began preparing me for this “new wine and new wine skin” ministry by giving me a skeletal outline of the characteristics of the early New Testament Church.  It is from the depths of these years of experiences and background that I now share the following truths and insights that I continue to learn in my spiritual journey with Christ and His Church:

…Believers must learn to respond in a Biblical way to the persecution that is presently occurring and that will increasingly be experienced by the Church. (Luke 6:27-28)

…The Church meets from house to house. (Acts 2:1-2, 46; 5:42;8:3;12:12;16:40;17:5;18:7;20:20; Romans 16:3-5, 10, 23; I Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; II Timothy 1:16; 4:19; Philemon 2) Some meet in the same house on a regular basis. (Acts 2:46; Colossians 4:15); School in the house of Tyrannus in Ephesus. (Acts 19:9) Paul’s hired house in Rome. (Acts 28:30)

…The Church is not a building but rather an “ekklesia”, called out ones. (Colossians 1:18)

…The primary purposes of the Church are expressed in exalting Jesus, equipping the saints and witnessing unto the uttermost. (Acts 2:47; Ephesians 4:12; Acts 1:8)

…God is to do the adding to the church daily those who are being saved. (Acts 2:47) 

…The word for “church” in Scripture is always used in the singular tense in reference to a church that is located in a particular city.  The plural tense for the word “churches” is used only of larger geographical areas such as in reference to the whole area of Judea, etc. (Acts 11:22; Acts 9:31)

…Pastors, elders, bishops are names used interchangeably and they minister in local cities and assemblies primarily in plurality. (I Peter 5:1-3; Titus 1:5; I Peter 5:1-3)

…Local church leaders are raised up by the Holy Spirit from within local congregations.  Each congregation recognizes these gifted leaders and often confirms them by the laying on of hands. (Acts 14:23)

…Churches are established with as few as one family, being mindful of our Lord’s promise of “His presence in the midst of two or three or more gathered in His Name”. (Acts 16:14, 34; Matthew 18:20)

…The total number of those who gather in each house assembly is guided by the Holy Spirit.  He seems to limit the number to the extent that the believers maintain relational ministries and individual participation and He seems to guard against an assembly becoming so large that spectator relations begin to ensue. (Colossians 4:15; I Corinthians 14:26)

…The local church is primarily called or known by the most frequently used names in Scripture, such as the name of the city where that particular church is located, i.e. Church at Antioch. (Acts 13:l; Philemon 1:2)…Individual believers of the local assembly are referred to as “Christians”, (Acts 11:26) “Believers”, (Acts 5:14) Disciples; (Acts 1:15) and “Brothers”. (Acts 9:17)

…Deacons are to be considered servants of the Church and are chosen by the local church as the special need for service arises. (Acts 6:1-7; I Timothy 3:8-13)

…The local church structure and ministry is as a Body with Christ as the Head.  Every believer is a minister operating in his or her particular supernatural gifts of the Spirit for the glory of the Lord and the edification of the Body. (Ephesians 1:22-23)

…All disciples are encouraged to discover, stir up and minister their respective gifts.  All spiritual gifts of the Scripture should be recognized and ministered in the assembly. (II Timothy 1:6; Ephesians 4:8-12; Romans 12:8; I Corinthians 12:5, 28; I Corinthians 12:7-11)  …The fellowship of the Church is in Jesus.  He is the One in whom we have unity in relationship with the Body as a whole. (I John 1:3; I John 4:13)

…There are foundational truths upon which the Church is established, known in Scripture as the “apostle’s doctrine” which in essence was JESUS. (Ephesians 2:20-22; Hebrews 6:1-2)                                                    

…God sets in the Church such leadership gifted individuals as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor/teachers for equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry. (I Corinthians 12:28)

…Churches are primarily established through the foundational ministry of apostles, prophets and evangelists and the continuing on-going ministry of building upon that foundation through the giftings of the pastor/teachers; however, there are also Scriptural examples of scattered believers beginning new churches, such as in Rome before any apostles seemed to have arrived on the scene. (Acts 2:42; Acts 13:1-3; Acts 14:23; Acts 15:40-41; Titus 1:5)

…Churches are to be established according to Scriptural patterns and examples such as establishing the Church of a city where no Church exists.  In that case, a church is begun by witnessing to the unsaved and then those converts in turn become the nucleus of the newly established Church. (Acts 13:1-3; Acts 14:21)  In other instances, the founding congregation would primarily be made up of scattered disciples. (Acts 8:4; Acts 28:14-31; Romans 1:7)

…The Church of a particular city should relate to another Church in a different city or other geographical area in an inter-dependent relationship more than one of independence.  Churches are primarily related by their fellowship in Christ and by the traveling believers such as apostles, prophets and evangelists. (Acts8:4, 14; Acts 9:31; Acts 11:18, 21, 26-31; Acts 13:1-3; Acts 15:2f; Acts 20:4)

…New Testament Churches will have mutually understood and accepted Biblical similarities; and yet they will express differently their individuality and have their own unique characteristics.  In other words, the churches of the New Testament were not identical in all respects, i.e., the Jerusalem was not Antioch; Ephesus was not Corinth. (Acts 2:1-47; Acts 5:42; Acts 8:4, 11-13, 18-19)

…Meeting places, in the Church of a city, were either from house to house(Acts 20:20 )or hosted by one house on a regular basis( Romans 16:5; Philemon 1:2); Unique to the Church at Jerusalem were both “meeting from house to house” and “Solomon’s Porch” gatherings which were mostly spontaneous (Acts 2:46; Acts 5:42); The Church at Troas  met on a scheduled weekly basis(Acts 20:7); The Church at Antioch came together for a special occasion(Acts 14:27); The church gathered at the school in the house of Tyrannus in Ephesus (Acts 19:9) and Paul’s hired house in Rome. (Acts 28:30)

…The New Testament giving practices are best described as: “Giving as God prospers”(I Corinthians 16:2); “Giving faithfully”(I Corinthians 4:2); “Giving freely”(Matthew 10:8);  “Giving cheerfully”(II Corinthians 9:7); “Giving with simplicity”(Romans 12:8); “Giving  liberally”(I Corinthians 16:3); and “Giving according to ability”.(Acts 11:29)

…Money was often personally and collectively given by the disciples as specific needs occurred and laid at the apostles’ feet and entrusted also to elders! (Acts 4:35, 37; Acts 11:29-30)

…Money was often individually and corporately shared with teaching elders: with those who minister the Word (I Corinthians 9:14; I Timothy 5:17-18); with Apostles, prophets and evangelists (Philippians 4:16); Widows (Acts 6:1-7); with other saints (II Corinthians 9:1-13; Romans 15:25-27; I Corinthians 16:1-4); and with all who have need. (Acts 4:35;

II Corinthians 9:1-13) Contributions were given by the disciples to primarily meet the needs of people. (Acts 2:45)

…There should be a balanced emphasis between the priesthood of believers (I Peter 2:5, 9) and submission to Biblical authority.  Submission to the Lordship of Jesus (Ephesians 5:24); Mutual submission (I Peter 5:5); Congregational submission to church leadership (I Corinthians 16:15-16); Younger believers to mature believers (I Peter 5:5-6); Wives to husbands; (Ephesians 5:22); and Children to parents. (Colossians 3:20)

…Churches should be careful not to take for granted that everyone who assembles from “house to house” is scripturally saved, but rather each believer must individually come to the assurance in the Word that they have been “born again”. (John 3:3)

…A balanced emphasis should be placed upon the three tenses of salvation in witnessing unto Jesus: 1) Past (Ephesians 2:8-10) “have been saved” which is justification; 2) Present (I Corinthians 1:8) “being saved” which is sanctification; 3) Future (Romans 13:11) “will be saved” which is glorification.

…New converts are encouraged to be baptized in water immediately upon believing with their hearts and confessing with their mouths that Jesus is Lord. (Acts 2:41)

…These new believers are led to appropriate the Spirit baptism (Acts 19:1-7) and to continue to walk in the filling of the Spirit! (Ephesians 5:18)  A balanced teaching of the baptism of fire is also taught. (Matthew 3:11, 20:23, 26:36f; Acts 2:3; I Corinthians 3:13-14; Philippians 3:10; 1 Peter 1:7)

…All disciples are led in any needed deliverance, i.e. “tearing down of strongholds”, and then they are trained and equipped to minister deliverance to others. (Matthew 6:13; Mark 3:15; Luke 10:1, 17-19; Mark 16:17, 20)

…Believers are led to walk in daily repentance (Rev. 3:19; I Corinthians 11:31-32); confession (I John 1:7, 9); continued brokenness (Psalms 51:7); humility (James 4:6, 10); and a servant heart (Matthew 23:11); and thus be safeguarded from the sin of pride.  

…Periodic “washing of feet” should remind believers of their servant relationships. (John 13:4-17)

…Believers are instructed in the Word to prepare and engage themselves in spiritual warfare by putting on the whole armor of God daily. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

…Disciples are taught and encouraged to pray in the Spirit. (Ephesians 6:18) …Individuals and assemblies alike are taught and urged to fast. (Acts 13:2-3; Acts 14:23); I Corinthians 7:5)

…Worship is in Spirit and Truth; a balance of these two truths must be maintained (John 4:23).  Spiritual freedom should be within the orderliness of Scriptural guidelines.  Each worship experience should be unique and fresh.

… Worship should also be balanced as illustrated by Mary’s experience in worshipping by “clasping Jesus’ feet” and in service by “going to tell others” (John 20:17), which is an illustration of “reasonable service”. (Romans 12:1) Both of these actions are necessary for worship to be complete.

…The following expressions of worship may occur: “Praise” (Acts 2:47); “Giving” (Acts 2:45); “Water baptism” (Acts 2:47); “Lord’s Supper” (Acts 2:42; Acts 20:7); “Prayers” (Acts 2:42); “Preaching”. (Acts 4:31)

…Some other expressions may also include: “Prophecy” (I Corinthians 14:29-33); “Healing (James 5:14-15); “Fellowship” (Acts 2:42); “Teaching” (Acts 5:42); “Tongues” (I Corinthians 14:27-28); “Interpretation of tongues”

(I Corinthians 14:17-28); “Words of wisdom” (I Corinthians 12:8); “Words of knowledge” (I Corinthians 12:8); “Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs”. (Ephesians 5:19)

…Still other expressions may involve: “Lifting hands”(I Timothy 2:8); “Clapping hands”(Psalm 47:1); “Dancing” (Psalm 149:3; Psalm 150:4) “Shouting”(Psalm 47:1); “Being still”(Psalm 46:10); “ Covering”(I Corinthians 11:1-16); “Testimonies”. (Psalm 107:2)

…Still other examples of worship would be: “Giving of thanks” (Psalm 100:4); “Confession” (James 5:16); “Anointing with oil” (James 5:17-18); “Washing feet” (John 13:4-17); “Holy kiss” (Romans 16:16); “Embrace” (Acts

20:1, 37); “Spirit baptism” (Acts 19:1-70); and “Spirit filling”. (Ephesians 5:18)…Every believer should be equipped to witness unto Jesus “as they go” in their daily lives and through their relationships with people. (Ephesians 4:11-16)

…Churches are to be family centered.  Everyone is encouraged to minister to their families under the Lordship of Jesus!  The following order is encouraged: Jesus as Lord (Ephesians 4:1); Mates (Ephesians 5:25); Children (Ephesians 6:4); Parents (I Timothy 5:4, 8; Ephesians 6:2-3); Body of Christ (Ephesians 5:25); Ministry (Colossians 4:17); Vocation (Ephesians 4:28); and Recreation. (I Timothy 4:7-8)

…In worship, families are encouraged to sit together with no age separation.  Parents are responsible to discipline their own children. (Acts 16:15, 34; I Corinthians 11:23; Acts 2:1)

…Parents are encouraged to teach the Word to their children at home.  This may also include home school instruction but families should receive that direction from the Lord. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7); II timothy 3:14-17)

…Everyone is urged to get his financial house in order; get out of debt; and work toward the goal of “owing no man anything but love”. (Romans 18:8)  Godly contentment is absolutely necessary for this to be accomplished and financial priorities must be in order. (I Timothy 6:6)

…As a general practice, the elders, apostles, prophets, evangelists are not salaried but are encouraged to live by faith in looking to the Lord as their resource; however, the Scripture does allow for some church leaders to be financially supported such as those who teach the Word, traveling apostles, prophets and evangelists, all of whom are often supported by contributions laid at the feet of the apostles or entrusted to elders.  Other church leaders by their own choice are given the freedom to work as “tent makers”. (I Corinthians 9:14; I Timothy 5:17-18; Acts 4:34-35; Acts 5:2; Acts 11:30; Acts 20:33-35; I Corinthians 9:12-15)

…The Biblical safeguards in protecting the apostles or elders in receiving individual or congregational gifts are the plurality of leadership (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5); size of the house gatherings (Acts 2:46); and spiritual qualifications of church leadership. (I Timothy 3:1-7)

…Congregations are committed to meeting from “house to house” and not to the construction of buildings. (Acts 2:46-47) As the house church gatherings grow, new house assemblies should be established.

…For some special occasions when house assemblies of a given city come together, temporary accommodations may then be used in a similar way as when the Church in Jerusalem used Solomon’s Porch for spontaneous as well as called gatherings. (Acts 2:46; Acts 5:42; Acts 20:9)

…Training for apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor/teachers (elders, bishops) is primarily accomplished by their walking with a local body of believers who recognize and encourage their gifts and in prayer and fasting, “set them apart”.  

…The leaders of house churches are best trained by other spiritually gifted leaders in an apprenticeship type relationship, i.e., Paul and Timothy. (Ephesians 4:11-16; Acts 13:1-4; Acts 16:1f)

…Christ is the Head the of the Body. (Ephesians 1:22-23) 

…Fasting and prayer is encouraged in decision making and in coming to know His mind in all matters. (Acts 13:1-4)  A “one heart and mind” type confirmation among believers should be encouraged as a part of all decision making. (Philippians 2:5; Acts 2:46; Acts 15:22) 

…House churches should walk in the framework of a Christocracy, which is the rule of Christ rather than a democracy, which is the rule of the people. (Ephesians 5:23-32)

…There is an expectation and call for total life commitment to the Lordship of Jesus as the Head of the body, the Church. (Philippians 2:9-11)…Church discipline is encouraged according to the Scriptural pattern of (Matthew 18:15-17): Brother going alone to another brother; Two or three going to a brother; Presentation to the whole assembly; Having no fellowship with a rebellious brother for the  destruction of the flesh and the salvation of the soul. (I Corinthians 5:5)

…Caution should be given concerning the danger of a spirit of rebellion in “numbering” which can give rise to pride and strength in numbers. (I Chronicles 21:1-30)

 …Balance must be maintained between numerical growth and spiritual growth with an emphasis upon spiritual commitment and allowing “God to add to the Church such as are being saved”.  (Acts 2:47)

…Believers are reminded to have a reverence of God and His holiness and a fear of God’s wrath and chastisement, as particularly illustrated in the lives of Ananias and Sapphira. (Acts 5:1-11)

…Holy boldness is a vital part of the lives of the believers as they walk in the Lord’s righteousness and power! (Acts 4:3)

…The walk of the miraculous is experienced as the Word is ministered “with God confirming with signs and wonders”. (Mark 16:20)

…God gives a supernatural love for all people regardless of color, race, status and His Body is made up of all such people.  Everyone God adds to the Church is joyfully received. (John 13:34-35; Acts 2:47)

…God gives a sense of urgency to prepare spiritually, physically and materially for the prophetically challenging days ahead by His demand for a holy and godly lifestyle. (Revelation 22:20; II Peter 3:11)  A balanced attitude must be kept in this regard, such as is illustrated by the Scriptural examples of the following: 1) God warned Joseph to store provisions for Israel for the seven lean years which were to come. 2.) The same children of Israel were provided for by God feeding them miraculously with manna during their exodus.

…God is building a family relationship within the Body by developing, among the house churches, deep, rich and abiding relationships including the following ministries: Loving (Romans 13:8); Serving (Philippians 2:3-9); Praying (James 5:16); Forgiving (Ephesians 4:32); Bearing burdens (Galatians 6:2); Fellowship (Acts 2:42); Admonition (Colossians 3:16); Kindness  (Romans 12:10); Hospitality (I Peter 4:9); Edifying (Romans 14:19); Greeting (Romans 16:16); and Receiving. (Romans 15:7)

No claims in this testimonial are being made that those believers who choose to assemble from “house to house” are the only true Christians nor that the house churches have any monopoly on God, but rather that they are a part of the whole Body of which Christ is the Head.

However, God seems to have called some Christians out of the more traditional setting so that they might be a resource and an example to all of the Body in the areas He is now instructing and teaching the house churches.  This focus being primarily that of ministering in the area of the “new wine skin” of the Church and the “new wine” of the Word for these closing days of the ages.  

It cannot be stressed enough that a balance must always be maintained between the “new wine skin”, which is God’s design for the Church and the “new wine” who is JESUS, as expressed by His Headship and His Word!  JESUS must always be the preeminent focus of the Church, which is His Body.

It is imperative that I make this important point, and that is, one can meet in a house and it not be a “new wine skin”!  For if the same old traditions of the past are continued, meeting in a house will not make it a “new wine skin”.  For the “new wine” of His Word and Life must be poured into the “new wine skin”.

It is also very important that I stress my personal and firm conviction that the “house church” is the pattern to which I believe the Lord will ultimately lead His Body as the last days approach.  I believe that the pattern of the “house church” will be the best design to help bring about the fulfillment of Jesus’ commission in the closing days of the ages.

In closing, let me share some encouraging revelations that the Lord has given me concerning His Church today.  He showed me what appeared to be small pools of water scattered all over the earth which He said represented His remnant people.  At this time they seem to be scattered, separated and isolated.  But the time is soon coming when the “latter rains” will come flooding the earth. Then the scattered pools will spill over to connect to other pools and become a great and mighty sea.   This will be God’s mighty army, the Church of the last days!

From I Kings 6:7, the Lord revealed in my spirit that today in remote and isolated areas of the world, God is “hewning stones with hammer and axe”, carefully forming “lively stones” as recorded in I Peter 2:3-9.  In His time, these perfectly shaped stones will be quietly set into place while the “house is being built without the sound of any tool of iron” as He builds the remnant Church for the closing days of the ages.

The voices of the prophets can be heard today heralding the cry they hear Jesus proclaiming, “GIVE ME BACK MY CHURCH”.  The apostles are also announcing what they hear the Lord crying out today, “I WANT MY CHURCH IN ORDER”.

These are wonderful days to live and experience the mighty move of God among us.  As a fellow sojourner in Christ, who walks together with other brothers and sisters on this Christian pilgrimage, I have laid bare my heart and soul in this testimony.  Remember, this testimonial is a continuing one.  It is on-going.  We have not arrived!  We are still on a journey.  We will only be like Him, when we see Him as He is, in all of His glory!  We are a part of the whole Body that our Heavenly Father is preparing as His Bride for the coming of the Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ in the clouds of glory. (John 17:11; Revelation 1:7; Revelation 21:2)

I trust that our blessed Lord Jesus will minister in your spirit the words of this testimonial and that you will respond to it as the Holy Spirit directs.  Please follow the example of the Berean believers in Acts 17:11, “Search the Scriptures to see if these sayings are so”, and receive this testimonial only as the Holy Spirit confirms and ministers His Truth in your spirit.

Dan Hubbell, a servant of Jesus Christ

A sequel to “In Search of a New Wine Skin” is being written which will chronicle my experiences in ministering to house churches since 1979.  It will be recorded especially for those in ‘house church’ leadership roles for them to gain applicable knowledge of both the positive and negative aspects of walking out the ‘house church’ experience.