Church Planting during Global Political Change

Visibly shaken, Brett announced to the gathering, “The city council decreed today that churches are forbidden to meet outside of designated chapels, and they must first sign agreements not to comment on other faiths, nor to pray for sick children. Therefore, we have to comply or disband and drop our plans to start new churches.” The believers looked at each other in dismay. Some wept.

Fifteen current global trends require that we church planters make adjustments to our methods while redoubling our effort. Jesus not only warned of world-wide apostasy and persecution, he also predicted that the Good News about his coming Reign would reach all populations, during the same time, just before the end of this age and his return in power. The following 15 theses and recommendations are offered to stimulate discussion, prayer and fresh strategies.

1. Government surveillance and citizen lawlessness. Churches must remain small and mobile, in order to avoid false accusation, on one hand, and violent intrusion, on the other hand.

2. Globalist regulation, harassment and suppression. Churches must remain internally self-governing while creatively circumventing regulation that would limit their obedience to Christ.

3. Secret arrest and detention without legal recourse. Churches and their leaders must prove easily reproducible, so both may continually multiply even while authorities seek to eliminate both.

4. National indebtedness and monetary inflation. Churches must find ways and means by which to operate without budgets, employing methods and materials that require little or no financial support.

5. Collusion of big business with government. Churches must provide their members with alternative social and financial networks that share opportunities, knowledge and resources.

6. Highly regulated and restricted health care. Churches must teach and practice biblical principles of agriculture, nutrition, and sanitation, along with healing prayer, for better health and longevity.

7. Prevalence of weapons and threat of violence. Churches must learn to pray both for peace and safety and against lawless violence, while teaching prudence as peace-makers.

8. Erosion of civil rights and liberties. Churches must provide an alternative community of loving, mutual help and of intercessory prayer in behalf of those unjustly arrested, fined or imprisoned.

9. Transfer and centralization of wealth to international cartels. Churches must teach seekers and believers biblical principles economics and entrepreneurship along with marketable skills.

10. Attacks on veterans, the self-sufficient and libertarians. Churches must be planted within every social segment, without declaring for or against any particular economic or political ideology.

11. War and alliances against non-compliant regimes. In some places and circumstances, churches must learn to reproduce, even under threats of destruction.

12. Hazards to health from vaccines, medication and genetically-modified foods. Churches must teach and promote pro-life practices, sometimes including civil non-compliance, while offering eternal life.

13. Atheistic world-view ideology by decree. Churches must continually teach and defend a messianic, theistic world-view, along with frequent experience of answered prayer in Jesus’ name.

14. Governmental support of non-Christian, religious parliaments and courts. Churches must teach Scriptural wisdom and defense, depending on the Holy Spirit for timely contextual wisdom.

15. Rule by state and international, executive decree. Churches must keep on reproducing, training, worshiping and going on mission, even where forbidden to do so, praying for divine protection.

The current global scene also opens doors: social media lets good DNA spread as well as bad, even to “closed” though highly-receptive fields. We Kingdom workers must take advantage of this fact, to be true to our King’s mandate. See http://peopleofyes.com/moving-churches-underground.html/