FEBRUARY 11TH 2009

Prophetic Brief
Insight and Analysis for the 21st Century

Building a Powerful Church to Thrive in a Time of

THE WORD OF GOD,
BUILDING & CRISIS
Matthew 7:15-25
Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord,
did we not prophesy in your name, and in
your name drive out demons and perform
many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly,
'I never knew you. Away from me, you
lawless ones!' "Therefore everyone who
hears these words of mine and puts them
into practice is like a wise man who built his
house on the rock. The rain came down, the
streams rose, and the winds blew and beat
against that house; yet it did not fall,
because it had its foundation on the rock.
But everyone who hears these words of
mine and does not put them into practice is
like a foolish man who built his house on
sand. The rain came down, the streams rose,
and the winds blew and beat against that
house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Ezekiel 13: 1-2, 5, 10-12
The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of
man, prophesy against the prophets of
Israel… ‘You have not gone up to the
breaks in the wall to repair it for the house
of Israel so that it will stand firm in the
battle on the day of the LORD’…"'Because
they lead my people astray…when a flimsy
wall is built, they cover it with whitewash,
therefore tell those who cover it with
whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will
come in torrents, and I will send hailstones
hurtling down, and violent winds will burst
forth. When the wall collapses, will people
not ask you, "Where is the whitewash you
covered it with?”
Crisis – Part 1
The Insufficiency of a “Blessing Church”
The global Church in 2009 exists in a
different context than at any other time in
history. Externally, the nations of the earth
are beset by crisis, fear and
destabilization – a reality that will worsen
and intensify as we move towards God’s
ultimate point of culmination. Events of the
earth are assaulting the political,
economic and social structures with
perplexing problems and intense crisis. In
the midst of upheaval and uncertainty, our
lives must become more clear and
emphatic, and we must embrace our
responsibility to build a powerful Church
that will thrive in the midst of the
increasing pulsations of crisis that will
appear upon the earth. We must move
from an emphasis on blessing to a
building dimension.
When the Word of God refers to a building
dimension it does so in the context of
crisis and a destabilized world. It also
makes a direct comparison between those
who are fixated on inhabiting a world of
ministry blessing vs. those who are
committed to build that which meets the
requirements of the Lord. There are two
passages that speak directly to this issue
and both involve the inability of a blessing
oriented church system to sustain life
during crisis. The first is in Matthew 7 and
the second in Ezekiel 13, from which we
can glean three key principles.
Principles of Building for a Time of
Crisis
1.An incorrect “blessing emphasis”
seduces and deceives people.
Ezekiel declared that the lack of a correct
building dimension leads God’s people
astray, since they lack the discernment to
know the difference between a solid wall
and that which only looks good on the
outside. The deception is that ministry
activity is going on and the people
perceive it to be correct and acceptable:
the prophets were prophesying good
fortune for Israel in Ezekiel’s day, and the
“many” which stand before the Lord in
Matthew 7:21 produced acts of ministry
which looked exactly like the prescribed
activities. But this is ministry activity which
lacks strategic correctness, or which does
not take place within the nature and the
ways of the Lord Himself. Jesus declared
that He never “knew” these prophet’s, His
ways were not conceived within their
hearts through intimate relationship. As a
result, His nature wasn’t embedded within
their operations and their prolific ministry
activity did not build Christ in the people.
Lack of strategic building and over-
emphasis on blessing has produced a
church in which: a) the people have
frivolous spirits, their appetite is not for
anything substantial and they have not
been led into grappling with the profound
issues of their life; b) they have superficial
knowledge due to their demand for
blessings packaged in the form of
abbreviated and simplistic teachings that
do injustice to the complexity of the
Kingdom of God; c) they are not
challenged to broaden their understanding
of the changing world in which they live
and the role of the Church in the midst of
the global movements of God, and hence
are left with a certain nationalistic myopia
d) they have incorrect expectations of God
and His Kingdom, requiring immediate
answers and swift supernatural
intervention while largely rejecting
personal responsibility and neglecting
engagement in a valid personal process.
These are people who have experienced
a large quantity of ministry (did we not
prophesy in your name, and in your name
cast out devils?), but they have
experienced inadequate transformation
through the Word of God. A blessing
emphasis church is like the prophets of
Ezekiel’s day who refuse to repair the
breaks in the wall, and who are therefore
complicit in building a Church unprepared
for the assaults of darkness
2.Moving from a blessing emphasis
to a building emphasis places
supernatural occurrences in their
correct context.
We serve a God of the miraculous –
accurate prophetic declarations do come
forth and powerful healings occur, yet to
build requires more than an immediate
anointing or the authority of a supernatural
gifting. Jesus made that very clear when,
by declaring that we will know the true
from the false by their fruit and then
rejecting those with mighty miracles and
accurate prophetic words, he invalidated
the manifestation of spiritual power as
the standard by which we measure
correctness. The presence of miracles
cannot be the standard because there are
false signs and wonders, and even the

FEBRUARY 11TH 2009

Matt 7:21-23 "Not everyone who

says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter
the kingdom of heaven, but only he
who does the will of my Father who
is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me
on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not
prophesy in your name, and in your
name drive out demons and perform
many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell
them plainly, 'I never knew you.
Away from me, you evildoers!'(NIV)

immature can move in supernatural gifting
while never correctly discerning the
requirements for maturity. The body of
Christ has had an incorrect focus on
power primarily as the expression of
supernatural signs and wonders, but that
is being redefined and we are now
obtaining the power to build correct life
and execute the will of God even in the
midst of opposition.
We live in a time when countless
prophetic utterances promise imminent
revival and massive breakthrough, and
multiple prophetic gatherings declare the
next great move of God and the divine
intention towards specific nations.
However, entrance into the new thing
does not occur and nations are left largely
without divine impact. When prophetic
utterances are not translated into building
strategies, and when the resource which
is required to bring to pass that which has
been declared is unattainable, we have
entered into a lawless prophetic order.
The numerous revivals which have ended
with a whimper, or worse those which
have crashed to the ground with the
exposure of its leaders as lawless, gives
rampant testimony to the fact that once
the temporal blessing has faded from the
scene very little has been built. The body
of Christ must stop being enamored by
supernatural outpourings and become
committed to building that which weathers
the storms and which can withstand the
lashing of the winds of economic
downturn and the crashing waves of
international instability.
3.Crisis reveals the true church from
the false one.
Based on outward observation there is no
difference between the lawless and the
righteous—both are fulfilling the works of
ministry ordained by God. One is correct
and beneficial to perfecting the body of
Christ; the other is manifesting powerful When Jesus declared that we
supernatural activity but it has not
embraced the requirements to build and it
will know the true from the
is therefore rejected by God. Before the false by their fruit, and then
storm people were unable to tell one
house from the other although they were
He rejected those with
built on very different platforms. Likewise mighty miracles and accurate
the people of Ezekiel’s day were unable to
discern if the wall being built was solid
prophetic words , He
and substantial or filled with rot covered invalidated the manifestation
over with whitewash.
of spiritual power as the
The idea here is of an external standard by whic h we
appearance that looks very correct, but
which is revealed as deficient when it is
measure correctness.
tested by storms. When the wall collapsed
people’s eyes were opened to the The Architecture of the
deficiency of its building and they asked
“where is the whitewash you covered it
New Prophetic Dimension
with?” Today is a time of opening people’s A revolutionary
eyes to correct building, and the present
crisis is an opportunity for those who may new look at
not have been engaged in building prophetic
correctly to come into a fuller reality as it
understanding of the requirements of the exists in the
Lord.
21st century
Sustained Building Activity church.
People in our churches are losing their get this book>
jobs and houses are being foreclosed on,
but we cannot be bound by fear, nor can
we whither in the face of unemployment
and economic downturn. The metaphor of
building a house that weathers the storms
indicates building which can withstand the
assaults of darkness over time. True
ministry is that which builds correctly over
the duration of one’s entire life, and which
passes down correct patterns for 2778 Cumberland Blvd
generations to come. “He who stands Suite 163
firm to the end” suggests the ability to stay Symrna GA 30080
upright and to endure, and to properly Tel: 678.302.3052
build structures that will stand in spite of admin@scottwebsterministries.org
the storms which seek to ravage and www.scottwebsterministries.org
destroy it. We are a people who are not
© 2009 Scott Webster Ministries.
growing cold or being destabilized by All Rights Reserved.
crisis, but who are fervently and
steadfastly building.

Q&A Building Dimension

I’m not sure I understand your
point about ‘building’ creating a
correct context for supernatural
manifestations. Are you saying
that you do believe in miracles, or
that you do not?
Jesus said plainly that we are to “watch out for false prophets”—false because of their
lawless internal state, not because their utterances are incorrect or they are bereft of the
power or speaking of God. Some who wrongly believe that all miracles have ceased use
these warnings to try to debunk any modern supernatural manifestation or to declare that
there is no such thing as contemporary prophets—positions that are clearly contrary to the
Word of God. So in telling us to be on guard, Jesus warned of a much more subtle
deception in which those who correctly believe in His supernatural reality and power must
reject inward lawlessness and bring our systems, organizations, families, and
understandings under the government of God.

In addition to Matthew 7 there is a second reference to lawlessness and the

miraculous, this one in 2 Thessalonians 2:9 where we are told that the coming of the
lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of
counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders that leads to deception. I absolutely believe in
and personally experience the present day power of God, and I also assess all
supernatural ministry and reject that which is not presented in the nature and character of
Christ. I would not walk across the street for some of the meetings that are publicized
globally and which people flock towards, but which over time are proven false when their
leaders are exposed as lawless, the networking as relationally deficient and the ethic of
the ministry as self-promoting and not flavored with death to self.

Can you provide a practical
application of what you mean by
“moving from the blessing to the
building dimension?”
I think the best way to do that would be to provide an example of how we function in
the prophetic specifically, which is strategic and purposeful rather than simply a desire to
bless the people. I recently led a team of prophetic ministers (we call them Apprentice
Prophets) into one of the churches joined to us in divine purpose with the intention of
providing prophetic ministry over the wider membership. Before arrival we provided a set
of teachings via DVD that the church viewed together so that all of the people would have
a common series of understandings about the New Prophetic Dimension. There are also
post visit sessions that deal with how to manage and follow-up on the deposit of divine
resource which came into each life with the speaking of God.

The format of the actual visit was to break up into prophetic teams and minister
prophetically, laying on of hands, healings, etc. but the core driver of all the activity was
not a blessing emphasis. The visit was strategic and building on several levels, including:
a) continuing to forge a relationship between myself as a leader in our network and the
church leaders for our common building operations b) significant divine resource was
deposited into the church which will aid them in building the specific things they are
mandated by God to do c) a team of emerging prophets were further equipped and their
development overseen as they grow into fuller authorization d) the follow-up process will
leverage the leaders into more effective management of the growth and development of
their people e) a deeper sense of community and relationship was built among the church
itself and also with the team f) we conducted a debrief that included the senior leadership
of the church and the prophetic team to assess our effectiveness and to consider further
building strategies and future initiatives.

Is this the model of ministry you
think should be adopted in the
prophetic?
I am very disinclined to advocate a particular model for anything, since far too often we
as humans take away a series of actions steps rather than reconnecting with the divine
mind ourselves and thus our own development is aborted. This is certainly NOT the only
way for prophetic meetings to be conducted, God is too filled with creative strategies to
limit Him to one approach, even a very effective one.

I do believe, however, that the principles which undergird this particularly strategy are
transcendent and can therefore be applied to many different strategic approaches that
may be given by the Lord: a) relational connectivity and collaboration between leaders b)
seeking to build correct mentalities in the people in order to maximize their ability to
receive the delivery of divine resource c) a commitment to walk with the people through a
process of development that ensures they will reach the accurate destination of maturity in
Christ d) equipping a next generation of prophets and ministers e) a release of prophetic
ministry that is not divorced from a correct teaching and pastoral dimension, etc. The
embracing of these principles has certainly produced much greater fulfillment and higher
levels of productivity in the discharging of my own prophetic ministry from that which I
understood in the past.

© 2009 Copyright by SWM, copy and duplication without permission is prohibited.

Releasing The New Prophetic Dimension • Activating The Capacity To Build • Obeying The Command To Finish

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