[Building a Powerful Church to Thrive in a Time of Crisis] 12 – A New Governor, Drought & Building a Powerful Church

8/8/2019 [Building a Powerful Church to Thrive in a Time of Crisis] 12 A New Governor, Drought & Building a Powerful Chur

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2010SCOTTWEBSTER MINISTRIES. Page 1 of 4

P r o p h e t i c B r i e f

Building a Powerful Church to Thrive During aTime of Crisis - Part 12

A New Governor, Drought & Building a Powerful Church

In a few days Nathan Deal will be sworn in as the newly elected Governorof Georgia; his Inauguration is scheduled for Monday, January 10th. InDeals first speech as Governor-elect, he indicated that among his top priorities will be building more reservoirs in the state of Georgia toaddress the regions water needs. He faces an uphill battle, inheriting a $2 billion budget deficit and critical needs within the states educationalsystem and other pressing matters. What does this have to do withbuilding a powerful Church? The parallels might surprise you.

In the city of Atlanta where I live there was a severe drought that lastednearly a decade. The manmade lakes and reservoirs were not sufficient tokeep up with the rapid growth of thecity and the wider regional waterneeds, even less so during a drought.Reservoirs require years to plan and build and more were scheduled andbudgeted for completion, but in 2002the incoming governor cancelled them.The intervening years saw everincreasing drought to the point thatthere was a ban on all private outdoor

use of water there could be nowatering of lawns or washing of cars,and neighbors were empowered toreport on one another any infractions.The primary reservoir, Lake Lanier, came within one inch of being empty.

In 2008 the governor (who had cancelled the planned reservoirs someyears before) convened church leaders at the state capital in Atlanta topray for rain. He described the purpose of the meeting as coming togetherfor one reason and one reason onlyto very reverently and respectfully pray up a storm."During the prayer the governor said that Georgianshad not done all we could do in conservation. Oh Father, weacknowledge our wastefulness, but we're doing better. And I thought itwas time to acknowledge that to the creator, the provider of water andland, and to tell him that we will do better.

Answer to Prayer, or Judgment?

The prayer occurred in 2007, and in late 2009 the drought was abated byrainfall that was so heavy and intense that in one four day period 10inches of rain fell. My neighborhood is built on a hill and my house lotslopes back to front and left to right; I sat at my desk and for several dayswatched a river run through my side yard. There was severe flooding thatkilled more than 10 and caused damages costing more than $300 millionand required federal assistance to clean up and rebuild. One economist

New Video Series

We are living in an unmatched time

in the earth; a time when crisis is

erupting through natural disasters,

pol i t ical destabi l izat ion, and

economic meltdown.

Politicians and religious leaders areall weighing in on these events, but

they dont seem to have the

answers to a world in intense

distress, and are rightly wondering:

What in the World

is Going On?

In this series of Prophetic Briefs,

Scott Webster addresses questions

that are on peoples minds, andbrings prophetic perspective to the

events happening in the earth

today, so that we can stand

effectively in a day when so many

things are falling apart.

View the first three episodes in the

series What in the World is Going

On atscottwebsterministries.org.

ISSUE 401 JANUARY 5TH 2011

Insight and Analysis for the 21st Century
http://www.scottwebsterministries.org/category/prophetic-briefs/videos/what-in-the-world-is-going-on/http://www.scottwebsterministries.org/category/prophetic-briefs/videos/what-in-the-world-is-going-on/http://www.scottwebsterministries.org/category/prophetic-briefs/videos/what-in-the-world-is-going-on/http://www.scottwebsterministries.org/category/prophetic-briefs/videos/what-in-the-world-is-going-on/


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said "We know that the fiscal situation in the state of Georgia is not invery good shape and this flood will put another dent in the state economy

in terms of the monetary damage and infrastructure damage.

Massive flooding, multiple deaths and millions in property damage hardlysounds like a benevolent answer to prayer. In fact the massive rain andflooding has much more in common to Gods response to those who weredisobedient and who lusted for meat in the wilderness; God gave themwhat they prayed for - He sent quail to eat until it came out their noses andkilled them (Numbers 11:32). In addition to the flooding, one year laterthe region has already returned to such widespread drought that stateclimatologist David Stooksbury said, tongue in cheek: It may be time topray for a tropical storm or hurricane.

These political leaders were substituting prayer in 2008 for actions thatshould have been taken in 2002. The process of building new reservoirswould have been intense, costly and difficult on several levels, includingbattles with property owners whose land would be bought and submerged,and there would be costs to be financed by tax revenues which hadpolitical ramifications. These changes required a strong political will andthe skill to build a coalition that correctly perceived the drought as apriority issue in all of the competing issues which clamor for attention atthat governmental level. Building requires intense effort and sustainedobedience, while prayer can be a poor substitute by a quasi spiritual people who are unwilling to align their lives with the requirements forlong term building.

Speaking Leads to Strategic ActionWe can see many examples in the Word of God that prayer is not the onlyresource that we have in God, He expects us to act according to Hisrevealed will also. Agabus prophesied that a great famine would come inthe land and the apostolic company didnt pray that the famine wouldnthappen, nor did they run to God in a quasi act of repentance hoping thatGod would forgive social sin. They understood that this foreknowledgewas given to them in order to prepare for the famine which they did bycollecting money to send to those who would be the hardest hit by thedownturn in the future (Acts 11:27-30).

Likewise Joseph had insight into future economic conditions in Egypt,

Acts 24:2

When Paul was calledin, Tertullus presentedhis case before Felix:

"We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresighthas brought aboutreforms in this nation.(NIV)


T h e s e c h a n g e srequired a strong

political will and the

skill to build a coalition

t h a t c o r r e c t l y

perceived the drought

as a priority issue in

all of the competingissues which clamor

for attention at that

governmental level.

B u i l d i n g r e qu i r e s

intense effort and

sustained obedience,

while prayer can be apoor substitute by a

quasi spiritual people

who are unwilling to

align their lives with

the requirements for

long term building.
http://www.gpb.org/news/2009/09/23/obama-calls-perdue-flood-problems-persisthttp://www.gpb.org/news/2009/09/23/obama-calls-perdue-flood-problems-persisthttp://www.gpb.org/news/2009/09/23/obama-calls-perdue-flood-problems-persisthttp://www.gpb.org/news/2009/09/23/obama-calls-perdue-flood-problems-persisthttp://www.gpb.org/news/2009/09/23/obama-calls-perdue-flood-problems-persisthttp://www.gpb.org/news/2009/09/23/obama-calls-perdue-flood-problems-persist


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and he followed his prediction by listing a series of strategic shifts whichwere essential to fulfilling of the will of God. What began as insight fromGod regarding the next 14 years of agricultural yields had to eventualizeitself into actions, structures and dealings in the political realm withinEgypt. God revealed His will to prepare them; they had to engage in aprocess of fulfillment in order for the purposes of God not to be aborted(Genesis 41:33)

To pray powerfully or to prophesy may require only a momentaryinspiration from God, but to build requires that the entire rule of theKingdom be embraced in our lives. There is a time to offer up prayers andto prophesy, and there is also a time to build what has been declared and to

walk in obedience to Gods revealed will. We cannot depend on a prophetto come into our church and fix it when we have not been building wellfor the last 10+ years. It may be that what is needed is not more propheticwords or even more prayers; what may be called for is strategic action based on what we already know to be thewill of the Lord.

Saying vs. Doing

Regarding building new reservoirs, the new Governor declared "Now is the time for us to stop talkingand startdoing. Deal is facing the challenge of building things that the state needs both now in order to move into thefuture, very much like a governor mentioned in the Bible who acted on a basic reformation concept that definesthe nature of the prophetic.

Acts 24:2 When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented his case before Felix: "We have enjoyed a longperiod of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation. (NIV)

The word foresight ispronoeo, it means to think ahead and to see future conditions, with the implication that onecan then respond appropriately in the present. As a result of his correct foresight Felix made changes or reforms,which is the Greek word diorthosis. The word means to straighten or amend that which is crooked, in this casepolitical and social systems had to be amended to produce correct life in the nation. Felix applied this principlefrom a political perspective; he considered where the nation needed to go and he made provision in advance andcarefully planned how they should arrive at the desired destination. Applying this principle to Georgia politics wecan see that foresight did not produce correct action in 2002, and now the political leadership face an even greaterchallenge: building more reservoirs after years of drought, increased water needs in light of a contracting statebudget impacted by the meltdown. They said, but they didnt do.

Fulfi

llment IS Possible!The prophetic has been misunderstood as primary a proclamation, but there has been insufficient emphasis on theresponse that God requires from us. People accumulate multiple prophecies but very little changes as they remainin a state of deficient life it is a Pharisee prophetic dimension in which there is much declaration but little doing.

Reformation is a reality in which our lifestyle matches our proclamation; it is spiritual empowerment that equipsus to defeat the strong forces which seek to oppose the will of the Lord coming to pass. One of the significantchanges that have occurred in moving from the last prophetic order to the New Prophetic Dimension is the abilityto build what is required and to actualize what has been proclaimed. The prophetic is the declaration end of thepurposes of God, but these purposes were never intended to stay in the realm of promise, or leave us only withhope for a glorious future. There must be a manifestation end, a point in which the voice of God is actualized


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within creation and built within life. The Prophetic is a futuristic frequency, speaking about the intended will ofthe Lord and that which will be, or that whichshould be. The apostolic is a now frequency, having the ability toperform or accomplish the will of God.

We can call this implementation aspect of the prophetic a performance imperative. A performance imperative is arequirement to do or fulfill the will of God, and it requires that we assess systems of life, engage in behavioralchange and institute deliberate practices. It involves informed decisions and willing engagement in a Kingdom

process which requires strategic action and decisive movement towards correctness. It is our responsibility tomove vision from what is perceived in the spirit to what is tangible and actual. Performance removes thefuturistic component off of divine purpose, and the things of God become more do-able and proximate.

We can journey away from ignorance and religion towards a more authentic faith

We can grow and become mature

We can impact the earth with the purposes of God

We can build effective community within a fractured world

We can live purely even when we are surrounded by defilement

Another Parallel

There is a final parallel between the drought situation in Georgia and you and I as individual believers becomingmore prophetic. The water needs of Georgia, Florida and Alabama areall dependent upon the rainfall, reservoirs and aquifers in NorthGeorgia. Georgia wants to retain more water in the reservoirs to

provide for its water needs, while the oyster industry in Florida needsfresh water flowing into the Gulf of Mexico to keep it viable. There areeconomic considerations as well as endangered species downstream,and even though the governors of the three states met with thePresident (in 2008) they have not been able to hammer out anagreement. They have been given until 2012 to do so before a federaljudge imposes a water sharing plan.

Likewise, your movement towards maturity and the fulfillment of your

God given destiny does impact those around you. The speaking of Godover individuals must always be heard and stewarded in a corporatecontext. We have been joined together by God, we are the body of

Christ and it is only together that we can accomplish the will of God. Moving from saying to doing does not just bring radical fulfillment to your own life, it impacts many others eventhose you do not yet know.


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

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[Building a Powerful Church to Thrive in a Time of Crisis] 12 – A New Governor, Drought & Building a Powerful Church