Restoration & Convergence
I woke up with two Words on my heart & mind this morning: Restoration & Convergence.
Restoration is defined as - the action of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition, or the act or process of returning something to its original condition by repairing it, cleaning it, etc. the act of bringing back something that existed before, or the act of returning something that was stolen or taken.
Convergence is defined as - when two or more things come together to form a new whole, or two or more things coming together, joining together, or evolving into one, or to come together and unite in a common interest or focus. An example would be many streams converging into one river. Related words would be: combination, connection, or culmination.
I began to think of these two words in relation to where the church has been, where we are now, and what lies just ahead:
Many in the church have been crying and believing for the church to live in the power demonstrated in the book of Acts. Many have prophesied that it was coming; even in our time right now on the earth. I also fully expect this to be fulfilled in our day, but not because we have prayed some magic prayers or made some magic confessions, but rather because: The church has been going through a period of Restoration.
What we fail to realize is that God has been quite busy over the last 70 years or so bringing the church through Restoration whether we have realized it or not. Sometimes looking back over recent history gives us some perspective. If we can see where we have been and what God has taken us through we can see where we are going.
“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.” Mark 2:22 NKJV
For us to walk in what the book of Acts walked in, we must look like the book of Acts in our structure. God will not waste the New Wine if the current Wineskin can’t hold it! So, God has been taking us through a Period of Restoration through different moves and emphases starting with the Voice of Healing Revival in the late 40’s – early 50’s.
With each restoration move of God a different Ministry Manifestation or Expression has also been Restored to the Church. The one constant throughout church history has been the function of the Pastor, but the rest of the Ascension Gifts in Ephesians 4:11 were not seen or known to be among the church.
In the late 40’s – the mid 50’s God restored the Office of Evangelist with the Voice of Healing Revival. AA Allen, Oral Roberts, William Branham, Jack Coe etc.
In the 70’s God restored the Office of the Teacher with the Word of Faith movement. Kenneth E. Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Charles Capps, Fred Price etc.
In the Late 80’s – mid 90’s God restored the Office of the Prophet. Bill Hamon, Chuck Pierce, James Goll, Cindy Jacobs etc.
In the mid 90’s – the 200’s God restored the Office of the Apostle. C. Peter Wagner, Che Ahn, John Kelly, Jonas Clark, etc.
Many times, throughout church history, we have been like the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration, declaring that it is good for us to be here and desiring to build a tabernacle and camp there. The thing about God is that He does not camp, He moves. From the very beginning in Genesis we see the Holy Spirit moving over the face of the deep. In the Old Testament when the Pillar of Cloud Moved…they had to move; when the Pillar of Fire Moved…they had to move.
Well God moved from the Voice of Healing, through the Charismatic Renewal, into the Word of Faith Movement. Then into the Prophetic and finally the Apostolic. The problem is many have stopped at different moves along the way and camped while God moved on. He was busy working the Restoration of all Things!
“Therefore, repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.” Acts 3: 19-21 NASB
This brings us to where we are right now. God has restored the wineskin so that we can hold what the Book of Acts held. All the Ascension Gifts are not only in operation, but now in many circles, are fully accepted. It is time for the Convergence! It is time for all these moves of restoration to come together in one Major, Mighty Move of God!
For those of us who did not camp, but kept on moving through the various moves of Restoration we have come to a time that James Goll called: “The Convergence Of The Ages”. We have reached the time in History where all the Ministry Gifts have been Restored. We have reached the time in History where all the Moves of God have wrought their Manifestations and done their Work.
In likening Convergence to a Culmination, we must realize that everything God does has as intended purpose, nothing is haphazard or by chance. He has been working all along through these last 70 years or so to bring us to this point in time, where we could have a wineskin like the book of Acts and therefore hold the Demonstrations of the Book of Acts. The Restoration is complete and it is time for all the Restoration Moves to be in Manifestation at once and all the Ministries to Operate and Flow as One…Convergence has come!
