City Church & Presbytery

Mon Feb 14 13:20:43 PST 2011

“*TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE” MINISTRIES*

*Jim & Marie Watt*

*Tel: 253-517-9195 - Email: jmbetter at gmail.com*

*Web: www.2rbetter.org*

February 14, 2011

 *CITY CHURCH & PRESBYTERY Concept - 2011-02-14*

 *For God's Organic Laser-Telescope: The Second Component Part - The City
Church Concept with Eldership in Gate of the City.*

 *Question**: Which is easier - to build a house from scratch - or - to **
remodel a house? With the latter, one never knows what complications he will
run into! *

 *Paul - built 14 city churches from scratch - much easier. Today -
denominations and sub-denominations - are so numerous - and each - a unit
and law unto itself.*

 *Many local churches pay lip-service to city church unity - but - in
reality - the denomination usually has a controlling influence on their
local churches in a city - sufficient to guide strongly in doctrine and
loyalty - so that true city unity and functioning elderships in the Gate of
Cities - never truly happens.*

 *But - it does happen in the 100 million members of the home church
movement in China! See the biography of Brother Yun - The Heavenly Man.*

 *History**: How I received the City Church Concept with an Eldership or
Presbytery in the Gate. In 1949 I was enrolled in the Northern Baptist
Theological Seminary of Chicago. Once a week Marie and I organized a street
meeting, and brought some fellow students with us to preach and give our
testimonies and win souls and disciple them to Jesus. Harry Conn was
intrigued with these outreaches, and whenever he could, would join us, and
share his vision on “missions” with us. Harry was Chief Engineer of
Scully-Jones, the 2**nd largest tooling manufacturing company for
“automation” in the country. He had several hundred men working under him.
Through his lectures on both automation and optimation, he sold more tools
for his company that all their salesmen combined. *

 *He also introduced us to Roland Allen and his books - Missionary Methods:
St. Paul's or Ours - and The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church - and the
Causes which Hinder. Mr. Allen was an Anglican from England, but felt there
was something sadly lacking in the world church situation. These two books
set forth his solution. He tried it out first in Northern China, and then in
East Africa; but not with the success he hoped for.*

 *Then in 1963 I came across Watchman Nee's The Glorious Church. Here the
author set forth his concept for the City Church - One church per city,
encompassing all local churches. Unfortunately, he saw only his type of
church as being the city church, and ignored all others. So that didn't work
either.*

 *Then in 1989 John Dawson wrote Taking Our Cities for God - How to Break
Spiritual Strongholds. He wrote this on the basis of what he observed in a
western city in the Argentine. This comes closest to what I see in the New
Testament. But it did not clearly point out a functioning Eldership or
Presbytery in the Gate of each City Church; though there did take place
unusual prayer results from the pastors in their meetings.*

 *But on December 7, 2009, there was a break-through in prayer in Minnesota
north of Minneapolis, and at the same time God revealed to me the last 5
component parts of His Organic Laser-Telescope, which He had showed me in
1967, and confirmed in 1985. He said to me - “What I have revealed to you in
the past concerning My goals for the City Church and Presbytery - I am about
to activate.” I shared this with the “Pilot Prayer Team” that I had
inaugurated in October of that year, but later turned over to Elvin Gladney
for leadership. At the close of this paper, I will list again these 7 parts,
with short revised notes on each.*

 *Sometime in the late '70's in Portland, Oregon - one of the local pastors
asked - “Why can't we through our local church bring unity to the city
church of Portland?” My answer was - because of your faulty concept of the
Presbytery. Stop bringing outside elders into your church as a presbytery -
and start encouraging and using local Senior pastors to function as a city
Eldership in the gate of your city. Have outsiders come in to help in the
beginning - but don't call them your presbytery. Your own City Elders are
your City Presbytery. The outsiders are but scaffolding until the local
elders of your city are enabled to function as a presbytery. Then - the
scaffolding can be removed.*

 *He said he couldn't do that - his local congregation wouldn't stand for
this restructuring and time lapse. Then I told him - “Don't expect then to
see city unity in your locale.”*

 *Next - see that the restored Presbytery Concept in 1948 was severely
limited. It is much more than laying on of hands and prophecy over the
5-fold ministries. It is more than 1 Timothy 1:18 and 4:14 - “*This :charge
I commit to you, Timothy child, according to the *prophecies* which led the
way to you, that *by them* you war the good warfare: having faith and a good
conscience” - and “*Neglect not* the gift in you, which was *given you
through prophecy, with laying on of the hands of the presbytery*.” *This was
good for Timothy, and valuable for all ministries. But it doesn't clearly
spell out that the Presbytery or 5-fold Eldership in the Gate of each City,
had the privilege and responsibility of commissioning and sending out all
that the Holy Spirit should call. See Acts 13:1-3 - here 5 prophets and
teachers from the City Church of Antioch were meeting in a NT Levitical
sense of “lei-tourGIa - spiritual ministry” to the Lord! One time as they
were so occupied, the Holy Spirit took over and called Barnabas and Saul out
for missionary service. The 5 continued to fast and pray and worship, and
when they had confirmation that this was indeed the will of God - they
thencommissioned these two, and sent them forth. When they returned it
was now
Paul and Barnabas - and they returned as apostles. To read concerning their
first missionary trip, it is easy to see the reason for these two changes.*

 *Then the 12 apostles from the City Church of Jerusalem had the people
there choose 7 from among them to serve as deacons. The apostles then
commissioned these 7 to serve the entire City Church of Jerusalem in waiting
on tables, and other deacon responsibilities, freeing the apostles for the
ministry of the Word and prayer. There were probably 100's of churches in
the home from which to choose the 7. This is another Presbytery function.*

 *To solve doctrinal problems in Acts 15, such as occasioned by the
Jerusalem Judaizers, who were disrupting the city churches raised up for
Gentiles. Paul stood for a “One New Man” concept for Gentiles, who could
fellowship with Messianic Jews, but did not have to be Torah observant as
did the Jews. No circumcision for Gentiles, etc. The Judaizers contended
that Gentiles had to become as Jews, be circumcised etc., to become
acceptable to God and them. Peter and James, the apostolic Jerusalem pastor,
sided with Paul against the Judaizers. This was a city Presbytery or
Eldership function in a most important doctrinal matter!*

 *In the Book of Ruth, a city Eldership or Presbytery solved an inheritance
problem for Boaz and a nearer kinsman-redeemer.*

 *These - and others - are all functions of a city Presbytery or Eldership
in the Gate of each City Church. No “traveling” outside Presbytery coming
into to a city church, or functioning only for one local church here; -
causing even deeper divisions between the various local churches within that
city. Such is a violation of Protocol, and is not Warfare by Honor.*

 *Early in my new Christian life, I did a Greek word study on “church -
ek-kleSIa”. It appears 114 times in God's Bible Numeric Greek NT: once in
Acts 7 it refers to Israel as the church in the Wilderness through Stephen;
3 times it refers to the secular city citizens of Ephesus, Acts 19; 14 times
it refers to a local church in a house such as for Aquila and Priscilla; 15
times it refers to the universal church or called out believers - Jew and
Gentile - past, present and future; but - 81 times it refers to the City
Church! 14 of these references appear in Revelation 2 & 3 for the 7 churches
named by Jesus. God invariably places His emphasis of importance on a
teaching or doctrine by the number of references.*

 *So - what is our present day emphasis? The local church of 14 references!
And what of those 81 City Church references? Largely ignored. So - local
pastors by and large take all the city church concept teaching, and try to
make it all function in a local church context! Impossible! One Baptist
church in California of some 400 to 500 members had 4 pastor; 24 deacons; 7
elders; 7 trustees; 20 committee chairmen, plus a Christian School and its
officers! The original church of Jerusalem had but 7 deacons for an
entireCity Church! An Eldership composed of an elder representing each
of the
100's of local churches in the home. *

 *So - there is a Remodeling Problem for the City Church for us today. Paul
was fortunate in his day that he could start from scratch - no denominations
- just Jewish and Gentile believers and the Judaizing Controversy. Perhaps
that was not only enough, but an equivalent! *

 *I see by vision 70 cities in Canada functioning in this “Remodeled
Concept” - each with a typical group of 8 of the 5-fold ministries sitting
in the Gate of each city, and functioning as a City Presbytery or Eldership.
I see 70 more US cities functioning in a parallel manner. Where Americans
can't go because of the Vietnam debacle, which produced a lack of confidence
in us in Third World nations; it can be hands-across-the-border - and
American city churches can “hold the ropes” for Canadian City churches to go
to the ends of the earth, spear-heading in evangelism and missions. Dr.
David Yonggi Cho of Korea 3 times prophesied this for Canada: in 1975 in
Kelowna, BC; in 1979 in Toronto; and in 1984 in Halifax.*

 *This City Church and Presbytery concept is the “Stand” or “Pedestal” to
support the other 6 component parts of God's organic Laser-Telescope - to
make the functioning of His Spiritual Star Wars a Reality!*

 *In conclusion, look at the 7 component parts of this concept: 1) God's
Bible Numeric Outlined Interlinear Transliterated Greek New Testament for
Laymen as prepared by Russian Ivan Panin. 2) City Churches with a Presbyter
or Eldership in the City Gates. 3) Prayer Multiplication based on the
Covenant concept as outlined by Ern Baxter. 4) The 12 Embryonic Revival
Principles restored and brought together in the 1948 Visitation at North
Battleford, Saskatchewan - and now to be brought to maturity as parameters
of safety for the coming world Revival preceding the Return of King Jesus!
5) A return to Bible Meditation as commanded to Joshua in 1:8 by Moses - and
picked up by George Whitefield and passed on to George Muller with prayer
and faith. 6) Full Discipleship under the supreme control of the Holy Spirit
as demonstrated by Rees Howells and H.A. Baker. 7) And lastly - a supreme,
continual focus upon our Lord Jesus Christ - as set forth by Oswald Chambers
in his My Utmost for His Highest. This is personal, passionate devotion to
Jesus!*

 *The above 7, functioning together like a Pilot Prayer Team - can be used
by God to do anything He wants - in cities, regions, nations and the world.
This is the end of Satan's machinations through “Antichrist”, the false
prophet, wicked angels, demons, beasts, etc.*

 *Read the last chapter of the Book of Revelation. Jesus is Victor,
notsatan and evil! Rejoice, O earth, for your deliverance and
salvation draws
nigh! J.A.W*

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