Here we summarize seven points that we have found most important for having the Holy Spirit work more freely – and more powerfully – in our midst. These are the seven concepts we most want to share with others, the points that we believe will make the most difference in your church or group.

The Revealed Word – We believe that preaching should focus on how the Word of God – including the entire Old Testament – reveals Jesus and his work of salvation in our lives. Jesus taught this during his earthly ministry (John 5:39; see also John 1:1), and the Apostles used the Old Testament almost exclusively as a collection of prophetic typologies of Christ. We have found that this is the only kind of preaching that truly feeds people’s souls, as opposed to appealing to their intellect or to their emotions. The Bible refers to itself and says that the “letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6), so we never focus on historical, grammatical, or literary analysis of the Scriptures in our sermons. Scholasticism makes preaching spiritually ineffective. We also avoid “prosperity preaching” and the “motivational”-type messages that are so common in churches today. When the pastor preaches the revealed Word of God, the members grow spiritually and the Holy Spirit operates more powerfully and speaks more clearly in their midst.

Pleading the Blood of Jesus – Our understanding of the significance of the blood of Jesus for Christians today is more multifaceted than in other churches. Traditional churches talk about Jesus’ sacrifice only in terms of purchasing forgiveness for sins (atonement), and Pentecostals and Charismatics usually talk about the blood of Jesus in the context of “spiritual warfare,” loudly invoking Jesus’ blood when rebuking evil spirits. These are both aspects of the blood of Jesus, but there is so much more. The Bible says that the “life is in the blood,” (Leviticus 17:10-14) and we receive Christ’s life within us through pleading the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus integrates us into his spiritual Body (Matthew 26:27; 1 Corinthians 11:29). Pleading the blood of Jesus enables us to enter God’s presence in worship and prayer (Hebrews 10:19-22). The blood of Jesus provides the operation of the Holy Spirit within us to sanctify us (Hebrews 9:4), and to fill us (1 Corinthians 12:13), giving us spiritual gifts. The blood of Jesus “speaks” today (Hebrews 12:24). We want all of these blessings.

The Church as the Body of Christ – We must approach our participation in the local church as integration into a living, spiritual body (the Body of Christ), rather than as membership in a religious organization, or attendance at a lecture or liturgical performance. This requires us to step out of our self-centeredness, to stop focusing exclusively on our own problems and goals, and to begin focusing on others’ needs in the church. We must put the good of Christ’s body before our own interests and agendas. God wants believers who devote themselves to prayer for the needs of the others in the congregation, and who strive to show Christ’s “agape” love toward their fellow members consistently. Too many churches talk about the “body of Christ” as merely meaning “all the real Christians everywhere,” but this undermines the significance of the concept as the Bible presents it. If Christians are not integrated into a faithful church and laying our lives down for others (1 John 3:16), they are missing at least half of the relationship with Christ that God intended them to have.

Asking God to Speak – The Bible is full of examples where God speaks to his people through dreams, visions, and revelations (prophetic words, etc.), besides the written revelations he was giving through the Scriptures. These are instances where God takes the initiative to speak to us. At the same time, we can approach God to seek His will, asking God to speak to us through a verse in the Bible. Most believers have had experiences where they opened the Bible right to a passage that spoke to their immediate situation. We experience this on a daily basis, inquiring of the Lord about His will for different decisions that we must make. It revolutionizes a church when the leaders and members can ask God to speak through His Word about the situations they face.

God’s Revealed Will – It sounds obvious to say that we should follow God’s revelation instead of mere religious traditions or human ideas, but it is unfortunately hard to find Christian leaders who are committed to doing this consistently. When we look at the characters presented in the Bible, we see that those who enjoyed God’s favor were those who did whatever God wanted most consistently (like David – see Acts 13:22). Those who displeased God, like Saul in the Old Testament, would often follow their own judgment and opinions instead of what God said. We have made a commitment to following God’s revelation consistently. Of course, all revelations must be in accordance with Scripture, which is the ultimate standard.

Avoiding idolatry – The Lord has instructed us – through both specific revelations and the Word, to avoid religious icons and images. This includes supposedly “Christian” idolatry that we see all around us today. These images and icons grieve the Holy Spirit and quench His operation in a church or group; they can even open the door to evil spirits. (See 1 Corinthians 5:10-11; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Corinthians 10:7-14; Galatians 5:20; 1 Peter 4:3; 1 John 5:21; and Revelation 22:15). Of course, greed, immorality, rebellion, and other sins that substitute other things in place of God can be idolatry in our hearts (see Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5; and 1 Samuel 15:23).

Salvation – Salvation is the starting point, of course, the first thing we must have in order to participate in the work of God. Yet many Christians have a one-dimensional concept of salvation – they think of it merely as forgiveness of sins or a guarantee of going to heaven. The Bible teaches that salvation has many facets and features, not just forgiveness or redemption. It includes the miracle of regeneration, repentance from sins, sanctification, participation in Christ’s body, the indwelling of Christ through the Holy Spirit, eternal life, joy renewed daily (see Isaiah 12:3), peace, hope, prosperity, healing, being taught and guided by the Holy Spirit, being empowered to share our faith effectively, and much more. Believers need teaching and instruction about all of these aspects of Christ’s work in their lives so that they can receive everything God has for them.

Of course, we also embrace the classic tenets of the Christian faith: belief in the Trinity, the Deity of Christ, Inerrancy of Scriptures, the Virgin Birth, the imminence of the Second Coming, the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, and Salvation by Faith. These are basic truths – absolute truths – without which we could not have the genuine work of God in our midst and that permeate all our teaching. At the same time, doctrinal correctness by itself does not guarantee that the Spirit can operate freely in a church. Many stagnant, lifeless churches have correct doctrines without putting them into practice or transforming the lives of the members. The spiritual reality within a church depends on these other factors as well.