newsletter
Servant Ministries, Inc.
Issue No. 97 Ira & Judy Milligan Jun 1, 2006

2007 United Ministers' Fellowship Conference
Advance Dates 

For those of you who need advance notification so that you can plan your vacation or ministry schedule early, our 2007 Branson, United Ministers' Fellowship Conference will be March 29th. ­ 31st. Put it on your calendar.

The Prophet's Perspective 
Extremes in Doctrine 

Someone sent me an article by A. W. Tozer and immediately this sentence caught my eye: "It is always dangerous to isolate a truth and then press it to its limit without regard to other truths". This statement directly addresses the foundation of most doctrinal errors found in the Church today. If heeded, it would capture heresy and banish it to oblivion. But the Church's track record shows that it has not heeded it, ever!

In 1517 Luther introduced us to the revelation of salvation by faith in Christ Jesus. Soon afterward, "once saved, always saved" slyly crept upon the scene. Then, Wesley gave us "holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14), and though true holiness is certainly necessary, this revelation was quickly followed by a set of rules and regulations that would gag even Moses.

About this same time in history, humility was rediscovered as a wonderful virtue, but was soon equated with poverty. If you were wealthy, you were sinfully proud! "How hardly will the rich enter into the Kingdom of Heaven" was thundered from the pulpits of America (see Matt. 19:23-24). The truth is, the Church soon became proud of its poverty. But like a church bell clanging in the wind, the pendulum of Church history never stops swinging. Truth to the rescue! God wants His kids to prosper, and we've got chapter and verse to prove it! In fact, John said it’s priority number one.

"Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers" (3 John 1:2). Never mind that John and Wall Street's prosper have two different meanings. After all, what does truth have to do with anything? Paul said the modern prosperity doctrine was the product of "Perverse... men of corrupt minds", who are "destitute of the truth," who teach "gain is godliness" (see 1 Tim. 6:5).

Shall we continue? The doctrine of prosperity soon birthed "Seed Faith," which is commonly expressed as, "Give, and God will restore it to you a hundredfold." Of course, the subtle implication here is that hundredfold means times one hundred, which God never promised nor intended, but it certainly fills offering baskets!

Prosperity is good and faith is necessary. Indeed, we are saved "by grace through faith", but what about, Word of Faith? (If you don't confess it, you can't possess it.) Or, as someone so eloquently put it, "Blab it and grab it". Some even write "faith checks." I've received a few of those as payment for some of my books. (But, in spite of their faith and written confessions, much to my dismay, my bankers are so full of doubt and unbelief they simply won't come through with the money!)

Another doctrine related to faith that has been abused is divine healing. When the early Church lost its power because of worldliness it created the doctrine of cessation to justify its lack of divine witness to the Gospel. This doctrine states, "The day of miracles is past. That which is perfect is come, so we don't need them anymore." But, in the late 1800's A. B. Simpson received a wonderful revelation that healing was in the atonement. He realized the problem wasn't that God didn't heal anymore, it was the Church didn't believe that God was faithful to do what He promised anymore. Simpson experienced God's healing first hand.

But soon this revelation was turned into, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin" therefore it is a sin to go to the Doctor (Rom. 14:23). This was followed by the teaching that sickness is caused by sin, so if you're sick, you've sinned, right? Indeed some sicknesses and sin are directly related, but not all! Extremes? Yes, but wait, there's more ­ the pendulum never stops.

When the prophetic ministry was being restored in the early eighties, everything became prophetic. Prophetic churches, prophetic people, prophetic preaching, prophetic intercession, prophetic counseling. Now everything and everybody is apostolic. Apostolic churches, ... Now, we even have vertical and horizontal apostles to sort out and deal with! Will it never end?

"Helping Hands"

We are making slow, albeit steadfast, progress toward raising the money to build the ministry training center in Colorado. It will take between three-quarters to a million dollars to accomplish all that we have in mind. God will provide, since it's really His vision, not mine.
I have tentative plans to go back to Nicaragua in October. We've been invited to hold a ministers training conference there in Managua (the capital). The conference will cost about $2000.00 plus travel expenses.

Prayer Partners' Update

I'm thinking about writing another book this summer while I'm taking time off to "rest," but I'm still not sure of the subject. Please pray that God would give me the grace to write what He wants written.

Judy's thankful that we're taking time off to rest (she needs it as much as I do) but her father is not in good health (he's 93) so she's having to stay with him much of the time. I would appreciate your prayers for her healing, peace of mind and rest during this somewhat difficult time in her life. Thank you so much for helping us carry these burdens and may God bless you.

Just Thinking

Times are changing. New technology is being introduced into the market place almost every day. Young people are going to college and training for careers that didn't even exist a few years ago. That new computer, or DVD player, or cell-phone, or whatever else we've just purchased will become obsolete within months. Planned obsolescence has become a way of life whether we like it or not.

No one likes to discard a perfectly good computer or digital camera that was top-of-the-line just a few months ago but now appears slower than Christmas to a four-year-old. Getting rid of it seems like such a terrible waste of money. But, if we want to enjoy the benefits of the fast advancing and ever evolving toys and tools that are arriving in the stores daily, we have little or no choice but to make the sacrifice.

The same thing is happening to the church. It is changing, and although we don't like the idea of discarding much of our previous investments into it, if we want to have and enjoy the full benefits of the revival and restoration that God is pouring out we've got to discard the old forms and make new ones. Jesus said, "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).

When wineskins get old they get stiff and inflexible, just like religious traditions, and like old, worn-out shoes, sooner or later they have to be discarded. It's time to throw out some that we've held sacred for several centuries, now.

God is calling us into new areas of service. The Church cannot continue operating as a "one man show" and still stay pleasing to God. We are all expected to become qualified ministers of the spiritual gifts that God has so freely blessed us with, including the gift of eternal life! Peter said, "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God" (1 Peter 4:10).