When the Lord called me to travel and share the vision that he gave me, He told me to go to every door that would open to me. He did not want me to associate with only one particular stream or denomination, but to the whole Body of Christ. "If you only associate with one stream then you will limit the vision I have given you." "Do not restrict yourself by serving only one part of My body. If you do, they will try to stamp their approval on you and own you for themselves." Over the last twelve years I have ministered in Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopal, Four Square. Assembly of God, Church of God, Independent Charismatic, Prophetic, Vineyard, Faith Word churches and many others. By His grace I have crossed many streams to cross pollinate.

The Lord also said, "Never get so big in your own eyes, that you will not go to small churches." I have preached in many different size churches, some with membership in the thousands and some with only a hundred or so. Sometimes the Lord has blessed our ministry more through the small churches than the large ones. One of the dangers of traveling is to think in terms of your ministry and what can these churches do for you, rather than how can you bless them. I was talking to a pastor recently and he told me that he had contacted a well known national speaker. On asking if he would come to their church to speak he was given the following requirements:- 1. $15,000.00 in advance to pay for the fuel of the speaker's private jet plane. 2. Six private suites for him and his staff at a five star hotel. 3. Then there would be the love offerings, plus of course book and tape sales. The person in question could have come for free if he had wanted to, because he pastors a mega-church and he was not dependent upon these extra meetings for his livelihood. As my ministry continues to grow and become more nationally known, I ask the Lord to keep me from falling into the same trap. Even though I desire to be successful, as we all do.

If we refuse to go to a small church because it will not hold enough people,
then our needs are more important to us than the needs of that church.

To clarify the heading, I have often found that small churches are happy to bring other churches together to make my visit practical.

The Holy Spirit is touching many pastors and humbling them.

I have just returned from preaching in a very large church. I spent some time in the pastor's office during my seminar break. There were some others there with us and we were snacking. I said to him, "Pastor can I be candid with you and ask you a question?" "Go ahead" he replied. "Usually senior pastors of mega-churches tend to be a little aloof, somewhat intimidating, and not very approachable, but you are just like one of the lads. Have you always been like this or did you change when revival hit your church?" "Since he fell in the river!" the other people chorused, including his kids. He smiled and said, "Before we got in the river, I was very performance orientated. I had been to church growth conferences and I was committed to bring forth a mega-church. One of the ways to do this is to have big name speakers come. We have had all the big names speak at our church. You name them, they have been here." As we continued talking we both realized that in many cases all his church was to them was a platform for their ministry. A free facility large enough to draw crowds to come and hear them. Instead of blessing the local church they were using it for their own ends. He said on reflection, that in most cases their own church did not really benefit from the speakers, they just hosted them. They have now been in renewal, or the river, for about three years and a well know speaker who was holding a conference at their church, publicly began to ridicule their experience. Because he hadn't seen a need to be refreshed he made fun of it. How sad that speakers should do that sort of thing. He told me that they now only invite speakers whom the Lord lays on their hearts. They don't care any longer whether they are famous or little known. He said they have had tremendous blessing since they have taken that route. During the time that I was preaching at his church, the senior pastor spent most of the time on his face. It was awesome to see how humble this man was.

A few weeks before I was in another church. This one was a medium size about 500. It was Assembly of God. The pastor told me that he had been raised in the Assemblies. His father was a preacher. He said, "Our church was a dead religious place and I was deader than anyone." A few people from his church visited Brownesville and when they returned he asked one of the sisters to testify. She couldn't talk, but she touched him and he went down and lay before the Lord for about an hour and a half. "That was my salvation." he said. He then said, "Since you had been preaching here I have been saved three times. In fact, I keep getting saved and it's wonderful." I had only just returned from that weekend and he called me and said "We need help to put into action the revelation that you shared about our children and families, so we want you to come back." "When?" I asked, Right away, this weekend", he said. "It's Valentine weekend, I plan to spend it with my wife." "Then please bring her and spend Valentine with us. I need you to speak to my board on Saturday morning, then you will be free to spend the evening with your wife. Then preach for me again on Sunday" This pastor is so humble and sensitive to the Holy Spirit that when he sees something that needs to be changed in his church, he does it, regardless of the cost.

I have always felt that the five fold ministry gifts of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher, are not to be presented to the church as the untouchables, who have to be applauded, magnified, reverenced, adored, or worshiped, but are given to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry and to build up the Body of Christ. (see Eph 4:11-12.)

Personally I am getting a little tired of hearing preachers on TV and in their mega meetings telling everybody how much money they have and how God is blessing them with more money than they know what to do with. They seem to take great delight in telling their followers how God is blessing them with Rolls Royces and jet planes. It seems they feel the need to go out of their way with prosperity teaching to justify their expensive purchases. I am not against prosperity and I am not pro-poverty, but I feel we need expediency "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any" (1.Cor.6:12.NKJ). I have no desire to be on TV and sit on a "gilded throne" promoting my ministry, or trying to raise more money for the TV empire. I have no desire to be a prophet who reacts when people try to approach them by saying, "I do not talk to ordinary people without an appointment.")

My own particular vision is to wake up the church leadership, including the youth and children's pastors and especially parents, to train their children up with anointing purpose and destiny in their lives in order that they can be viable members of the Body of Christ now.
My ambition is not to promote myself or my "Ministry," but I am ambitious for the saints. I do want to encourage His Body to start to function, and that includes the children and youth. When I end my weekend at a church with the Sunday evening miracle service, I tell the people that I will not be praying for anyone to be healed. I am going to teach the children and youth how to minister, pray for the anointing to come upon them and then send them out in the service to lay their hands on anyone who needs prayer. By the grace of God many physical, emotional, and domestic healings have taken place. I say to the congregation, "If I do all the praying, then you will look to a superstar to meet your needs and after I'm gone, you are back were you were, having to wait until the next superstar comes to your church." That promotes immaturity in the saints and establishes a dependency on an elite few.

David Walters
Oct. 99