New Wine - New Wine Skins - New Release

Chuck Swindoll writes, "Our Lord distinguished between things that are essential (the wine: that is primary...the timeless and changeless gospel) and things that are useful but not primary (the skins:that which is secondary...like structures, traditions and fixed patterns of doing things.)

Jesus says, "He told them this parable: 'No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new garment will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking the old wine wants the new, for he says, The old is better.'"

Isn't this a picture of the modern American Church? Our structures, traditions and fixed patterns for doing things have become primary instead of secondary? Isn't it true that we are comfortable to live in the old wine skin even at the expense of walking into a Holy Spirit revealed work? So many are saying, "The old wine is better."

It will take a new wine - a revisit back to what is really primary -the Gospel as applied in full Holy Spirit "rhema" anointing/importance and to do this we need to move out of the old skin and into new wine skins for ministry. A new Holy spirit revealed work "wine" demands new a wine skin.

We have confused the wine and wine skins. They are not on the same level nor are they the same thing.

God is revealing a new wine Holy Spirit revealed work for our day around the Great Commission mandate and now we need a new wine skin to hold it/guide it/express it. This is why I believe God has birthed the Disciple Driven Church. We had no choice but to move out so that we could express and walk in obedience in a newly Holy Spirit revealed WINE. This cannot be done in old wine skins. There is no way the modern American Church will personally and deliberately assume responsibility for the Great Commission mandate. This charge to obey is always met with resistance, so it seems. The personal engagement of the Great Commission is not what we were called into by man - it is what we have all been called into by God.

This call to personally obey the Great Commission for all believers must be a released work. As believers assume their responsibility to obey -they must be released to do so. As groups assume this Great Commission responsibility they must be released as well. If it is not released - living in this Truth will burst the old skins.

Let's talk about this - old/new wine, old/new wineskins, and keep/release ministry. I pray the Holy Spirit will open up some eyes on this post.