Many pastors will only accept people into their congregation who they feel smarter than and who they have authority over. These pastors are never promoted by God because they will only work with people below them - not above. If God sends an Apostle or Prophet to them, or even just anyone with a different anointing and calling then theirs  - they reject them  - they reject the blessing God sent them.

Real humility is working with, accepting,  and rewarding people who are smarter or more anointed than us. We all have something to teach, and we all have, still, no matter our age or title, something to learn. Befriending and rewarding people God sends to us brings a reward back to us  - God's respect.  We should welcome and entertain strangers  - we should thank God for every opportunity to bless and be blessed. Our generosity unlocks the door to God's generosity. 

A plurality of elders is God's will for every fellowship.  It is His safety net to safeguard against the inevitable blunders we all make from time to time.  It is his way of helping us survive each fall  - with a minimum of bruises (bruised egos!).

 The word "church" is never used in the New Testament  -  King James required that word to be added in place of "congregation". The original word  is "ekklesia" or ecclesia, meaning "the called out ones".

Prior to the KING JAMES version,  this word EKKLESIA was translated more closely to the original meaning. King James required them to use the word CHURCH because it supported the "institution" of the Church  - which was his source of power. It was manipulation. He also changed other words for the same reason.....like he changed the word "overseers" to Bishops. The phrase "those who led you" or "those who help you" he changed to "those who have rule over you".

 The Lord gave me a vision once, quite awhile ago  - I'll share it now.

In this vision/dream, i found myself outside.  I looked and saw a country road, dirt, lined with trees. I saw an old pick-up truck driving on it. A man with thick, wavy black hair and a thick, jet black beard and mustache,  sat in the passenger seat, jis right arm hanging on the window which was rolled down. He looked directly at me as the truck drove past about 20 yards away. We made eye contact and a huge, mischievous grin broke out on his face  - his eyes were laughing! It was the Lord! He was showing me that he actually leaves his throne and visits the earth today from time to time, in disguise! It was really encouraging to see him at that point in my life. It's thrilling to know we can meet him, here, now, in the flesh, in disguise, and not just angels. 

Too often men use "ministry" as a way of avoiding something they do not want to face. Nobody has to tell them, deep down they know. In fact, if you remind them, they often respond with anger or irritation.  They stay so busy " serving The Lord" they have no time for their wife or kids  - or the very Lord they are serving.  We all know the story  of Martha and Mary - How Martha was "cumbered about much serving" - how she complained to Jesus about her sister Mary  - who "sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word" - and who did Jesus commend? "MARTHA, MARTHA,  TJOU ART CAREFUL AND TROUBLED ABOUT MANY THINGS BUT ONE THING IS NEEDFUL: AND MARY HAS CHOSEN THAT GOOD PART, WHICH SHALL NOT BE TAKEN AWAY FROM HER". Deep down inside,  people that run around serving, know they are avoiding something important  - that something is a someone.  Really, Bible Colleges would do well to teach students how to draw near to Jesus   - and hear His words, from His mouth, than teaching them what the written word means. The Holy Spirit alone can correctly interpret the meaning of every passage of scripture in the entire Bible anyway,  so getting to know Him can save years of listening to a man give his opinion about what the Word is revealing.  By all means, study the Word, but as you do, let the Holy Spirit guide you in your understanding of it.

 This thought process keeps people poor  - physically and spiritually: they criticize instead of analyze. They start from a position  of "I know" - "I know better", "I know the answers"...we should always remain teachable for there is much we don't know,  and often what we think we know is right is in fact, wrong. But we'll never know that if we don't analyze all incoming data in a neutral and objective manner.

 This, from Jeremiah Johnson,  is excellent: (parentheses mine)

Establishing a healthy plurality of eldership in a community of believers requires the elders to show mutual regard and concern for one another  - they must submit themselves one to another,  patiently wait upon one another,  and defer to and prefer one another (above themselves).

A Plurality of eldership thus enhances brotherly love,  humility and mutuality. Learning how to lead and care for a flock together will expose impatience with one another,  stubbornness,  narcissism, domineering positions,  prayerlessness, pride end jealousy  - (in short  - uncrucified flesh and self will).

Plurality of eldership protects the headship and supremacy of Jesus our Christ in all things. When leadership and vision is shared among a team rather than dictated by one man it only leaves room for eyes to be set on  one man  -  The Son of God. (One man ministries foster weak sheep who become dependant on flesh, or that one man, and my people love to have it so).

Plurality of eldership provides a healthy set of checks and balances that one man ministries will never have. Character and financial decisions are constantly evaluated and determined in the counsel of many rather than one. (There is safety in a multitude of counselors).

A Plurality of eldership is the gateway to the five-fold ministry becoming fully operational among a community of believers.  Rather than receiving from one man's ministry week in and week out,  the plurality of elders permits a team of five-fold ministers to train and equip together  ( with the goal that the Body will minister to itself in love, edifying itself with healthy cells ministering to unhealthy ones till they're healthy too).

Establishing and participating in Biblical eldership is one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences you'll ever know. Our primary revelation we have come to understand is this:

                          THE NEW WINE IS TRULY FOUND IN THE CLUSTER! Isaiah 65:8

 Do you, do you really want to hear The Truth? Do you want to know it? Become intimate with it? Let it inside? Sometimes it's a hard truth you must hear  - it's hard to hear  - hard to accept   - like "Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life in you". Here is another hard truth  - A house with a mortgage or even a car payment  - can prevent us from obeying the Call of God on our lives. When He commands us to GO! We stay. When He commands us to "Come, folllow Me", we srart making excuses within ourselves.  "I have a set of oxen to break in", "I just bought some land that needs plowing" -  "I just took a wife". This is one of the reasons He chose who He did to become His original Apostles   - we know Peter at least was married  - yet when God called him to follow  -  he dropped everything and obeyed. Same with the others  - they all left their old lives without hesitation  -  they left wives, children, jobs  - to follow Him  - but they gained an eternal family.  They birthed countless spiritual children  and the work they did for God's Kingdom reaped eternal rewards! How many of us, if Jesus walked by and said, simply, "Come, follow Me", how many of us would leave our homes, our families,  our jobs  - and follow Him?

For too many of us  - Babylon has caught us in it's web of deceit  - full of lies  - and we're stuck fast. We'll make all sorts of excuses as to why we're not obeying the call of God on our lives  - not the least of which is this  - we'll convince ourselves that going to our local church  of choice IS obeying God's call on our lives  - we convince ourselves  they are one and the same. Jesus never called a single disciple to sit in their local Synagogue   - He told them to go. 

And believe me  - your local pastor of choice will encourage this deciet  - that attending his church is obedience to God's will for your life. God may send you somewhere for a season   - but it's never the end of your walk of faith,  merely a rest stop on the highway of your life. 

So, tell me  - what's your excuse? What's holding you back from obeying God's command to "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature"? To baptize them and cast devils out of them? Every single man in Scripture,  who accomplished anything of consequence for God  - was led out of their homeland or place of comfort.  Every one. Are you greater than them? Are you exempt from the Biblical pattern? Will you forsake all to follow Him? Home and land? Car payment? Even wife and children? Who are you following? Christ or your pastor? Christ or your flesh? Are you seeking to pamper and preserve your flesh or are you laying it down on the altar of His will for you? What will your answer be? Lovest thou these more than Me, My child? What takes precedent over God in your life?