WCI is for fellowship among churches, ministries, and members of like precious faith. That fellowship will be accomplished by networking. The fellowship is bigger than any one of us alone. Unity is not just something to talk about, but something to pursue among the churches.
WCI is for identification. If you notice there are many Charismatic Word churches around us that are not affiliated with any organization or fellowship. Those are the churches we want to bring into fellowship together. It is understandable if a church does not want to be ruled over by a denomination or be limited on what they do or teach in their own church. That is not what Word Churches International is all about. It is about networking of likeminded churches who identify with the teachings of such foundational teachers as Fred Price, Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, T.L. Osborne, Marilyn Hickey, Joseph Prince, Oral Roberts, Joyce Meyers, and many others.
There are certain things that distinguish each denomination such as Baptist, Methodists, Anglicans, Assembly of God, and others (you see this in their statement of beliefs) and there are also things that distinguish Charismatic Word churches which you see in their statement of belief. Charismatic Word Churches each have an established Statement of Belief that is very similar to each other. One difference might be whether it is necessary to speak in tongues or when one can expect to speak in tongues, but all believe that “tongues” are biblical and are utterances of the Spirit from our spirit according to Acts 2. We believe that tongues has value to and in the church and the individual but when or if one speaks in tongues is a personal choice.
The Statement of Belief from which WCI will function is basic. One of those things is the firm belief that the Word of God is just that: THE WORD OF GOD! As such, we believe there is truth and power in that Word from God! We believe the Word teaches “basics of faith”:
–God is love and full of grace and mercy.
–He never changes.
–He is no respecter of persons.
–He does not lie!
–We can always depend on him and his Word!!!
The charismatic faith message says, “We walk by faith and not by sight.”
It says that I will “hold fast to my confession of faith until…”
And, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.”
“Without faith it is impossible to please God.”
“The Word is nigh thee even in your mouth and your heart. That is the word of faith which we preach.”
This Charismatic faith message says that the same Holy Spirit that was poured out on the Day of Pentecost is available today. The same manifestations of the Holy Spirit gifts are available. Healing and deliverance by the power of the Holy Spirit is available to whosoever will put their trust in Jesus. Miracles still occur today by the same Holy Spirit. The gifts in totality are still working by the same Holy Spirit whether it be prophesy, word of wisdom, or word of knowledge or those already named. These gifts are divided to everyone as the Holy Spirit wills.
The faith message says that Jesus came to preach good news to the poor and that he came to set the captive free. He came to heal the broken hearted! Healing of the heart and mind is often necessary for one to be totally free to live the full life that God has for them. Healing of a wounded spirit is necessary to wholeness. That healing is made available through inner healing counseling, teaching, prayer, and workshop settings. A person can be bound though they have made Jesus their Savior. They are not possessed, but they are oppressed. Word Churches International believes that healing and deliverance for the spirit, soul, and body is just as available today as it was in the early church.
WCI believes that one must believe on and confess Jesus Christ for eternal salvation according to Romans 10:6-10. We believe that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2 and that they spoke with tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. This same Holy Spirit baptism is still available to us today. We believe that the name of Jesus has as much power to heal and deliver and save today as in the 3rd chapter of Acts and forward. There is no power shortage and God is no less interested or less able today as then.
God is on the move. We want to be where he is. We began and have served as pastors of Faith Christian Center for over 31 years and will remain until Jesus is through with us. We have been through the fire and even the smell of smoke is not on us.
God commissioned us to do what we are doing in forming this fellowship of churches. There is power in unity. We can do more collectively than alone.
All of our youth need to be united. They need to know they have others of like faith that believe that God is just as able and willing today to equip them as he ever was. Arkansas is our first stop but we already have churches in 3 other states wanting to know more about what we are doing in Arkansas thorough WCI.
In Genesis 11 the peoples’ hearts were united and set on an evil mission. God said, “Let us go down and see what’s going on.” What he saw was a “united people” and he said “nothing they have determined to do will be withheld from them.” THAT IS POWERFUL!
He confused their language therefore, they could not accomplish their evil goal because God, himself, had said that NOTHING they had set their hearts to do would be impossible because of their unity. They were all saying the same thing.
Now fast forward to the Day of Pentecost after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. They were in the upper room in “one mind and one accord.” Their thoughts were for good, not evil. They were all in one mind and one accord and God gave them a language of heaven. A language of the Spirit. They were all speaking of the goodness of God. WOW! God united them! They turned the world upside down…for good because they were of one mind and one accord. We can turn our cities to Jesus through unity.
Unity is powerful. We are all of like precious faith, yet we are still fragmented and independent of each other. Many times we are afraid that what we have will be taken, or that we will lose control after all the hard work or we won’t be recognized. I understand those fears and so does God. BUT that is not going to happen to those who come together with WCI. WCI is about fellowship and identifying as a group of Word churches, thus, empowering ourselves and helping each other. How? Through unity, caring, praying, fellowshipping and supporting each other. You will not lose any independence. You are simply joining forces with like kind. We are of the same “company of believers.”
Some larger churches may think they do not need this because they have a large congregation, but that is not so. They need us and we need them.
We pray that you will consider what has been shared in this letter about WCI as an instrument of unity and networking. We will be glad to answer any questions you may have. We want to see our churches come together for unity and fellowship so very much. God has put this mission in our hearts and we hope you will take time to ask God about your part. We cannot do this without you.
In Christ’s love for the Church,
Pastors Gene and Betty Gilliam