by Bruce Hehl
Spiritual Vision for Wheelersburg Fellowship
Introduction
Because of the recent turn of events regarding the Fellowship in Wheelersburg, Ohio, I feel it necessary to reaffirm the original vision the Lord gave me in July of 1994. As most of you remember, we began having meetings in our home the first week of May of 1994. At that time I was uneasy about leading a group of people.
I was in a healing process myself and didn’t know if I was capable of ministering to a body of believers. I pressed the Lord for direction. I knew if we began having meetings in our home I would be responsible to the Lord and the people present.
I have made a lot of mistakes in the past and was tired of old familiar patterns. The Lord made me realize that we needed a game plan. One that would set the course for preparing the people for end-times as well as meeting basic needs for fellowship.
As I pressed the Lord for direction, He gave me a scripture.
“Write down the vision and make it plain on tablets of stone so that a herald may run with it. For the vision awaits for an appointed time, though it may linger wait, for it will come to pass and not fail.”
Habakkuk 2:2-3
The Lord also gave me
“Without a vision the people perish or cast off restraint.”
Proverbs 29:18
Meaning without a prophetic revelation the people fall away.
As I meditated upon the Lord He gave me a vision of how to break old familiar patterns and lead a people into basic Kingdom principles. Here are five main points of the vision the Lord gave me for this fellowship.
Spiritual Vision for Wheelersburg Fellowship
Wheelersburg, my fortress of solitude.
In May of 1992 the Lord moved our family to Wheelersburg, Ohio. Not long after we arrived, the Lord showed me that we would have meetings in our home in the near future. I said to the Lord, “Yea, right God.” That was the last thing I wanted to hear.
I tucked it away and continued with my life. The thing is I felt a freedom here I had not felt anywhere else in Scioto County. I felt safe and protected, almost as if I were some under cover agent spying out the land. In all reality no one knew we were here. I enjoyed that aspect.
Not long after that, the Lord told me that I should patronize the local markets and do all my shopping in Wheelersburg. It was almost as if I were not to leave town for any reason or to do my shopping anywhere else. Everything we needed to sustain a family could be met here in town.
As time passed I noticed that the town began to prosper. New business began to spring up all over. They widened the main street into four lanes and added traffic lights for the growth. Then the Lord reminded me of two different words he gave me almost 14 years ago.
“Marry and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage in the place where I am sending you into exile. Also pray for the peace and prosperity of the city. For if it prospers you too will prosper.”
Jeremiah 29:6
The second word was given through a prophet which said:
“Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city. The Lord will not only anoint you in music, but you will be known for wisdom in preaching the word. The Lord is leading you to a city and in that city you will find peace and prosperity. Pray for that city for the Lord will give you more influence in that city than the mayor himself.”
Prophetic Word
I believe this may in fact be the place the Lord was speaking of.
Breaking Wilderness Patterns and Trends
Many wilderness people are in a habit of grumbling and complaining. They constantly find fault with anyone who does not agree with their own revelation and vision. They rail about the church building system and find fault with everyone associated with it.
Many wilderness saints have wonderful revelation concerning the Body of Christ and revelation for end-times. At the same time, because of being so outspoken about the church building system, they reek with rejection which in turn runs people off. They become gloom and doom prophets constantly frustrated with the condition of others.
We do realize that the cry of the prophet speaks against false religion and hypocrisy. His office by nature is to point out Jesus Christ by sifting through false religion, but the bleating of the sheep is in the ear of the Lord. He must first of all search out lost sheep and prepare them for a shepherd to lead them.
The problem is that most wilderness prophets spend more time finding fault than they do preparing lost sheep for the Great Shepherd. Because of accumulated wounds, rejection, and frustration, they end up running people away from them instead of turning them to the Lord. In time they have no one to share this wonderful revelation with. They isolate themselves and their families from the rest of the body thinking they are the only ones with the truth.
The Lord spoke to me and said that I must be willing to allow Him to break my own wilderness thinking. I need to reach out to those whom I consider to be an unattractive people, meaning lost sheep trapped in false religion within the church building system.
Bringing Balance between the Two Camps
To do this would be to provide an atmosphere where wilderness saints and trapped church building saints hungering for more of the Lord can find a place of common ground. That common ground being fellowship with one another and love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus’s prayer in John 17 was, “That we become one even as He and the Father are one and that we love one another.” This can take place by rightly discerning the true body of Jesus Christ through the Lord’s Table and anointed praise and worship.
In time, as walls come down by walking transparent before the Lord and one another, the revelation of wilderness saints can find its way into the hearts of believers from the church building system. Church building saints are always hungry for new revelation. In this new found bond of fellowship wilderness saints could stand in the gap helping weaker members walk out the cross of Jesus Christ.
This is one of the character flaws of church building saints. They lack the work of the cross in their relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. At the same time, wilderness natured saints would learn patience in dealing with church building saints, thus building and strengthening their own relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. This would serve to bridge the gap of imperfection and allow all to reach their true potential in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Breaking the Spirit of Poverty
Wow! This is a must among most wilderness natured people. This is also one of the reasons wilderness natured saints have become a reproach among the rest of the body.
Isolation and rejection often breed a negative attitude among wilderness saints. This negative attitude is present in almost every aspect of their lives.
This is one of the reasons so many are poor. Many have forgotten basic principles of faith and a positive outlook. Because of years of isolation and rejection many are unable to meet the basic needs of their families. They have exceeding revelation when it comes to what the true storehouse of the Lord is, but lack the resources to sow into the Kingdom of Heaven.
One of the first principles church building saints learn is the principle of sowing and reaping. They are willing to sow into almost anything. As a friend of mine said many years ago, “If it barks Jesus they will throw it a bone.”
They sow into big buildings, ministries, care, homes and so forth, thinking they are really sowing into the Kingdom. Church building saints know how to sow, but wilderness saints know where to sow.
Once again a merging between the two needs to be in order. The foundational revelation of wilderness saints, merged with the positive outlook and faith of church building saints, works to bring balance between the two. I have a major desire for the Lord to break the spirit of poverty among wilderness saints because in many ways they are a store house of the Lord. May the Lord grant favor in this area.
Speaking a Positive Word to the People
Once again the Lord instructed me to break the bread of revelation knowledge in a positive fashion. (I am so tired of negative teaching and prophetic words of rejection and hurt.) Yes, the Lord’s people need correction, but in a positive way. The wrath of God is stored up for the wicked and not the righteous.
This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
1 John 3
This is John’s main topic in his first letter. Basic fellowship and love of one another. The Lord caused me to realize that I needed to lay down great revelation. I should concentrate on laying a basic foundation. The foundation of love and fellowship one with another.
It’s funny, but we try to build a fellowship on great revelation. Sometimes the people have great insight on end-time matters and so forth. But, when it comes to basic foundational teaching the people know very little. That is also why there is so much grumbling and complaining among the people.
The Lord told me to give the people the honey of the word and that it was Hie job to make that same word sour to the stomach, meaning, preach a positive word and allow the Lord to work the cross into the lives of the people. The job of the shepherd is to stand in the gap and lead the people through the dealings of the Lord.
If wilderness saints could catch the vision of this, they could actually speed up the work within the people. New converts could grow in the Lord at a much quicker rate. This would keep the meetings positive and uplifting instead of frustrating and negative.
Closing Remarks
Now, as we sift through the mistakes of the past, I believe we can still reach this goal. Actually the past eight months have solidified my overall vision for this fellowship. The reason the Lord has had me write this down is to use it as a guideline and a foundation for this group.
I ask that you help me in this endeavor by keeping a copy of this close to you. From time to time read over it and ask the Lord if we are following the pattern He has given us.
We are more than friends here. Some of us are closer than family. The word love does not even have a deep enough meaning for some of us. We are members of a society whose pioneers are a great cloud of witnesses, whose King reigns from the heavens above and grants peace to those who are members in the earth. I am always open to your input within my life. I desire all of you to speak into me and my family. I am honored to be called your friend.
My desire is for all of us to build a relationship with one another that is first of all pleasing to the Lord as well as one another. I believe we can all reach a place where none of us will ever feel anything but love from one another.
We will reach a place where rejection and frustration over the world’s condition will have no hold on us. As we free ourselves from frustration, from our own wilderness experience, we too will explore new territories in relationship with one another the world will never know. We will reach a place where unity in the faith and the bond of peace will cause us love for one another. We will become attractive to other members of the Body of Christ who hunger for more of Him and His People.
You are the my family whom I love or trust. You have stood with me through many trials and tribulations. As we always remember it is, “Christ in us the hope of glory.” May the Lord give you wisdom and revelation knowledge to know Him better is my prayer.
In His Great compassion and love for His Elect:
Your friend and partner in Christ Jesus.
Spiritual Vision for Wheelersburg Fellowship
Spiritual Vision for Wheelersburg Fellowship, Friday August 14, 1995