Full Gospel Fellowship
Foundational Purpose

Purpose is the reason for a action being done, or can be synonymous with a goal or the intended result of an action. Purpose is the reason for which something exists or is done, made, or used.

The primary reason the Full Gospel Fellowship came into being was to bring the church community together in unity under the auspices of the “Great Commission” given by Jesus just prior to his ascension into the heavens, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...”

This special kind of unity is described in the prayer of Jesus as recorded in St. John 17:20-23:
“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”

It is interesting to study the reaction of the Prophet, Habakkuk to his vision: “I will stand on my guard post And station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, And how I may reply when I am reproved. Then the Lord answered me and said, Record the vision And inscribe it on tablets, That the one who reads it may run. For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay” (Habakkuk 2:1-3).

The tablet was a square piece of wood overlaid with wax. With a special instrument a person would write out a message in the wax and hang it where it could be publicly read. When someone passed by they could take the message and proclaim it.

Full Gospel Fellowship is a vehicle constructed to carry a two-fold vision: one that endeavors to bring unity among churches and ministers; secondly to take the gospel throughout the world. It is a Fellowship of Churches and Ministers who have agreed to walk together, and not an organization that desires to control churches and ministers.

Full Gospel Fellowship is not a financially based organization, that is, it does not take a percentage of funds from churches or ministers to develop programs, such as, mission projects, retirement and insurance. Nor does it own the property of local churches. Our function is to work at connecting churches with churches, ministers with ministers, people with people.

Otherwise, Full Gospel Fellowship is a union of churches and ministers to enrich and encourage one another spiritually, and refuses to control its members through ownership of their property. Each local church is sovereign to conduct their business as God leads.

Full Gospel Fellowship provides a platform on which ministries can stand together, not compromising personal doctrines, but agreeing not to become controversial with individual doctrinal positions, or attempting to force doctrines upon others. The emphasis is striving to discover how to work together in harmony.

The Holy Spirit is working to bring the physical church into unity, so that God’s kingdom will become glorious on the earth. This vision of “Unity” is of utmost importance.

The unity described in the prayer of Jesus is not speaking the same dialect, wearing the same uniform, going to the same church, not belonging to the same organization, in a doctrine or teaching and it cannot be found in the World Council of Churches.

Unity is “what seemed good to us and the Holy Spirit” (Acts 15:28). This was an agreement that opened the gospel to the world. Unity depends on dealing with the “except clause as recorded in Acts 15:1, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

The “exception clauses” that are found in the bylaws of hundreds of religious organizations have fragmented the church unbelievably over the last 2000 years. If agreement can be made on this fact: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8) and that grace has been supplied through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then a unity can be realized among believers.

Unity is: One mind, agreement, same love, same spirit.

In St. John 17 the following three facts are given:

The Why: This unity is for the purpose that the “world may believe that (the Father) “ sent Jesus into the world.

The How: It is by the impartation of His glory (nature and character) that we can become as one.

The Process: “I in them and You in Me” The Holy Spirit will continue to work in you, putting to death the deeds of the old nature that causes divisions.

The prayer of Christ will come to pass, and many throughout the world are being affected by that prayer.

Unity in the Spirit is immediate upon the exception of Jesus as your personal Savior, but keeping the unity in the natural realm is a process.

Before it can be achieved there must be an enlightened understanding of the Body of Christ. Paul, with his face in the dust of the road to Damascus to arrest believers, received a revelation of the glorified Christ and heard him speak these words, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me” (Acts 9:4)? Paul responded in alarm and desperation, “Who are You, Lord?” Jesus replied, “I am Jesus who you are persecuting...” Paul by persecuting believers was also persecuting Jesus–he had received a revelation of the body of Christ as described in 1 Corinthians 12.

Paul discusses problems that existed in the Corinth Church in his letter to the Romans. There was a doctrine problem about eating certain kinds of food. Should a person follow the law of Moses in regard to certain foods, or were the restrictions lifted in the resurrection of Jesus. Regardless of personal beliefs about the issue, Paul laid forth the principles to maintain unity. Paul wrote: “The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him” (Romans 14:3). “For God has accepted him” is the governing principle for believers and this principle will keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace in the natural realm.

Who is the family of God? The answer is believers. What is the value of each believer? Their value equals the blood of Jesus. Why can believers respect one another? It is because God has accepted each one of them.

How will the body of Christ come together on the horizontal level as they are on the vertical level? Will all the church organizations dissolve into one powerful organism? I am not of that persuasion, however I believe that through divine revelation of seeing one another as part of the same family, believers will begin to work together to take the gospel into all the world and make disciples in all nations.

The prophecy recorded in Ezekiel 37:1-10 helps explain how this can happen on a global scale.

“The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. And He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, {there were} very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, {they were} very dry. And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, Thou knowest." Again He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.' "Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. 'And I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin, and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.'" So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew, and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life."'" So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life, and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.”

It was Ezekiel’s responsibility to release the “words of God”, and as he released God’s will, the bones began to come together supernaturally until a great army stood on their feet. If those who have the revelation of St. John 17 begin to release the words of God concerning the unity of the body of Christ, the supernatural will begin to happen around the globe. Believers will cross the barriers of divisive doctrines and begin to receive one another as children of God, work together in harmony on special projects, love and appreciate one another.

It is God’s purpose to bring his people together as an equipped fighting unit, and as the vision of Ezekiel has described, the church will become an exceedingly great army. What we must do is keep “speaking the will of God and releasing it upon the church.”

A Path to unity and peace is unfolded in Ehesians 2:14-22: “For He Himself is our peace, who made both {groups into} one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, {which is} the Law of commandments {contained} in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, {thus} establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household.”

The cross of Christ removed the barriers that have separated nations, cultures, races, families and marriages. In Christ the hostilities that have separated people that were created by wrong belief systems and doctrines have forever been committed to the grave. Religious, ethnic, national, family and personal hostilities have been dissolved and every separating barrier has been broken down. God’s peace now can be realized! Peace, reconciliation, fellows citizens, and fitted stones are words that express the force of the unity of the Spirit.

Now we are to “only conduct (ourselves) in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” and we are to stand “firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27)

Again Paul writes, “make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose” (Phil 2:2).

Humility is a key teaching in the letter written to the church in Ephesians. Even as Christ emptied Himself out to become a servant, so we as believers ought to do the same.

Unity is another key teaching in this Book. “Striving together”, “being of the same mind,” are phrases that speak of Unity.

The first six chapters of the book of Acts underscored the importance of coming together in unity and speaking the same things in their preaching and in their prayers and the following chapters give the supernatural results of such unity. To advance the pace of unity in the church community there must be commitment to it, a persevering in the face of opposition and a deliberate maintenance program

The benefits of believers networking together is that greater resources will be available. "Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor" (Eccl. 4:11). "Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm but how can one be warm alone" (Eccl 4: 11)? “For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up” (Eccl. 4:10). “And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart” (Eccl. 4:12). “Five of you will chase a hundred (25 times increase), and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand (100 times increase), and your enemies will fall before you by the sword” (Lev. 26:8). "Where there is no guidance, the people fall, but in abundance of counselors there is victory" (Prov 11: 14)

The benefits are clear: Resources, Encouragement, Power, Protection, Counsel!

The Full Gospel Fellowship has committed to affiliate with the vision of Ezekiel, the prayer of Jesus, and the practice of the new nature? And its leadership will continue to crusade for a unified church that will fill the earth with the knowledge of the glory of God.

Leon C Willis