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About Us
About John Fenn
John and Barbara Fenn were born in Kokomo, Indiana and grew up just a few miles from each other. They attended the same kindergarten, went to many of the same neighborhood birthday parties growing up, and had mutual friends. Barb even attended John’s confirmation in the Episcopal church when they were 12 years old.
They began dating as teenagers and were born again together and baptized with the Holy Spirit at age 16. Each attended Indiana University after graduating high school and were then married in 1978. After graduating from Rhema Bible Training Center in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma in 1980, they moved to the Boulder, Colorado area.
Over the next 12 years John served in various capacities including Campus Minister at the University of Colorado in Boulder, pastor, associate pastor, and traveling minister. In late 1992 they (and their 3 sons) moved to Tulsa to become involved with Victory Christian Center, a church of about 10,000 members, Billy Joe and Sharon Daugherty, pastors.
John served as Associate Director of Victory Bible Institute, the Bible school of Victory Christian Center, and then became Executive Director where he served for three years. Resigning in the summer of 2000, he began traveling and teaching in churches and Bible schools all over the country.
In the fall of 2000 Peter Wagner asked John to become the Educational Advisor to the Apostolic Council of Educational Accountability (ACEA), the group of Bible schools around the world affiliated with Peter Wagner and Global Harvest Ministries. He also became a faculty member of the Wagner Leadership Institute (WLI), based out of the World Prayer Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (WLI offers Associate, Bachelor, Masters and Doctorate diplomas granting advanced placement for life and ministry experience)
In December of 2000 John was asked to become the Canadian National Director for WLI and in March, 2001 became the Director of Local Church Seminars, the arm of WLI that takes Wagner Leadership courses into the local church.
John is the author of "Pursuing the Seasons of God" and contributor to Ministries Today magazine. Pursuing the Seasons of God is a book about the ways God leads and guides, highlighted by several visitations from Jesus in which he has taught John many keys of walking with the Father and in the timing of the Spirit. Known for teaching with anointing and by revelation and flowing with the gifts of the Spirit, his heart’s desire is to make known the ways of the Father God.
How CWOWI Began
The seeds of CWOWI were planted in 1992. During a time of prayer the Lord Jesus appeared to John in a visitation and shared some of what he was going to be doing in the future. Part of what he said included a bit of a history lesson. He said that during the Charismatic renewal of the 1960’s and 70’s many people came out of the traditional churches because their needs were not being met and they were hungry for the deeper things of God.
As a result, many ‘para-church’ organizations were raised up and played an important role in the discipling of these new believers. (Two organizations that come to mind are Full Gospel Businessmen’s International and Aglow)
He told him that as a result of that ‘exodus’ teaching and evangelistic organizations soon started Bible schools to train and equip pastors and leaders.
The Lord then told him that many of these pastors and churches that were raised up during that time have now become as ‘structured, rigid, and set on their own agendas as the churches they came from’ and he (John) would again see an exodus from them.
He said that there would again be a move of ‘para-church’ organizations, home prayer meetings, and also home based churches raised up.
He went on to say that many of the ’new’ churches were no longer meeting the needs of the people and the people were looking for ‘depth, relationships, a free flowing move of the Spirit, and leadership that does not play political games’.
Jesus shared how many of his people were not in fellowship anywhere or were dissatisfied where they were because of "hurt, misuse and abuse, politics, and leadership caught up in the things of the flesh." He also added some commentary saying ‘that many of my people are facing the choice of conforming to what is being presented or getting out, not willing to compromise what they know is right.’
At the beginning of 2001 John was seeking the Lord as to what His next move would be. Having observed the ‘hot’ revival centers either cooling or getting spiritually off and not seeing anything on the horizon, this was a matter of prayer being kept on the ‘front burner’ before the Lord.
In early 2001 John was invited to conduct a seminar and minister at a church of about 200 people in the Toronto, Canada area. During the morning worship service John’s eyes were opened to the Spirit realm and he saw Jesus walk over to him saying in part:
"Do not look at the TV and larger media ministries to try to understand what I am doing in my body today. They have a part to play, but they are the visible to the eye veneer of my body that people see. Those that are carnal and immature see the outward appearance and are impressed, thinking these are the height of ministry and where the Spirit is concentrating today. But they are mistaken."
"See what I see, many small churches and ministries investing in relationships, walking in love, pouring their lives into each other, this is where the Spirit is moving today. There is a revolution taking place in my body, a revolution of relationships and discipleship and love. This will affect whole communities and economies."
"See what I see, many churches all over the world in which people are accountable to one another, working through conflicts, walking in love and growing as my disciples. This where the Spirit is moving today."
"Many are running to and fro asking, ‘Where is the next move, what is the next season of the Spirit?’, and I say to you it is under their very noses. They stumble at the supernatural work in their midst and refuse to humble themselves and be taught, because they seek the sensational and that which appeals to the outward man. They fail to recognize the true move of God because it must be spiritually discerned."
He continued: "...you will see this revolution continue to grow and even be recognized by many, but not as a fad or a ‘flashy’ move of the Spirit. The discerning will perceive in their spirits that this is an abiding move, as it has been from the beginning so it must be now. This will be a time of separation within my body. This is the most important point I’m sharing with you today; the true disciples are losing their taste for the shallow and the carnal, and separating themselves from those caught up in the appearance of spirituality. These are my army, the ones no one knows, these are the ones I am raising up, not to be known of man, but to be known of God."
"You are part of this move. This move is not a move of the masses, but of the individual. Make disciples, teach the ways of the Spirit, for many are hungry to truly know me, and the Father. Lead them into intimacy and growth in Me. Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church."
Statement of Faith
We Believe....
THE SCRIPTURES - The Bible is the inspired Word of God, the product of holy men of old who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The New Covenant, as recorded in the New Testament, we accept as our infallible guide in matters pertaining to conduct and doctrine (2 Tim. 3:16; 1 Thess. 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21).
We Believe....
THE GODHEAD - Our God is one, but manifested in three Persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, being coequal (Deut. 6:4;Phil. 2:6).
God the Father is greater than all; the Sender of the Word (Logos) and the Begetter (John 14:28; John 16:28; John 1:14).
The Son is the Word flesh-covered, the One Begotten, and has existed with the Father from the beginning (John 1:1; John 1:18; John 1:14).
The Holy Spirit proceeds forth from both the Father and the Son and is eternal (John 14:16;John 15:26).
We Believe....
MAN, HIS FALL AND REDEMPTION - Man is a created being, made in the likeness and image of God, but through Adam's transgression and fall, sin came into the world. The Bible says "...all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," and "...There is none righteous, no, not one." (Rom. 3:10; 3:23). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was manifested to undo the works of the devil and gave His life and shed His blood to redeem and restore man back to God (Rom. 5:14; 1 John 3:8).
Salvation is the gift of God to man, separate from works and the Law, and is made operative by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, producing works acceptable to God (Eph. 2:8-10).
We Believe....
ETERNAL LIFE AND THE NEW BIRTH - Man's first step toward salvation is godly sorrow that worketh repentance. The new birth is necessary to all men, and when experienced, produces eternal life (2 Cor. 7:10; John 3:3-5; 1 John 5:12).
We Believe....
WATER BAPTISM - Baptism in water is by immersion, is a direct commandment of our Lord, and is for believers only. The ordinance is a symbol of the Christian's identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection (Matt. 28:19; Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12; Acts 8:36-39).
The following recommendation regarding the water baptismal formula is adopted; to wit: "On the confession of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and by His authority, I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen."
We Believe....
BAPTISM IN THE HOLY GHOST - The Baptism in the Holy Ghost and fire is a gift from God as promised by the Lord Jesus Christ to all believers in this dispensation and is received subsequent to the new birth. This experience is accompanied by the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Holy Spirit Himself gives utterance (Matt. 3:11; John 14:16,17; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:38,39; Acts 19:1-7; Acts 2:1-4).
We Believe....
SANCTIFICATION - The Bible teaches that without holiness no man can see the Lord. We believe in the Doctrine of Sanctification as a definite, yet progressive work of grace, commencing at the time of regeneration and continuing until the consummation of salvation at Christ's return (Heb. 12:14; 1 Thess. 5:23; 2 Peter 3:18; 2 Cor. 3:18; Phil. 3:12-14; 1 Cor. 1:30).
We Believe....
DIVINE HEALING - Healing is for the physical ills of the human body and is wrought by the power of God through the prayer of faith, and by the laying on of hands. It is provided for in the atonement of Christ, and is the privilege of every member of the Church today (James 5:14,15; Mark 16:18; Isa. 53:4,5; Matt. 8:17; 1 Peter 2:24).
We Believe....
RESURRECTION OF THE JUST AND THE RETURN OF OUR LORD - The angels said to Jesus' disciples, "...this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." His coming is imminent. When He comes, "...the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air..." (Acts 1:11; 1 Thess. 4:16,17).
Following the Tribulation, He shall return to earth as King of kings, and Lord of lords, and together with His saints, who shall be kings and priests, He shall reign a thousand years (Rev. 5:10;20:6).
We Believe....
HELL AND ETERNAL RETRIBUTION - The one who physically dies in his sins without accepting Christ is hopelessly and eternally lost in the lake of fire and, therefore, has no further opportunity of hearing the Gospel or repenting. The lake of fire is literal. The terms "eternal" and "everlasting," used in describing the duration of the punishment of the damned in the lake of fire, carry the same thought and meaning of endless existence as used in denoting the duration of joy and ecstasy of saints in the Presence of God (Heb. 9:27; Rev. 19:20).
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