Recently, I had the privilege of being asked to share a few words about the Spiritual history of Kansas City starting in the 1960s and what I believe the Lord is now doing in this city. It was at a meeting with a small group of Chinese church leaders, some who now live in the Kansas City area, others were from China and Canada.
We were in agreement as to what the Lord is now doing and his purpose for rebuilding His church here. To accomplish His goal we talked about the need for effective Spiritual Warfare and what it takes to achieve that.
We talked about a church that operates in both the Word and the Spirit.
The Pattern From the Start
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” (Genesis 1:1-3)
The Spirit of God hovered until the Word was spoken, “Let there be light.” The Spirit was present, but without the Word, did not act. The Word was declared, but it required the Spirit’s power to perform it.
Creation itself was a joint effort. The Word and the Spirit accomplished the Father’s purpose. They were never meant to be separated.
Fast forward to the ministry of Jesus, and the pattern repeats with unmistakable clarity. He was full of the Spirit, He returned in the power of the Spirit, and He declared, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.” (Luke 4:1, 4:14, 4:18)
Jesus spoke words that were Spirit and life (John 6:63). He did not speak lifeless doctrine; He released living words charged with the power of the Spirit. He quoted Scripture relevant to every situation, and at times explained what the Father actually meant. He did so in the power of the Holy Spirit. There was no competition between the Word and Spirit, there was no division. Jesus embodied the perfect partnership of Word and Spirit. He is willing to do the same today, if we will let him.
The early church did not miss this connection. They “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine/teaching (Acts 2:42). When the believers prayed, the place where they were meeting shook, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31). Word and Spirit united, inseparable, advancing the kingdom.
This is what the Father wants. This is what he requires of us.
When Word and Spirit Are Separated
When the Word is emphasized without the Spirit, the church devolves into intellectualism, legalism, and eventually a joyless orthodoxy that can recite the creeds but cannot heal the sick. Paul warned the Corinthians about this: “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6). A Bible weaponized without the Spirit is deadly, it just kills the wrong people.
However, when the Spirit is emphasized without the Word, things get weird fast. Emotionalism takes over. Experiences trump doctrine. Prophetic impressions are treated like divine mandates, even when they contradict Scripture. And somehow, nobody stops to ask if it’s actually in the Book. John warns us, “Test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1).
Jesus confronted the imbalance between Word and Spirit when He answered a question posed by the Sadducees, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29). The Sadducees were not ignorant of the Scriptures. They were well-versed in the Torah, but were Word-only giving them significant limitations and biases that misshaped their understanding of Scripture and ultimately blinded them to key spiritual realities.
Knowing one without the other always leads to deception.
The Enemy’s Strategy: The Great Divide
The separation of Word and Spirit in the Church isn’t a modern problem. It is an ancient, calculated strategy that’s been running since the first century. Satan knows he cannot stop the spread of the Gospel, so he fragments it. He divides what God joined, Word and Spirit. His goal is to keep new believers immature, unequipped, and sidelined. Few, if any, Word churches or Spirit churches have accomplished equipping all their members for the work of the ministry, or helping them step into their calling and using their gifts.
Fragmented teaching produces fragmented people. When the Word is separated from the Spirit, believers may hear some truth but never walk in power, or they may pursue power but never be anchored in truth. Either way, the result is the same, immaturity and missed purpose.
This divide has not merely persisted; it has dominated. Since the first apostolic age, very few movements have successfully tied the Word and Spirit together. Satan’s fingerprints are all over this, but he hasn’t worked alone. Church leaders, whether through fear, pride, theological bias, or institutional self-preservation, have often been willing collaborators. Word-centered leaders, afraid of emotionalism and disorder, have barricaded themselves behind their doctrinal walls. Spirit-centered leaders, wary of quenching the Spirit, have allowed subjective, unscriptural experiences to go unchecked. Both groups have been expertly played.
A History of Pendulum Swings
Church history is littered with movements that started right and ended wrong. The Reformation recovered the Word, but sidelined the Spirit. Pentecostalism and then the Charismatic Renewal reawakened the power of the Spirit but stumbled into shallow theology and questionable practices. Word people fear strange fire. Spirit people, cold, dead orthodoxy. And since there is a broken union between Word and Spirit, believers are forced to choose between what appears to be life in the Spirit or stability in the Word, but never both, until now.
The Father Is Restoring the Balance
What we are seeing in this hour is not just a new movement; it’s a restoration to the original church, Jesus’ church. The church of Paul and Peter, James and John, Martha and Mary. The Father is not content to let His Son’s Church limp along with partial power or half-truth. He is reintroducing the Church to its original operating system: the seamless unity of Word and Spirit.
The maturity Paul speaks of in Ephesians 4, the “unity of the faith” and the “measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,” is impossible without both working together. This unity isn’t theoretical; it’s practical, embodied, and essential.
The hour Yeshua (Jesus) described is upon us: “True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24). Not spirit or truth. Not word or power. Spirit and truth. Word and Spirit.
This restoration is not flashy. It’s not trendy. In fact, it may bypass the spotlight entirely. It’s like the foundation of a building, essential, but rarely admired. The Father is raising up apostles and teachers who move in the Spirit and prophets who are anchored in Scripture. He is forging a people who will not tolerate the divorce of Word and Spirit any longer.
And the counterfeits? Oh, they’re still here. Plenty of posers, wannabes, and self-appointed apostles who cheapen the real thing and make it harder for the rest of us to believe it’s possible. In fact, God seems to allow the fakes to surface first—almost as if He lets Satan flood the market with knock-offs before unveiling the genuine article. It’s a recurring pattern. But the presence of the counterfeit does not invalidate the real.
The Father is building something now where the Word and the Spirit will no longer be treated as separate entities. His covenant is still in force: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth” (Isaiah 59:21). Spirit and Word—bound together, for good.
This isn’t optional anymore. The Church will never reach maturity without this restoration. We will never see the full Gospel proclaimed and demonstrated without both. It’s not just a good idea; it’s the only way forward.
Most believers have had enough of dry sermons that break no chains or enough of chaotic meetings that do not produce real fruit. If we join forces with what the Father is doing, we will once again see what Jesus said is the sign of his ministry, and the one he wants to give to each of us. “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” (Matthew 11:4–6)
Let me know what you think.
Blessings,
Rick