The original vision of the CEC was to reflect the wisdom and anointing of the early church. Psalm 46:4 was the battle cry: “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy dwelling places of the Most High.” The original passion was to be a church experiencing  and manifesting the full river of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. For that to happen, all the streams that feed the river would have to be embraced.

When you step back and look at the body of Christ, you’ll notice that there are three streams, each carrying an anointing. There is the evangelical stream with the emphasis of spiritual new birth, believing and teaching the Bible as the word of God. Then there is the charismatic stream that believes in and welcomes all the gifts of the Holy Spirit as operative in the everyday experience of the church and  individual believer. Finally, there is the sacramental stream, which embraces the wonderful mystery that something common and natural, can convey, and transmit that which is divine and supernatural.

It is easy to find one of the streams and often two flowing together, but rarely can you find all three streams flowing in the same place, creating a mighty river of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The Book of Acts and the vast records of the early church reveal the body of Christ welcoming all three streams, and thus manifesting the fullest expression of the Holy Spirit. Quite simply, the vision of the CEC is to experience and express that reality.

Ezekiel 47 speaks of a river that carries life and brings healing wherever it flows. Initially, it speaks of water that was measured and became ankle-deep, and then it was measured and became knee-deep, then waist-deep, and eventually water that couldn’t be forded, water over their head, where measuring lines were no longer needed. How sad it would be to settle for ankle-deep water, knee deep, or even waist-deep water when you can get in over your head and flow in and with the river.