In addition, the elders' meetings should be conducted in spirit. Many times, the elders' meetings have become habitual gatherings week after week. Because of their involvement in the discussion of affairs, these elders have neglected living in the spirit. As a result, the meetings become dead and dry, and there is no freshness or anointing in them.

To be in spirit is to be in God's presence. It is to allow God to rule within us. Once we are in spirit, there is no need to be an authority any longer; we become an authority automatically. Where there is God's presence, there is authority. Never forget that authority is simply God Himself. Without God's presence, we will lose this authority. Hence, all the time we have to learn to live in the spirit, to touch the sense of the spirit, to act in the spirit, and to speak in the spirit.

We have mentioned before that we have to be in love and that love is authority transformed. Now we are saying that we have to be in spirit and that life is authority transformed. When you learn to touch the affairs of the church in spirit and to handle the affairs of the church in spirit, you will impart to others a sense of life. Once you touch something, you handle something, others will feel that there is life. Once you stand up to speak or make an announcement, others will feel that there is life. Once you explain something or make some arrangements, others will also feel that there is life. This is because you are doing everything in spirit. Life is authority transformed. When there is life with a person, authority is surely with him also. When life comes to an individual, or a group, or an environment, authority is there also. Life is authority transformed.

For this reason, the elders need to learn to be the authority, and they need to learn to live in the spirit. Not only do they need to be in spirit in their daily life, but in all the managing, moves, words, expressions, and even attitudes in the church, they have to be in spirit.