The Beliefs of John Robert Stevens

In 1972 the Lord gave Stevens a vision of the future, and he saw two things that were important regarding the Church. The first was that the Body of Christ would become a spiritual family, closely knit together in love. The second thing was that it would become a prophetic community, following the leading of the Holy Spirit.

To Stevens, the family unit was the basic building block of the Kingdom of God; it is a great example of how the relationships within the Body of Christ should function. There were several qualities that Stevens felt made for a solid Christian family, and these qualities should be applied to all relationships in the Body of Christ.

The spiritual family should have a focus on doing the will of God. Stevens believed that this alone would take care of many of the problems that arise in family life.

If you have a family without a purpose, you will have a family with problems; if you have a family fulfilling the divine purpose, you will have a family blessed of the Lord.¹

The spiritual family should have a deep love for one another. As the Bible says, “Love covers a multitude of sins” (I Peter 4:8). They should also learn how to relate and communicate. And the spiritual family should take care of one another, facing the issues of life together in the oneness of the Lord.

Stevens used the term the Father’s family as another way to describe the Kingdom of God. He felt that it was an easier concept to grasp. The Kingdom is truly defined by relationships. As our very salvation was created by the relationship between the Father and His Son, so will all of our lives as believers be predicated on spiritual family relationships.

The term family appears 1,362 times in Stevens’ written materials.
The term relationship appears 2,342 times in Stevens’ written materials.