When Churchianity fails you . . .
My core belief system, that is unfortunately overlooked by mainline traditional Christianity, is that God has intended Mankind to cast aside self, to set aside independence, and to absolutely submit to the Creator God of this universe. It is not, nor never will be some religious system's job to "fix" anyone. Religion systems are Mankind's independence asserting godliness in spite of God's request that we have no idols. Our churches, our clergy, our religious tradition and its mantra have ALL become our idols. We submit to them instead of the Lord of the Universe. And we wonder why religion fails to really change the world . . . So, it is the "overcomer" that sees this and turns from religious systems of men to go out into the wilderness to find The Christ, just as Abraham left his father's idols to meet YHWH in the great unknown.
Many Christians, (those seeking the depths of God), will experience a
dark horror of the soul, a night, a desert, a wilderness, a crisis
wherein they seem to lose their way, heaven is silent and peace is gone.
An overcomer will definitely pass through this forsaken time but on the
other side is an inner strength after the test.
After many years of striving to be holy, an honest person will have to
acknowledge as the scriptures teach -- we are not able to reach any
place of self-made holiness nor will the God of all Holiness accept what
we achieve outside of His offer of holiness through Christ. Anyone who
approaches the Holy of Holies without the Spirit of God's grace
transforming them, merely deceives themselves with nothing but "works of
the flesh". It is also called self-righteousness, again fostered by
religion itself.
Religious leaders and their Godless ideas have given us such savage
madness as the Catholic Church's Crusades and the Islamic holy war or
Jihad. These are prime examples of how the Adversary, Satan or Eblis use
Mankind's religions to maim, kill, lie and destroy. Such is much of
religious dogma. It is noise that masks the truth of God and thus leads
one into a confusing darkness of lies.
God has sought throughout history for a Bride from Mankind itself to be
intimately joined in spirit with Christ. This Bride is not the ekklesia
or Christ's Church as traditional mainline Christainity teaches. The
Bride is composed of the overcomers, those who refuse the bogus ideas of
churchianity and religiosity. In the book of the Revelation we find the
overcomers and the Bride who has made herself ready for Christ. This is
a great mystery to most.
God has not forgotten those saints still in the "system". He has a plan for all of us. He is calling His saints "out" to Him. It just takes longer for some folks than others. It took me 14 years to finally leave even knowing the correct way to gather unto Him. To meet as first century believers did, with ALL members of the body functioning, (not being spectators at a church program being followed), under the sole leadership of the Spirit with Christ as the head, is the real way to worship and how saints are truly built up. There is a much better way than what churchianity has to offer.
Currently, I gather with the other members of a "house church". I am against the whole current system of traditional Christianity with the division of the body of Christ into clergy and laity. That way of doing church is unscriptural and is a left over system from Judaism and Catholicism -- and is not what God wants for His people now.
I grew up in a Baptist church, was saved in my living room reading
Matthew when I was 19. I then became a Christian school teacher in a
fundamentalist independent Baptist church, (which almost destroyed my
faith). Years later I came across the eye-opening teachings of T. Austin
Sparks, Watchman Nee, Stephen Kaung and Lance Lambert. I also read Viola's Pagan Christianity. And nearly 14 years later, I finally left organized religion for good.
We don't need the juggernaut of organized religion to build Christ's
kingdom. He is doing that everyday in spite of organized religion. To
have his saints, (ekklesia), properly grow individually and
cooperatively, there is a much higher way than being a pew-bound,
spectator while the preacher and the ministry team do their thing on
Sunday mornings.
The way we currently meet is very similar to Watchman Nee's "Little Flock" in communist China. They met in homes and did so in spite of persecution. We may see that same persecution in our country one day. (Socialism is on the rise in the US.)
Watch this video and then continue reading:
https://youtu.be/HoOGCNTDo-g
Tithing is an Old Testament concept. Jesus never taught such
legalism. In mainline religion we all were groomed to believe tithing
was a spiritual duty. The Old Testament was always quoted when the
church had a special need. It just wasn't biblical at all. As
Christians, we are not to give money to pay clergy staff salaries,
building programs, to buy new hymnals, a new organ, a new van, to
resurface the parking lot, etc, etc. For many years I did just that,
giving thousands of dollars away, thinking I was doing God's will. Never
again!
We are to give liberally as there is a need. I have a widow living with my wife and I. And as I or our gathering see a need, we give. But there is no offering plate passed and no automatic deduction from laity's checking accounts as many churches are doing in this pandemic situation.
My hard and fast answer is: "Be led by the Spirit. He will guide us in what we are to do daily.
Some of my history:
I come from an Independent, Fundamental Baptist background. As staff there, I went on soul-winning visitations twice weekly among other duties, teaching, choir, JV soccer coach and so on ad nauseum. Yes, I supported foreign missionaries in my tithe. I even attended soul-winning seminars. I was properly into it.
In this religious environment so rife with legalism, I soon saw the
inherent results of being judgemental. That guy's, (me), hair is getting
too long, his boot heels are too high, he has too much tint in his
prescription glasses and it is rumored he listens to popular secular
music. Oh my! Yes, I was such a rebel. Not only that, I learned to be
legalistic and was soon judging sinners everywhere and carnal Christians
too. Glory to God He delivered from all that decades ago!
I envisage the day when the Lord will return and say, "My oh my! Look at
all these fine churches buildings and cathedrals. Nice gyms too. And
these really are nice asphalt parking lots! My Millennial Kingdom can so
use all of these. By the way, did you have any money left over to take
care of the orphans and widows? Did you avoid the error of dividing my
flock into clergy and laity? You didn't. Why not? etc etc etc"
God is not pleased with what men have done to His original idea of pure religion and His plan for the ekklesia.
The idea of clergy versus laity is for the Old Testament, Levites and the people, etc. old news . . . After Christ came that earlier set up given to Moses was all done away with. Sadly, well-meaning religious men re-instituted the idea of clergy vs laity. Still, there is not to be pastors, ministers, priests, etc, etc and then the people.
God naturally raises up men, (plurality), as shepherds over the flock, not to be in charge
but to watch over the flock. They "look over" the situation, monitor
things, moderate, and such and yes, that is my view about leadership.
An example: I have visited the wonderful Richmond Fellowship in VA, USA,
where Stephen Kaung (close friend to Watchman Nee and translator of
Nee's writings used to attend, now with the Lord), and several men there have duties as "elders"
there but no one man is in charge -- not even that dear saint, Stephen Kaung, was considered the leader. He would never
accept such! And everything works out fine that way.
It's how our home church functions as well. Last time I was in a similar
fellowship, the "elder" brothers decided we needed leadership and they
invited a well-known man to come and meet with us. He arrived and took
total control. It was an awful experience and well over half of the
saints left the fellowship. God spoke spoke to me in a dream and I left
that next Sunday after speaking to "the man" and the remaining saints.
Leadership exerting control or "lording over" a gathering never works
out like God intended. He didn't want Israel to have a king, He himself
wanted to be their King. But men just refuse to let the Spirit of God be
their only guide. And thus a religious deadening comes in among us as
we warm the pew.
Leadership quite obviously denotes one who leads or is in charge ergo the guy at the top. According to my "confusion" (of which there is none whatsoever) -- no one person is ever to be "over the flock", in charge as such. That idea is not supported by the New Testament -- it's just the way have done things for millennia and it has cemented itself into the societal psyche. "Pastor" actually meaning a shepherd, is one that tends to the flock, shows them the best place to eat and protects them from danger and is willing to lay his life down for them -- in essence to put them above his own life. When have you heard of a shepherd declaring, "I am in charge here." No, there is a natural understanding, a cohesive order. The sheep never hire a shepherd nor pay his salary.
Ephesians 4:10-12
Darby Translation
10 He that descended is the same who has also ascended up above all the heavens, that he might fill all things;
11 and *he* has given some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers,
12 for the perfecting of the saints; with a view to [the] work of [the] ministry, with a view to the edifying of the body of Christ;
Yes, I believe in the members of the body exercising their gifts as
given by the Spirit. But these are no "offices" one applies for and thus
is hired. These are on-the-earth, expressions of Christ for the
perfecting of the saints. This is a very simple concept about how the
Body of Christ functions with only Christ as head. If you read the writings of Watchman Nee, Stephen Kaung, Lance Lambert, and T. Austin Sparks this is all explained very clearly.
"The system of fathers of the world church, the clergy system of the state church, and the pastoral system of the independent churches are all the same in nature. They are all Nicolaitans. In the Bible there are only brothers. There is the gift of a pastor, but no system of pastors. The pastoral system is man's tradition. If the children of God are not willing to return to the position of that in the beginning, no matter what they do, it will not be right." ~ Watchman Nee
"What is the Church? It is Christ in living
union with His own, that wheresoever two or three are gathered together
in His name there He is in the midst. That is the Church. You do not
build special buildings and call them "the Church." You do not have
special organisations, religious institutions, which you call "the
Church." Believers in living union with the risen Lord constitute the
Church. This is the reality, not the figure. That is to say, His flesh,
human limitation, is done away. Now in union with Christ risen all human
limitations are transcended. This is one of the wonders of Christ risen
as a living reality. We are brought into a realm of capacities which
are more than human capacities, where, because of Christ in us, we can
do what we never could do naturally.
We have never followed a pattern discovered on earth. Either we were
inculpable ignorance, blissful blindness, or providential innocence, but
we knew not of the same order obtaining already. So far as we were
concerned it seemed as though the Lord was beginning with us at zero.
Neither had we studied the New Testament with the object of trying to
formulate a New Testament church or its order. We have since come to
believe that the New Testament does not give a full and final pattern
for reproduction and imitation." ~ T. Austin Sparks
"Don't try to set up anything, just come
together and seek the Lord together and let the Spirit of the Lord
(lead), don't try to have a sort of idea of what you are going to do or
what you are going to be. Just start from the very foundation as
believers coming together around the Lord, seeking the Lord. Don't have
any kind of definite idea as to what will transpire and if you can do
that then you give the Spirit of God freedom to move among you towards
that which the Lord himself is after. You have to start entirely from
the very beginning; don't follow the pattern of the past. Really start
as simple Christians, that is the way to do." ~ Stephen Kaung
Listen to this when you have time:
Lastly, if have never heard of Frank Viola's Pagan Christianity then download and read it here: https://www.theology.kiev.ua/images/afiles/0000412.pdf
The church (ekklesia) was never to be an organization, (a company
really, with bills, earnings, building plans, employees and by-laws and
so forth.) The ekklesia is a living, breathing, spiritual entity, an
organism that exists in the heavenlies and in the physical realm
simultaneously. She may or may not need a roof over her head at times
but she never looks or functions anything like a company and she
certainly is not best suited to such religious constraints that
modern-day Christendom has attempted to put her in.
Those who follow and love the current clergy vs laity system are comfortable with such until God gives them revelation of the TRUE way to gather. I used to be in the system up to my neck until it nearly drowned me. I can't fully explain here my revelation to "come out unto Him" to anyone here. I just KNOW it is truth and no quoting of assorted scriptures seeming to support a clergy vs. laity system will ever sway me or the 100s of thousands of believers worldwide who now know otherwise.
Yes, I believe in the members of the body exercising their gifts as given by the Spirit. But these are no "offices" one applies for and thus is hired. These are on-the-earth, expressions of Christ for the perfecting of the saints. This is a very simple concept about how the Body of Christ functions with only Christ as head. If you read the writings of Watchman Nee, Stephen Kaung, Lance Lambert, and T. Austin Sparks this is all explained very clearly.
I told some friends of mine about my discussion here of the ekklesia vs. the organized traditional church. I asked them to be frank and share their opinions with me so I could post them here.
Here they are, in their unedited frankness:
I recall wanting to really love the Lord,
and not sure how to know my own heart. My emotions changed from one day
to the next. I read the scripture "if you love me you will keep my
word." I just decided to try to worship Him as the scripture says, using
the early church examples. Just trying not to add to nor take away from
it. This is how I know I am loving Him. It is pretty simple really.
Hope this makes sense. ~ sister JT
and from another . . .
Well to start with I would say the
spiritual difference is the difference between going out in your back
yard and playing on your Kids swing set or going to Disney World! The
real church (ekklesia) is God's idea, the organized church is man's
idea, which is really Satan's idea. Satan has a counterfeit for
everything God created. Christ's ekklesia is an organism, where
traditional church is an organization. The traditional church is about
buildings, offerings, numbers, doctrinal correctness, proper acting,
rules and regulations. Ekklesia is about Jesus and living for others.
The organized church is death, Jesus Christ is Life. Without a
revelation from the Lord, people won't know the difference. ~ brother BL
And from another . . .
. . . just don’t even feel that I’ve
really worshipped when all I’ve done is what somebody else has told me
to do in a “church service”. ~ brother JI
And from another . . .
We just have to only be lead by the Holy Spirit in worship and not by a man, etc. ~ brother LT
And still another . . .
The church is people organized by love to
fellowship in the eternal life. We recognize the Life of God in each
other and obey the commandment that we love one another as He has loved
us. We are His friends and friends of one another if we do what He
commands. This is the fellowship of the Saints and Eternal Life. ~ AF
And from another . . .
This dear brother YL, actually created a video to speak to all those
concerned about the church. It is just under 28 minutes long. Watch
and/or download it here:
https://3leducation.com/mp4/What-is-the-Church.mp4
And finally, in brief, I again share my view of the ekklesia:
The church
(ekklesia) was never to be an organization, (a company really, with
bills, earnings, building plans, employees and by-laws and so forth.)
The ekklesia is a living, breathing, spiritual entity, an organism that
exists in the heavenlies and in the physical realm simultaneously. She
may or may not need a roof over her head at times but she never looks or
functions anything like a company and she certainly is not best suited
to such religious constraints that modern-day Christendom has attempted
to put her in. And frankly, there is no confusion at work here. Unless
you want to assert a revelation from God is confusion.
The idea of
clergy versus laity is for the Old Testament, Levites and the people,
etc. is old news . . . After Christ came that earlier set up given to
Moses was all done away with. Sadly, well-meaning religious men
re-instituted the idea of clergy vs laity. Still, there is not to be
pastors, ministers, priests, etc, etc and then the people.
Leadership
exerting control or "lording over" a gathering never works out like God
intended. He didn't want Israel to have a king, He himself wanted to be
their King. But men just refuse to let the Spirit of God be their only
guide. And thus a religious deadening comes in among us as we warm the
pew.
I want to
thank my brothers and sister for answering my request to share on the
ekklesia. They are from all over the US and one is from Canada.
And from another dear saint . . .
I believe Scripture teaches us the same
truths about the body of Christ from a variety of perspectives, all
asserting that the church of Jesus Christ is a living organism into
which members are born the moment they are born again by the Spirit as
Jesus describes to Nicodemus in John 3.
I believe this moment of rebirth is described in Rom.6 as the moment
in which God unites the believer with Christ in the likeness of His
death, burial, and resurrection and that every believer is now raised
free, not free to sin but freed from the power of sin to now offer up
ourselves entirely to the God of our Salvation as His servants —His
instruments—to demonstrate His righteousness as the recipients of His
righteousness and in so doing, to shine forth a living testimony of the
testimony of the risen Lord Jesus Christ upon the earth in each
generation until He comes. I believe the Scripture explains from yet
another perspective in 1 Cor.12, that the Holy Spirit baptizes each
genuine believer at the moment they come to faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, equipping each member with special supernatural gifts of
specialized grace enabling every believer to serve in specific
ministries not from natural talents or abilities or skills but in the
power and abilities of God Himself. As illustrated by the metaphor of
the human body in 1 Cor.12 the gifts are determined by God Himself
according to His design for His body, they are permanent and are not
interchangeable. Each Spiritual gift is a shining forth of the Holy
Spirit in service (ministry) to Christ the Lord, for the edification of
His body (not for self) and for the glory of God alone. Understanding
God’s design for His body enables us to recognize and fully appreciate
Christ in one another without envy or pride in the matter of ministry in
the church.
I believe the Bible is very clear in that there is neither male nor
female, neither Jew nor Gentile in Christ, I.e. in the church, but that
we are all one new man in Christ. I Pet. 2 teaches that every believer
is part of a kingdom of priests to God who serve as priests to God under
the headship of our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Rom.8
teaches that every believer lives by the same power that raised Jesus
from the dead, and every believer is to be led by the Holy Spirit of
God. The entire book of Heb. explains that the old covenant has been
made obsolete by the new and eternal covenant which is in the blood of
our Lord Jesus Christ (see Matt.26:28; Heb.9:20; Heb.10:14-18). Heb.12
explains that we now come to worship by a new and living way...and
Heb.13 calls every believer to suffer the Lord’s reproach, the same
reproach Jesus suffered in rejection, we are to suffer with Him outside
the camp of obsolete and empty religion which is devoid of life by the
Spirit of God.
As is true of any living organism the coordinated orchestration of the individual parts sharing one life determines proper functioning of the whole. I believe God has ordained—and explained sufficiently—that pertaining to both family and church affairs as the Scripture clearly teaches that Lord Jesus Christ is head over all things to the church (1 Cor.11, Col.1). Every believer is to be led by the Holy Spirit of God (Rom.8). However, God is also a God of order—as the metaphor of the human body in 1 Cor. 12 also illustrates and 1 Cor.11 explains. In the home and in the church God has ordained that oversight in governing church affairs effecting the body and the testimony of Jesus are a responsibility entrusted to men. Beginning with the first man, Adam, even previous to the fall, we find men are placed as heads over their own households and thus we see the principle of Governmental leadership being the revealed will of God throughout the history of Israel as well as His church.
The men in whom God places responsibly for oversight in His church are
not merely volunteers; they are not men who sought a career in religion
nor men hired to “take care of church affairs”, or even men selected by
popular vote to take care of church affairs, but Spirit filled men
attested to by gifting by God with abilities equipping them for the
service of shepherding God’s people and attested to by the body’s
recognition of the edifying service they’re providing within the body.
In the new covenant of grace God has given no regulations of worship, no
dietary law, no order of priesthood as in the covenant of Law. He has
given us His Word and His Spirit by which God Himself comes to us and
reveals Himself to us. Christ has fulfilled every requirement of the
Levitical Law although there are spiritual principles which are eternal
and the things written beforehand are for our example and instruction
upon whom the end of the age has come. The moral law of God exhibits
God’s Own nature, therefore was previous to the covenant of Law and
continues to be the righteous requirement of a Holy God for all
eternity.
The N.T. Shows us that the saints in Christ did not adhere to the Law but met together in simplicity, in a very natural way, to pray, remembering the Lord’s death until He comes again, sharing meals, hearing the apostle’s teaching, sharing one another’s needs, and generally growing together in the grace and true knowledge of the Lord. We find no Examples of spectators, no visitors invited to the gathering of the church for worship, but rather the Word spread through evangelism in places other than the gatherings for worship and the Lord added to church those who were being saved.
Those who had been saved were baptized in water to signify their union
with Jesus Christ in the likeness of His death, burial, and
resurrection. The examples shown us in the N.T. as well as the
instruction given shows meetings of the church were all very simple
gatherings of saints meeting in their homes. There are no Church
buildings, no choir, no worship leaders, no building programs, no
priestly rituals, no church staff, no church bulletins, no kid’s church,
no teen program, no religious “holidays”, no church traditions other
than water baptism of believers and that which was called the Lord’s
supper.
What did a meeting of the church look like, what did they do when the
saints met together? Acts gives instruction as well as shows us
spiritual principles in the examples of HOW evangelism and gatherings of
the church were conducted. The epistles provide instruction,
exhortation, and warning, as well as examples in how the church was to
worship, how to do ministry edifying the body, raising families, doing
business, safe-guarding from error, missionary outreach —literally all
of life. 1 Cor.14 best describes (I think) what N.T. Worship was
intended to look like, how a “worship service” was to be
conducted...freely, as led by the Holy Spirit.
A study of church history is necessary to understand how what we see in
the N.T. Church in Scripture contrasted with what has morphed into the
common practice in denominations and to a lesser degree in
nondenominational churches (some call themselves “fellowships” or
“assemblies”) around the world today. (“Miller’s Church History” is my
highest recommended source for an accurate and detailed account of this
history.)
But to be brief, during the time of the Roman Empire the Emperor
Constantine and his mother had some kind of religious experience
resulting in the Roman Empire (the known world at the time) being
declared a The Holy Roman Empire. All citizens of Rome were required to
become “Christian”. Under the rule of Rome was every religion, complete
with rituals, traditions, their religious orders, from priests to
nunneries, festivals, idols revered publicly, etc., which people in
various segments of the Empire had practiced for generations—including
Judaism—was thrown into a great big religious stew-pot, stirred up,
simmered over the centuries, cooked up and fed to the people as the new
Romanized Christianity. Rather than attempt to abolish the pagan
practices of every false religion so dear yet (so dear to the pagan
beliefs yet so deadly) it was decided to simply declare them all
“conquered by Rome and baptized Christian”.
The pagan goddess was renamed “Mary”, Mary was declared to have been
born-lived-died-ascended without sin just as Christ Himself, and Mary
was declared co-redeemer with Christ, saints were prayed to as
intercessors by those who believed in ancestor worship, and all the
pagan festivals were renamed in celebration of saints and even the Lord
Jesus Himself. The unsaved pagans of the Empire were happy to continue
enjoying their traditions as usual and only those pesky born again
people refused to honor “Christ” by their participation in pagan
practices.
By the time of the Spanish Inquisition Roman Catholicism had erected a
mighty fortress that was a stronghold of fear raised and imprisoning the
souls of the realm; the religion of Rome was the only acceptable
religion. The only people who openly defied the Pope (him who served as
head of Catholicism) were marked out for severe persecution and or
death. The only people willing to risk the wrath of Rome were those who
managed to be saved even in the midst of such darkness. Good, loving
parents driven by fear taught their babies to never question the
“church”, just believe what ever the “church” said and do whatever the
“church” required. For centuries only the Roman priests were permitted
any portion of Scripture for fear of death, and even after the printing
of Bibles Catholics were taught that only priests were able to
understand the Bible and every loyal Catholic remains dependent upon the
Pope to this day to interpret and modify God’s Word as he sees fit.
That the Jewish weekly Sabbath is Saturday is a fact. That the Jewish
day begins and ends at sunset is a fact. That our Lord was crucified,
buried, and raised on the 3rd day is a repeated fact from God’s Word.
That He was hastily laid in the tomb at the end of Passover Day just
before the high holy day, a yearly Sabbath (also known as the day of
preparation—as the Feast of Unleavened Bread ) began at sunset is
undisputed. That the weekly Sabbath followed the yearly Sabbath that
year so that our Lord remained undisturbed in the grave 3 days is
undisputed. That the 3rd day ended as nightfall began and the Lord
Jesus was seen alive early in the morning the day after the
Sabbath—Sunday morning— is also undisputed. Yet, few understand that
Rome made a little calendar change a few centuries later, departing the
resurrection of Jesus from Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread
entirely. The Church has “celebrated” the crucifixion of Jesus Christ
on what it calls “Good Friday” ever since...and has celebrated His
resurrection on what it calls “Easter Sunday”.
Does it matter? The very word “Easter” is a transliteration of one of
the pagan goddesses. Chicks are not resurrected—chicks are hatched.
How many well-churched people even ask why colored eggs form rabbits and
are celebrated at Easter with egg hunts in the church yard? But does
it matter, as long as we believe He is risen?
The saints on the Mayflower came to the New World to escape religious
persecution not from Rome but from the Church of England, which had
become a milder form of religious dictatorship afflicting the saints of
God with a whiter shade of persecution. The Mayflower folk didn’t
celebrate Dec.25th as the Lord’s birthday—nor did they celebrate
Halloween—and no one asks why?
Not for a couple of hundred years, until traditions largely brought in
by Catholic immigrants in the 1800’s, were those days ever celebrated
in the US. Does it matter as long as we know God the Son was
incarnated, Christ is honored, we know He’s the true light Who has
defeated all the powers of darkness, and the people are happy? Does it
matter?
The Lord Jesus says He will build His church, and He will. So? What is
wrong with church buildings, skilled professional pastors, programs
prepared in advance, a band and singers to lead every song, someone to
tell us when to kneel, when to sit, when to stand, when to pray in a
“worship service”, so we needn’t even think about what to say or what to
sing or what to pray?
What’s wrong with celebrating the popular traditional religious
holidays, as long as we all honor Christ and we’re enjoying ourselves?
And after all—aren’t these holidays all great opportunities for
evangelism?
The answer to such questions requires very up close and personal soul
searching and honesty before the LORD. What matters to God in the time
of grace needs to be settled in every heart. The truth is, what we
believe is what rules our choices.
For myself, I believe it is a matter of simple obedience. I choose to
meet in simplicity with like minded believers because I believe God’s
Word shows it to be the “new and living way”, the pattern in which the
church was depicted as gathering is still the way in which the church is
to gather according to His Word because neither God nor His Word have
changed. I also believe the Word tells us why—because it is my
understanding that now is the time which, as the Lord Jesus explains In John 4,
those who worship God the Father must Worship in Spirit and in truth.
And I also believe God has the right to tell me how He wants to be
worshiped just as much as He had the right to tell Cain how to bring an
acceptable offering to Him. What’s more, I’m grateful that He has told
me what He desires because it has been my own proven experience that the
most satisfying, most fulfilling thing I can do in any
situation—worship—ministry—career—relationships—will always be the way
of obedience to God’s Own Word. Yes, I can worship God in a
“traditional church setting”, or alone, but given the freedom of
gathering with saints to worship together in simplicity, as I believe
God has described in Acts 20, in 1 Cor. 11, 1 Cor.14, and other
passages in His Own Word is what I believe the Lord both instructs and
calls His people to. ~ sister FI
Jesus was murdered outside the camp. And we are to "go out to Him" and also "bear the reproach He endured." As I said before we are to leave the blinded religious systems of the world. As the Jews were a blinded system that thought they were doing God a favor, so they murdered the Lord Jesus. Today's blinded religious systems are no different than the Jews of Jesus's day. It was all confusion then and it is all confusion still today. People choosing to remain in a religious system are continually brainwashed by the system they adhere to.
Lastly, I have no misunderstanding concerning God calling one to a local
expression of the ekklesia. However He does not call us into the local
clergy-laity pastoral system that is of man's design and perpetuated by
the effort and energy of man. God may indeed secure salvation of people
in this flawed system but they never learn their true function in the
Lord's body. Instead they join the choir, teach Sunday school or
volunteer to be a cog in the wheel of the system. They never experience
what the Lord has for them as a member of the living Body of Christ.
Only outside of the system in real living worship can the individual
members of the ekklesia experience the supernatural workings of the
Spirit expressing in all its fullness the Body of Christ under the
Headship of Christ alone.
No printed programs for a worship service need be passed out. The Spirit
guides the whole thing. It is a wondrous thing beyond mere words'
ability to explain.
This is our being "outside the camp" and even in reproach we find a singular joy in His presence.
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