Saturday, April 18, 2009

So What Should The Church Look Like?

It has been demonstrated by the writing here that this thing calling itself the Christian church in the world today is anything but. The pastoral system is idolatrous, it is the nicolaitan system Jesus twice says he hated in Rev 2. What calls itslef the church is not the organic living body of Christ but a dead, lifeless man made organization.

It was written here yesterday that Paul never once appointed a pastor in all his travels throughout the known world at that time. Not only, did he not appoint a pastor, he never even mentions one. That should tell you something. Today's babylonian form of churchianity is wholly constructed around the CEO/guru style spiritual hired hands called "pastors" yet we see NONE of them in the pages of the New Testament (shepherd, poimen-not "pastor" is what's mentioned in Ephesians 4:11-check the literal translation.)

Where do I get this spiritual "hired hand" stuff idea from when I reference "pastors?"

John 10:12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.

What does this say? First of all, the sheep do not belong to these men, period. The sheep belong to Christ Jesus alone. Second, these hirelings do not have to physically leave the sheep to let the wolf in. They can leave the sheep through their doctrine, through their perpetuation of a dead system of "playing church," and they can leave the sheep through perpetuating the idolatry which is the pastoral system. These GURU/CEO types stand up in front of people week in and week out. They present themselves as somehow "closer to God" than you or me. The idolatry with these people is twofold. First of all, pride is lifted up in these men's hearts. As they stand alone in front of many people week after week, the original sin of pride begins to weave its way through their hearts, minds and spirits like a poison. The other side of this coin is when people who listen to these Guru/CEO type begin to "idolize" them in their hearts. At the moment this happens, the sin of idolatry has been committed. It does'nt matter how big or small the "tower of babel/church building is, its the system that perpetuates the idolatry.

So we know what the church should not look like: look around you today-that's how it should not look.

So how should the church look?

We know from the history of Israel, and from the pages of the New Testament that the true church is small. Over and over and over again, a remnant was saved out of multitudes. Israel was the smallest among the nations. We see in Matt 7:14 that few are saved. We see in Rev 3:10 that a weak but patient church is the one counted worthy to be kept from the hour of trial coming on the world.

We see this in the book of Acts:

Acts 15:4 And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them

What do we see here? We see Paul being received by apostles and elderS<---That's elder with an S on the end to indicate its plural not some guru, no pastors mentioned-again. Philemon 1:2 And to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow
... to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier,and to the church in your house.

Greetings to the church, no mention of a pastor anywhere^^. What do we see about the church above? It's in their house... It does'nt even say they "meet" there, it says they ARE there.

Here it is again, the same exact thing:

Colossians 4:15 Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also ...
... Give my greetings to the brothers in Laodicea, especiallyto Nympha and the church that is in her house. ...

James 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for
... Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and theyshould pray for him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Once again, something needs to be done in the church and who does it? Elders---PLURAL, no mention of "pastors"..anywhere.

At this point, we know that the true church is small, and back in the day, there were churches in people's homes. Does that make sense? No "jumbo mortgage" needed to pay off mult-million dollar loans on buildings God never asked you to build. A plurality of older men, who had fought the good fight and were seasoned in the Lord's service, to oversee the church. No mention anywhere of these Guru/Fortune 500/CEO style leaders who produce pride in themselves and idolatry in those who listen to them.

How many people does it take for the church to be assembled? 2? 3? more? That's for the Spirit of God to determine on a case by case basis. Men do not build the church, Jesus does. The Holy Spirit will lead in all affairs of the church, but men do not like to wait, so they just plow forward in their own mind and their own strength to do things that should not be done, like participate in the dead, idolatrous system of babylonian churchianity and the idolatrous pastoral system.

If you have a couple believers, maybe just two, it does'nt matter where they are, that's where the church is. We cannot "go to church" because WE ARE THE CHURCH. How can these small groups of believers proceed? Try acting like a family, break bread together, take turns reading the bible out loud, pray together. If they do nothing more than that, there would be power that would shake the world coming out of that house. Men want to develop organizations, build buildings for their own glory, our God is interested in nurturing a family here. If a few believers are together and they want to do something, they need to ask the Lord about it then WAIT for him to respond. If they never hear anything from him then they should'nt do a thing. The true church should be what your family is. We are the body of Christ, we are a family, we do love each other, but most of all we love HIM---Jesus Christ our Lord and Master. Wait for him, ask him in all your ways and you won't end up in a satanic, lifeless organization made by men which is what 99% of the so called "churches" are today.

The Lord has always acted contrary to the religious masses. Go back and read your bibles. The only people our Lord drop kicked and body slammed were the religious people of the day. Nothing has changed. If Jesus showed up today, and his will was done here on earth as it is in heaven, the landscape of churchianity as you know it would be scorched earth.

It is fundamental to understanding what the church looks like that there are few in it. Not because our Lord wants few, but because of the decisions men make for themselves. People do not need to know how to organize the church, they need to know how to act like a family and wait on the guidance of the Holy Spirit to direct ALL their ways.

If you want to know what the church looks like, turn away from this world and forget everything this world has presented to you fronting as "the church." Read your bibles, pray, start small, wait on the Spirit of God, act like a family. When in doubt, do nothing...wait, keep it simple. This world spits on, ridicules small things, but the Lord has shown me how small things are EVERYTHING. The small things of the earth (bacteria,viruses, atoms) bring men to their knees. That's a lesson to mankind that man is nothing and God is everything. A small family of believers that acts like family, at a house or dunkin donuts or whatever the Lord leads them to, will have more power that all the "pastors" and their monument to men church buildings put together.

What is the Spirit of God saying to the churches today? I believe it is a return to the fundamentals of the faith. Back to absolute basics. If time is short, this is the last chance for men to "get it right" before all hell breaks loose. We are dearly loved children, grace and peace

What the Church should look like Part 2