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"No
Steeple, Just People" |
For more about the City Church, read this - Explanation and Justification for the City Church
Well, that question may best be answered by walking through with us the questions we asked that got us here.
Starting with this one:
Is this all
there is? Is this
the
BEST we can do?
How many times
have we sat in church and wondered what was missing? How many times
have we left, had lunch and can't remember ANYTHING from the sermon
but the jokes? All the bickering and fighting and divisions and
politics and money saps the joy and life out of us. Or worse, the
life-crushing, dictatorial environment imposed by forced tithing and
messages on complete subservience to the pastor and the leaders
without whom you can't survive in the "world."
Can this really
be what Jesus intended?
He wanted us to
forgive seventy times seven and turn the other cheek and not let the
sun go down on a dispute between brothers and He wanted us to be One
Body. So if we stomp off mad after a business meeting doesn't
go our way and start another church across the street - whose idea
was that? Can't have been Jesus' idea. Must have been the other
guy. There's only two choices, you know.
If we're
listening to God and doing the will of Jesus - then how did we get to
33,000 denominations, massive waste, billions in fraud per year, 50%
of pastors addicted to porn, practically no demographic or
attitudinal differences between us and the general population,
millions migrating away, the youth nearly completely lost to culture,
etc.? (See the Scary Stats page.)
Only one available
conclusion, we're not following God's plan. Either God
is in charge and he's completely incompetent - OR - we're not
listening to God. If you look at outcomes, we're losing this
war. It must be that God isn't really in charge. If
it's of Man it will fail, but if it's of God nothing can stand
against it. And since we're failing, it must be that this was
built largely under our own power.
If God isn't in
charge, then whose idea must it have been to make it like this?
Who benefits most?
Well, answering
that one was really easy. If this is war and our churches are
losing, then the enemy is benefiting most. If he was able to
influence us in this direction, then he's done a really good job of
co-opting or neutralizing all of our assets. We need to repent
for being so blind and stupid.
What happened
to miracles, healing, casting out demons, raising the dead, speaking
in other languages and stuff like that?
We're just not
seeing them in America on any kind of a scale that you could call
effective warfare. There are little flashes and anecdotal
stories, but nothing that is completely consuming the press
reports. Even in our own churches most of our denominations
have decided this stuff isn't for today or stopped when the Bible was
done being written. Where does it say that? How come these are
happening all over the world but here? Is America God different than
China God? Must be something else in the way, because He
doesn't change. The two greatest weapons of revival are miracles
and martyrdom. They are both evidence of a FEAR of the
Lord and a belief that He is able to do anything. Seems like
that's what we're missing.
So why did we
give up our best weapons? Why do we mock the gifts of the Spirit?
If this is war,
then the enemy will want to try to neutralize our best weapons and
fix it so nobody trusts them or even wants them (or everybody is
abusing them). We're such stupid sheep, we didn't even see it coming.
It's like if we were still in the Cold War with Russia and they decided to paint all their tanks pink and staff them with cute, fluffy girls in bikinis. They'd print calendars, it would be in the press all over the world, and every horny boy in America would have a picture of the Russian Tankgirls on his wall. Before you know it, we wouldn't be able to staff our own tanks because all the servicemen would be embarassed to serve in tanks because "tanks are for girls". Then we start cutting back defense spending on tanks and then eliminate them altogether because we don't think the Russian Tankgirls are a threat and we can't staff our own tanks anyway because everybody is too embarassed of the connotation against their manhood. Then Russia starts a land war, paints their tanks green again, puts beefy, hairy Russian guys in them - and we're in big trouble!
If there is a giant move of God and satan wants to neutralize it, all he has to do is have people like Benny Hinn endorse it and co-opt it. Then nobody will want to touch it. We're such stupid sheep. We gave up all our best weapons! Well, I want them back!! I'm sick of pop guns, I want a Cruise Missile and some Bunker Busters!! I want to see some people getting raised from the dead in Liberty, Missouri!! Why not? It's happening in other places.
And what
happened to caring for the poor, hungry, sick and in prison?
Aren't these on the final exam? (Matt. 25
- Remember
the sheep
and the goats?!)
If the enemy is in
charge, these are the VERY LAST things he wants us doing - because
it's the MOST like Jesus and ignoring them keeps us trapped in
goathood. Since these ARE the very last things we're currently
doing, it must be additional confirmation that the enemy has been
pulling the strings or at least got us so far off track that we're
not even doing the CORE things Jesus wanted!
So, how much of the available income to our church structures is being diverted toward the poor and hungry and lonely and in prison? Probably less than 3%. Hard to say exactly, but it's tiny. That can't be good, you know, what with a final judgement coming where we're going to have to answer for all this stuff. Maybe we could change direction? Please?! Just ask yourself this, "If Jesus was personally in charge of the church budget, how much would HE spend on the hungry, naked, homeless and lonely?" If you think He would buy a chandelier instead, then you don't know Jesus very well at all. Sorry, there's just no nice way to say it.
What happened
to hearing the voice of God? What happened to being led by Him only?
Most churches will
try to have you medicated or committed if you have the guts to say
that God actually talks to you (unless you're the pastor). You
see, we've built a system where one guy stands up front and tells
everybody else what God wants them to do. We aren't actually teaching
people how to hear God. We're talking about "priesthood of the
believer" but we're always sticking a "priest" in the
way to tell us what God wants. We're certainly not preaching
pure obedience and repentance - which is the best, surest way to make
sure you're hearing God. And we're not preaching that ANYONE
can hear God, just those who have an "anointing." And
if you have a best selling book and a big church, that's proof that
must be hearing Him REALLY well. Doh!! (Read
the rest of this, then click here if you want to hear Him better.)
So are we just
proposing ANOTHER "non-denominational" church?
NO! That's
not it at all. What we're proposing is PRE-Denominational. Back
the way it was in the beginning. The only Biblical model we have is
the City Church. There was never to be any division in the
Body. Saying you're Non-Denominational is still stepping aside
from everyone else and dividing off into factions - whether you
intend to or not. We just want to acknowledge that we ARE one
body and sooner or later we're just going to HAVE to find a
way to make this work. I highly doubt that any pastors in New
Orleans were arguing about secondary doctrinal issues right after the
hurricane - at least I certainly hope they weren't. They've just
been doing that sheep and goat stuff - and all it took was a
hurricane. I'd kind of like Liberty, Missouri to learn from that and
starting behaving - only without the hurricane.
So what do we
do to turn this around?
You see, there are
only three models of "church" in the Bible - the universal
Body of Christ (the Bride) and the local city church (Jerusalem,
Corinth, Ephesus, etc.) and we ourselves individually (God dwelling
in us, temples not built with human hands). There were to be NO
subdivisions within the city churches. That doesn't mean they
all met in one building, that means they were united in one
spirit. (So much so that the messages in Revelations 2-3 had
application to a whole town, not just pieces of it.) The
"ekklesia" is the assembly of those who are called out.
There has always been a certain number of "those who were called
out" in every town - but we just refuse to talk to each other
because we disagree on Calvinism or the Rapture or whether to clap or
sing fast music or some other nonsense. Since it's all going to
burn in the fire anyway, maybe we could just drop it. Whadaya say?
How exactly we're going to turn it around took a lot of praying and seeking God - and lots of repenting and obedience. It may require visual aids to fully explain. You see, in order for God to pour out His blessing and manifest glory, the vessel has to be in proper divine order and under His headship. It has to be operating according His design and not it's own plans and intentions. And there is a progression that has to be observed. You can't take shortcuts. Of course, the enemy knows this, so he's tried to derail all of the steps along the progression so that we couldn't make any progress. And, he was very efficient and effective. We cannot proceed on the path we are on and expect God's blessing because we're NOT on God's path. That is, we're built on the wrong foundation, so anything we build will crumble.
There is a required progression and it goes like this:
First, I get my own heart in order and under His headship. That means repentance, commitment to Him as Commander, walking in holiness and seeking Him only. Then I fix my marriage by getting it functioning according to His design and in obedience, then my home. Then all of the people that have accomplished THOSE start working on the Body of Christ in their town and get them acting as one body and in obedience. Then when the towns (the Body of Christ, not the real estate) get some critical mass, they start taking their state (or province), then their country, then the world. You CANNOT skip a step!!
So, why isn't this happening? There are certainly people who have their own lives and homes in order and under His headship. The enemy has been pounding away trying to divide families and enslave the people to sins of all kinds and has been very effective - but there are still those who haven't bowed their knee to the gods of the world. But, as near as we can tell, there are NO towns in divine order. There is a Body of Christ in every town, but they are divided up in little pieces all over and a divided house cannot stand. The strongholds and principalities of darkness that have responsibility for each town cannot be opposed by one person, it requires a body in divine order. Since none of the Local Bodies are in divine order, the strongholds can't be pulled down. We give them legal ground when we corporately continually violate Galations 5:19-21. Since the towns are out of order, you can hardly expect that the states and countries could be right either.
So how do we restore
the City Church in our town?
First you identify
as many as possible of those who are in divine order and completely
sold out to Christ (called out of the world). And you don't
spend a single SECOND arguing about theology or style or practices
and policies and rules of Man. That's what got us into this
mess! You just find them and love on them as we're directed in
I John and Romans 12 (and elsewhere). It could be a handful or it
could be a thousand - it doesn't matter. If one can take on a
thousand and two can take on ten thousand, then a representative
handful is plenty to get started - as long as they are united and
under proper headship (Jesus only!) and submitting to the giftings in
each other AND the Lord is their Rock. (Deut. 32:30, Romans 12)
(Please note that it's highly unlikely that you're going to
accurately identify those people without having a very clear
connection to the voice of God. You better get as much Holy Spirit in
you as your cup can hold!)
Then you assert your rights as the Body and repent on behalf of the Body of Christ in your town and you hit your faces and wait on the Lord for the next step. In Romans 12, we offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable. It's the same here. You repent on behalf of the Body (should be plenty to repent for) and ask for its restoration and strengthening -- even to the very expense of your own souls (See Exodus 32:31-32, Romans 9:2-4, and the very nature of Jesus) and then you wait on the Lord for direction. You offer it as a living sacrifice - that means that you put it up on the altar and wait. You're the sacrifice. The sacrifice doesn't get to decide anything. It just lays there and waits. When God is ready, what He will do with the sacrifice is force it to stop conforming to the world, THEN it will be transformed by the renewing of it's mind and THEN it will know what is the perfect pleasing will of God and it can get to work.
This is NOT about building another new church building - God forbid! Or even having any structure that is recognizable to Man. It's just asserting the FACT that there IS a Body in your town (whether large or small) and that it needs to unite; set it's face like flint; get fully armored up against the enemy - and STAND. Then you can pray that blind eyes will see and deaf ears will hear and you can BE Jesus to the rest of the town. See Isaiah 58 - if you free the captives, break the chains, lift the yokes, feed the hungry, clothe the naked then He WILL turn and answer you and a bunch of good stuff happens - including rebuilding the walls on the ancient foundations (which is JESUS, not Man).
But as long as the Bodies are divided up all over town, the enemy has won. Read Judges 6. We cannot go to war against the rest of the world and expect God's blessing while there is still an altar of Baal in our own backyard. First you convert the altar back to the proper worship of God and THEN you go take on the big battle. And Gideon didn't have to fix every single altar to Baal in Israel, just the one in his own house.
(For more about the City Church, read this - Explanation and Justification for the City Church)
How do we find
the other
"Living Stones"
in our town?
What we need are
those who are so full of Jesus they don't really fit in
anywhere. At the rate we're losing leaders from the
"institutional church" system (1 million a year in the
USA), I suspect many of those are already out in the
"wilderness" or have been told by God to stay in the church
system even though they don't want to. Either way, when you do
something radical that is purely and completely about Jesus, all the
other radicals will smell it and come running. God will need to
direct you on how to do that, but where we have developed tools that
work, we'll communicate those along. More on that as it
develops. (Please Note: We are NOT recommending
you go try to get all the pastors in town to start talking to each
other! Read this.
If God tells you to do that, fine, but it seems like that's the path
to ecumenical footsies, not to radical transformation and
renewal. Besides, there may be whole churches where not a
single solitary person - including the pastor - is truly a part of
the Body of Christ. Find them wherever they are, don't fall into the
trap of assuming that the Body of Christ is the conglomeration of all
the congregations with their own building in town. It's just NOT.)
The main thing is that we have a lot to make up for, so if we start identifying those with the needs that are on the final exam (hungry, poor, naked, lonely, etc.) and we start meeting those needs in a big way (especially for Brethren), it will attract attention. But you have to be willing to proceed, even if no one else helps. Jesus went to the cross by himself. If you want to be like Jesus, you have to be willing to walk it alone.
We've made up some t-shirt designs that are so different than the norm, folks will have to pay attention. And nobody will wear them unless they are serious. For example, our "Need Prayer? Just Ask." shirt requires that you be willing to stop whatever you're doing, wherever you are and pray for someone AND know the right thing to pray. Are you really willing to completely snarl up a Walmart if God wants to start healing people? Are you willing to be late for work so a stranger can cry on your shoulder? People may not want to go to church and tithe, but nearly everyone will take some prayer. See the shirts here - cafepress.com/churchofliberty . (We don't make anything on these. They are printed on demand with no setup or screen charges! So the designs can be personalized to fit your town.) We've also been directed to work on resource exchanges to redirect the excess goods of those with too much to get them to those who have needs. And who knows what else is coming? God is very creative. The Church of Liberty has also been given a vision by God to build a massive computer network that will allow the Body of Christ in every town everywhere to link up in amazing ways and coordinate resources. More on that soon. (If you're a computer geek, we could really use your help!)
So what could
happen if we take our towns?
Well, if we're
right, then this is absolutely mandatory if God is going to pour out
His blessing. We CANNOT proceed with the Nicolaitan
("nico"- in place of, "laitan" - laity) system we
have and expect to see God's glory. We have to stop eating from
the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil - of laws and
interpretations and rules and structures of Man - and start eating
from the Tree of Life that Jesus offered once for all by His
sacrifice. We have to free the captives. Free them from
the world and sin and evil - and free them from the structures and
systems and programs of Churchianity. The proper way to do that
is to point people toward Jesus with a real and firm expectation that
He WILL talk to them and tell them individually and collectively what
to do next. But we need to make sure we keep OURSELVES out of
their way. We have to repent and we have to do it loud and
strong. Read Ezekiel 9. ONLY those who are mourning and
weeping and groaning because of the state of things are exempt from
the death angel.
If we create new wineskins that are pure and have no trace of leaven in them, then God will pour out his New Wine. He desperately wants to renew and restore His Church, but will not pour His full strength and power into our broken down old wineskins. What we need is transformation and that only comes when we stop conforming to the world - and like it or not, right now the institutional church system is sold out to the world. After transformation and renewal we can walk in His presence and know His will on all things and we can OBEY. Then I think we'll start to see Him express Himself in some big, attention-getting ways like the miracles other countries are seeing. When we take the towns, then we begin to free the captives and the workers (and the assets) begin to show up for the final harvest.
Oh yeah! And you can expect persecution to immediately begin once you commit to this path. So you better be willing and know what you're getting into. Better yet, be wishful and hopeful that persecution will come! If persecution comes because we are being more like Jesus (which is what He said would happen) then, serious persecution in the West is long overdue!!
Get it?
Ready to restore your town for Jesus and put it back the way it was supposed to be all along? Even if you have to do it alone? We want to know who and where you are.
Although we're just getting started ourselves and have no staff and no budget - if you need it, we can provide websites, email, t-shirts designs, discussion boards, etc. until you get on your feet.
Even if you're not ready to take on your town yet, but you're willing to help us, we could sure use you. This is going to get completely crazy and it's going to go REALLY fast!
Just in case you didn't get all that, on Pentecost Sunday God released us to publish this website to the internet and begin getting the word out.
If we're still being too subtle for you, try this:
We're blowing
the trumpet
and telling you
to "Come out of her!!"
The New Song starts NOW! Praise God!! It's right on time.
Would you
wear this? The most Jesus-like
Christian t-shirt we could design.
Not in what
it says, but in what it REQUIRES of the wearer. NOT for
sissies! If someone asks you to pray for them and you look at
your watch, you're gonna be in BIG trouble!
Need Prayer?
Just Ask
"Therefore
confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you
may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and
effective." James 5:16
_______________________________________________________
This one
ought to flush the warriors out of hiding!
Desperately Seeking
Sold-Out,
Switched-On, Cross-Carrying, Daily-Dying, Spirit-Led, Enemy-Loving,
Hard-Praying, Bible-Reading, Holiness-Seeking, Brethren-Serving,
Evil-Hating, FEARLESS
LOVERS of JESUS CHRIST
_______________________________________________
And much more
