Adapting and Responding To One’s Environment

Organism, to Organization, to Institution Series – Part 9

(A single cell organism is a building block of life. When multiplying, how can you prevent it from becoming an institution where the organism can easily die or become lost in its structure? The following blogs in this series will examine the Church as an organized institution or an organism built on relationships.)

Let’s look at the church through the eye’s of Katrina Scherbern’ view or Organism Organization where she defines seven characteristics. Let’s look at her fifth and sixth one:   

5.     Living things respond to their environment

6.     Living things adapt to their environment

Being “Missional”, a current church buzzword, is associated with going beyond church culture by responding and adapting to one’s environment. When the church loses being salt and light, it loses its brilliance and flavor and becomes ritual and lifeless.  The concept of being in the world but not a part of it does not mean to be exclusive.

Jesus commanded to love your neighbor as yourself, but when immersed in only a Christian culture, loving becomes easy, not sacrificial or forgiving. Loving your neighbor means responding to those outside one’s cell and adapting to their environment. Jesus was also criticized in his day for eating with tax collectors, prostitutes, Samaritans, those unclean by Jewish Law, but He knew His Church would one day be outside the realm of Jewish tradition and open to the gentiles.

Again the five fold is important in implementing this principle. The evangelist is needed to rebirth, so that all things are new!  A shepherd’s nurture, caring, and kindness is effective in bringing about acceptance, then openness in receiving the gospel. Teachers are needed to teach the practicality of how to love your neighbor, not just preaching at them. Prophets can “read their mail” as Jesus did to the woman at the well in order to bring them into the kingdom of God. Apostles have insight as to how to be the most effect cell in winning new people into their group, how to nurture and develop them, spiritually feed them, and release them when mature.

An five fold church or cell, led by the Holy Spirit will seek direction on how to win the lost, nurture and care for their needs too, ground them in the faith, bring spiritual life to their stagnant one, and help them grow and develop. All this is what Jesus meant when he told Apostle Peter to feed My sheep.

If the Church is to win the world for Jesus, it must infiltrate the world and environment where it has been placed. As different cells have different purposes, so a church cell can be an urban cell, a suburban cell, a cell with outreach, a cell with compassion, a cell with… on and on. Diversity is important to the nature of the body of the Christ, and responding and adapting to different environments can only come through diversity.

Living Things Reproduce

Organism, to Organization, to Institution Series – Part 8

(A single cell organism is a building block of life. When multiplying, how can you prevent it from becoming an institution where the organism can easily die or become lost in its structure? The following blogs in this series will examine the Church as an organized institution or an organism built on relationships.)

Let’s look at the church through the eye’s of Katrina Scherbern’ view or Organism Organization where she defines seven characteristics. Let’s look at her forth one:       

4.     Living things reproduce

As I said in my last blog: My “little girl” became a woman, who as a mother birthed another “little girl”, a grand daughter for me.  That is how living things work; they grow, mature, and multiply.

Reproduction should be a natural expression of a developmental life. Most Christians today who do not grow spiritually, who are encouraged to remain passive, not active, who have their spiritual passions stifled by leadership or structure, never reproduce.

Again reproduction is a natural process in the five fold. The evangelist majors in reproduction. His cry is, “You must be born again,” being born of the water and the spirit. Life never begins unless there is birth; reproduction is a necessity for spiritual life. A new Christian, one just born into the faith of knowing Jesus Christ, has an enthusiasm, which is contagious. It brings life to the entire body, the cell! Evangelistic churches or church plants breed enthusiasm.

But more needs to be reproduced than just the evangelistic spirit. Shepherding, nurturing, caring, needs to be reproduced in the cell to assure growth in the cell and when it multiplies. Sound apostolic teaching with truth revealed in the Logos Word and lived out through the Rhema Word are necessary ingredients to a health cell, or church. A revelatory spirit for truth and a desire for intimate worship also needs nurturing in order for the cell to divide properly. Finally, apostolic networking needs reproducing so both cells remain the same in Jesus Christ. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

If an individual believer and a local church is not reproducing itself over a period of time, it needs to look into why? Sects like the Cloisters of Lancaster and the Shakers are dead sects, having only their community buildings as museums of remembrance. Without spiritual reproduction, their cells died and their organism died with it. 

Living Things Grow And Develop

Organism, to Organization, to Institution Series – Part 7

(A single cell organism is a building block of life. When multiplying, how can you prevent it from becoming an institution where the organism can easily die or become lost in its structure? The following blogs in this series will examine the Church as an organized institution or an organism built on relationships.)

Let’s look at the church through the eye’s of Katrina Scherbern’ view or Organism Organization where she defines seven characteristics. Let’s look at her third one:       

 3.     Living things grow and develop

Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

As a result, we are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ. (Ephesians 4:1-4, 11-15)

The purpose of the five fold is for “growth and development” to “equip” the “saints” towards individual “maturity” “to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” and towards corporate “unity of the faith”.  If a cell, a local expression of the body of Christ, is to grow, it must embrace the five fold to give it life: birth, nurturing, caring, developing, spiritual insight, foundational through the Word, and networked together in unity.

Living things grow and develop. My children were destined to grow; they couldn’t help themselves. Developmentally, they passed through infancy, childhood, adolescence, young adulthood eventually into becoming a mature adult. My “little girl” became a woman, who as a mother birthed another “little girl”, a grand daughter for me.  That is how living things work; they grow, mature, and multiply.

The hard thing to learn is that spiritually we can become stagnant, in active, passive, stale, and eventually die. The church is no different.  Spiritually, we do not develop and grow naturally as our human body does, but we can chose when and how we can grow and develop.  Paul acknowledged this dilemma in I Corinthians 3:2 when he wrote, “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able.”

Spiritual life is determined upon how willing we are to grow and develop in Jesus! That is why the five fold is essential in supplementing a Christian’s spiritual diet through nurture, care, learning the Logos Word, and living it as a Rhema Word, and seeking revelatory truth through the Holy Spirit, the teacher and revealer of truth, and through apostolic teaching and guidance.

A Church that is alive as a living organism is one willing to grow and develop its members, its saints, by equipping them, then releasing them in the faith to bring multiplication. That is the blueprint for cell life.

Living Things Obtain And Use Energy

Organism, to Organization, to Institution Series – Part 6

(A single cell organism is a building block of life. When multiplying, how can you prevent it from becoming an institution where the organism can easily die or become lost in its structure? The following blogs in this series will examine the Church as an organized institution or an organism built on relationships.)

Let’s look at the church through the eye’s of Katrina Scherbern’ view or Organism Organization where she defines seven characteristics. Let’s look at her second one:        

2.     Living things obtain and use energy

Living things have been creative for activity. The Church was never originally designed to be a passive institution with a subclass called the “laity”. This class, called the “saints” in the Bible were active. After the four gospels, the book of Acts is written to record the acts, the actions, the activities of those followers birthing the Church. The church is not dormant!

When visiting a local church, one leaves and often assesses their visit as just visiting an “active” church they call “alive” or a “passive” church they call “dead”.  Cathedrals are impressive in size, architectural, and artistic value, but when empty they are just empty tombs of remembrance. Without activity among God’s people in a place, death is evident. It is like you want to yell, “The tomb is empty; the Lord is risen!” To find that risen Lord you must look with in a gathering of his people. “Where two or three have gathered together in my name; I am there in their midst.” A gathering of saints produces life when Jesus is in their midst.

We must rethink our use of the word “church”, for we attend church, by going to church, and being the church at our church buildings. Confusing? The church is a gathering of saints with Jesus in their midst, that obtain and use His energy through His Holy Spirit. Churches that have life, are centered around the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ who brings supernatural life naturally to that group.

As a proponent of the five fold, I believe that when all five are present, there is life. An evangelist birth’s spiritual life, shepherd nurtures, cares, and develops that life, the teacher instructs that life through daily living based on the Word, while the prophet brings revelatory truth to that life. An apostle networks all the different facets, or organelles, in that cell, and together they all make up the workings within the cell that brings life, multiplication, and growth individually and corporately.

We as a church, have to quit grieving the Holy Spirit that produces that life and stifling the energy He produces. We have to allow the organelles within the cell to function as they have been created, so they can continue to attribute to the health and welfare of the cell as a whole. 

Living Things Are Made Of Cells

Organism, to Organization, to Institution Series – Part 5

(A single cell organism is a building block of life. When multiplying, how can you prevent it from becoming an institution where the organism can easily die or become lost in its structure? The following blogs in this series will examine the Church as an organized institution or an organism built on relationships.)

Let’s look at the church through the eye’s of Katrina Scherbern’ view or Organism Organization where she defines seven characteristics. Let’s look at her first one:       

1.     Living things are made of cells

If the Church is to be an organism, not an organization or institution, it must be made up of cells. I believe a cell is where “Where two or three have gathered together in my name; I am there in their midst.” A gathering of saints constitutes a cell.

Cells were not created to be denominations or independent Christian sects. Paul visited a metropolis, a city, where he preached the gospel, saw people saved, and nurtured them by equipping them for the works of service for when he would move on to another city. These cells would be self-sufficient, not relying on a hierarchal network to over see them and dictate dogma. They were usually small and met in hopes that built a 24/7 community of active faith.

There was to be no division among these cells, only multiplication. Paul writes in I Corinthians 1:11-13 (NAS), I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, ”I am of Paul” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Paul was ot crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you ot mere men? (I Corinthians 3:4)

The only distinction between churches in the 1^st Century was by location: ie. Church of Philippi, Church of Corinth, Church of Ephesus, etc. I am sure that in each of these cities were several cells, local bodies of believers, that made up the tissue of fabric of the spiritual life of the city in which they lived.

Pastor Cho of South Korea discovered the power of cell groups, as these small groups began to nurture the local saints, equipping them for their everyday life, and his church grew into one of the largest in the world. Ironically, as the Holy Spirit often does, God’s ways proved better than ours as most cell groups were led by women in a male dominated culture when the men did not step up for leadership.

If the Church as a whole is to be a living organism, it must be made up of living cells, local bodies of believers meeting with Jesus in their midst. 

Fighting the Cancer

Organism, to Organization, to Institution Series – Part 4

(A single cell organism is a building block of life. When multiplying, how can you prevent it from becoming an institution where the organism can easily die or become lost in its structure? The following blogs in this series will examine the Church as an organized institution or an organism built on relationships.)

In this series opening blogs we defined an organism, told how the cell is the central component to life, and how the levels or organs of life, working together, affect the organism as a whole.

Different components within the cell, the local church, bring life to it. Its diversity should be displayed through different passions (evangelist, shepherd, teacher, prophet, and apostle), who serve one another by laying down their lives for the brethren. A purpose for the cell is to “equip the saints for the works of service”. After new converts have grown and been nurtured toward maturity in Christ, cell division should occur where the talents of the saints are released for the purpose of producing two cells, two local churches, all under one banner, the Church. This is the new paradigm for church planting: cell division of an equal splitting apart for the purpose of growth and renewal.

Tissues, organs, and organ systems are similar in that their purpose is to work together to perform special activities in unity.  Historically local churches have bonded over doctrine, forms of worship, church and leadership structure etc. and formed denominations or independent Christian sects. That is not why they were created. Although similar in structure and function, they must “work together” to get the desired results, not oppose one another.

We need Body parts that emphasize evangelism, who shepherd and build communities, who nurture care, and build up saints, who challenge the Logos written Word to be the Rhema living Word, and who network others in an unified effort. We need the five fold, led by the Holy Spirit to bring, maintain, and nurture spiritual life to the Body of Christ.

As molecules, organelles, and cells, we need each other to build the tissues, organs, and organ systems to make the Body effective, bringing it life, and continuing its growth. I believe this can be done through building relationships, not through hierarchal structures. The combination of molecules and organelles makes a cell. Cell combinations create tissues that develop organs and maintain life to birth, build, nurture, and mature the body. That is the structure of the Church.

Cancer is when cells go amok, rapidly dividing without a purpose, fighting to become independent of one another, not willing to bond or work together for the growth, livelihood, and nurturing of the body. Cancer, this uncontrollable dividing among cells, eventually shuts down organs and systems resulting in death.

We, as a Church, need a revival, a renewal, a new reformation to rejuvenate life back into the organism by working together by serving one another. Instead of fighting for our independence from one another, we need a bonding that only the Holy Spirit can do. We can only stop the cancer, not through surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, but through embracing an attitude of laying down one’s life for their brethren in service for the purpose of building up one another and bringing unity and health to the entire Body of Christ, the Church.

Organization of Human Organisms

Organism, to Organization, to Institution Series – Part 3

(A single cell organism is a building block of life. When multiplying, how can you prevent it from becoming an institution where the organism can easily die or become lost in its structure? The following blogs in this series will examine the Church as an organized institution or an organism built on relationships.)

In Katrina Scherben’s video Organism Organization found on YouTube, Katrina attempted to explain her theory of The Organization of Human Organisms. She claims…

Atoms make up

    Molecules which can make

      Organelles that are inside cells that make up

         Cells that are the smallest structural and functional units of life that make up

            Tissues that are made up of cells that are similar in structure

             and function, which work together to form a special activity.

                Organs that are made up of tissues that are similar in structure and

                function, which work together to form a special activity.

                    Organ Systems that are made up of organs that work together to

                     form a special function for the organism.

                   (There are 11organ systems in the human body.)

                           Organism, the total body

Over the centuries, the church created a hierarchal, institutional, leadership pyramid led by Popes, the Bishop of Canterbury, Apostles, etc. who headed Bishops, Cardinals, and Senior Pastors who ruled over boards, presbyteries, and committees who instructed their pastors and priests to organize programs and services staffed and financed by volunteers who were parishioners. This produced a system that has brought division, bickering and disunity.

Local churches, cells, are to support one another (the body) through service through a linear relationship, for no cell, tissue, organ, or organ system is more important than the other. Each is to support the other. It leadership and followers should literally be walking beside one another as Jesus did with his disciples. Each body part is diversely different but must support the other differing body parts in order for the body to function as a whole. How this functions will directly influence the spiritual growth of every believer while bringing unity to the Body of Christ.

The Creation Of The Atomic Cell Theory

Organism, to Organization, to Institution Series – Part 2

(A single cell organism is a building block of life. When multiplying, how can you prevent it from becoming an institution where the organism can easily die or become lost in its structure? The following blogs in this series will examine the Church as an organized institution or an organism built on relationships.)

In Katrina Scherben’s video Organism Organization found on YouTube, Katrina states that “all matter (living and nonliving) are made up of tiny units called atoms,” and  “1. All life forms are made from one or more cells; 2. Cells arise from pre-existing cells [There is no spontaneous generation.]; and 3. The cell is the smallest form of life.”   

In light of our Church analogy, all cells (local churches) are made up of combinations of atoms (diverse believers). As the Periodic Table lists all the known forms of combinations of atoms that form elements, so each local church body (cell) is made up of different combinations of talents from gifted believers. As an advocate of the five fold, I believe that each believer has the passion, talent, drive, and point of view of either an evangelist, shepherd, teacher, prophet, or apostle, but you need all five present to have a healthy, living, active cell (local church).

1. The life form called the Church, or the Body of Christ, is made from one or more cells (local churches).  There are “unicellular” organisms, but the Church is generally “multicellular”, composed of of multiple local churches.

2. Cells arise from pre-existing cells [There is no spontaneous generation.] Today’s church plants try to birth new churches through spontaneous spiritual generation using a missionary model. New church plants should arise from pre-existing local churches instead. The purpose of the five fold of Ephesians 4 is “to equip the saints for the works of service”. The local church should be multiplying its evangelists, shepherds, teachers, prophets, and apostles within the existing organism, and birth a new church by “releasing” their saints by “sending them out” as a five fold team when multiplying.

3. The cell is the smallest form of life. The local church is not an entity among itself. It is not to stand alone, but bond with other cells (as we shall see in future blogs) to become a tissue or body part. Each local church, one small cell in the Body of Christ, has its own purpose, passion, and activity that is to support the whole tissue, organ, and Body.

Currently there are millions of cells, local churches globally that are like a cancer, some multiplying, others dying. Multiple cells that multiply unnaturally or overbearingly can bring damage and even death to body organs or the body as a whole. This has happened with denominationalism and various independent religious sects that have brought division, not unity, to the body.

How do we stop the cancer? By understanding the Organization of the Human Organism, the Body, can we see each cell’s real purpose in its effort to support life.

The Creation Of An Organism

Organism, to Organization, to Institution Series – Part 1

(A single cell organism is a building block of life. When multiplying, how can you prevent it from becoming an institution where the organism can easily die or become lost in its structure? The following blogs in this series will examine the Church as an organized institution or an organism built on relationships.)

In Katrina Scherben’s video Organism Organization found on YouTube, Katrina explains how an organism becomes an organization.  She defines an organism through seven characteristics:

1. Living things are made of cells
2. Living things obtain and use energy
3. Living things grow and develop
4. Living things reproduce
5. Living things respond to their environment
6. Living things adapt to their environment
7. Living things have different levels of organization.

Scherben emphasizes that all 7 characteristics must be present for the organism to be living. Missing one can bring eventual death.

In Genesis, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likneness…..” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiple, fill the earth, and subdue it.

The Church was birthed to be a living organism, not a lifeless institution or a dead religion. “For where two or three have gathered together in my name I am there in their midst.”

Gathered believers find their energy, grow and develop, reproduce, respond and adapt to their environment through their cell, the local church. Gathering, growing, reproducing, and adapting come through built relationships among God’s people. The local church is to be active, not passive, a living organism who multiples through reproduction to grow, so all seven characteristics are needed to remain alive!

Instead of building buildings, cathedrals, and mega-churches and hierarchal structures with Senior Pastors, priests, bishops, cardinals and popes, God’s intention was to build a living body, a living organism composed of cells working together for the whole. Each cell may have a different function, appearance, and purpose, but is created to support the life of the whole body. Kidney failure can destroy a body. Digestive problems can cause great pain. Heart failure brings certain death. The shutting down of organs brings certain death.

Cell division is for the purpose of reproduction and growth. Uncontrollable cell division is called cancer, which also causes death. When there is cell division and reproduction, what should the church do? Should it organize, institutionalize, or develop a supportive life system?

We will look at these phenomena in upcoming blogs.

Can I And My Local Church Face Change?

 Why Should/Shouldn’t My Church Embrace Change? Part XXXXVII

He who sits on the throne (Jesus) said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21:5) 

Often only when engulfed in it is one willing to face change. When you experience it, you know its real, and it only becomes a part of you when you fully embrace it.

As an undergraduate, I learned about teaching, but only by experiencing teaching in daily life did I become a teacher. I thought I knew a lot about my wife the day I said, “I do,” BUT how little I did know was exposed through decades of marriage to her. We took “baby classes” prior to the birth of our first child; they were no longer needed for our next two because of what we had experienced with the first one. Now, in the fall of my life, people think I have wisdom, but wisdom is only learned through experiencing life.

Our life cycle is all about change. About the time one gets use to being dependent on their parents, they kick you out of the house! About the time you feel being comfortable as being an independent single, you fall in love and get married. About the time you enjoy your spouse, children arrive! About the time you appreciate your kids, they’ve grown up and left the nest. Its back to adjusting to the spouse in an “empty nest” with no kids. Just as you enjoy one another again, one dies. Now you are single again but discover that  you need help from your children during your elderly years; you are dependent again! If life is all about change, then why do we resist it so much? The sooner one yields to change, the sooner life returns to being smoother, familiar, and normal until change raises its head again.

All organisms go through life cycles, even the Church, so it needs to embrace change. The rigidity of defined structures and traditions often oppose and prevent change, so we have to undo mindsets that have been set in stone. Moses had the Law, the Logos Word, set in stone on Mount Sinai but eventually learned that man could not live by it no matter how hard they tried. Jesus came as the Rhema, living, Word who not only lived out the Word, but fulfilled it.

Only through our relationship with Jesus and our relationship with fellow believers for whom we are willing to lay down our lives can we work on changing these mindsets. Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27) Only through yielding to the Holy Spirit can changed mindsets become a reality. The Holy Spirit can instill vision in us, and his still small voice can tell us what to do. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 11:15)

I conclude this series of blogs by asking you, “Why should/shouldn’t you embrace change?” and collectively, “Why should/shouldn’t my local church embrace change?” If you and/or I do not embrace the upcoming change, we, like our old Jewish forefathers and former Catholic saints will be versatile and adjust as much as our systems and structures allow and call it revival and renewal, but if we embrace change, we, like our first century brethren, peers in Jesus Christ, joint members in this royal Priesthood of Believers, will see great things, experience creative newness, and fulfill God’s provincial plan. 

Vision, Point Of View: Deurteronomy 16:16

Why Should/Shouldn’t My Church Embrace Change? Part XXXXV

We have come full circle, literally. The Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ has offered us the vision and point of view of salvation, offering life and living to the dead and lost. He has offered us a restored relationship with the Godhead that was once lost, separated through the Gulf of sin but has been reestablished through the shed blood of Jesus on the Cross.  That Passover Spirit is the spirit of evangelism.

The Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ has offered us the vision and point of view for nurturing, growth, and maturity in Jesus Christ only obtained through proper care by being groomed in the Logos Word and living it out through the Rhema Word. That prophetic, teaching, and shepherding spirits are the Pentecost experience.

The Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ has offered us the apostolic vision and point of view of seeing the big picture of a believer’s spiritual journey from spiritual birth, justification, through the process of maturing in Christ, sanctification, to the passing from this world into an eternal relationship with the Godhead, glorification. It is a journey which needs brothers and sisters in the Lord sacrificially walking beside one another as peers in Christ, a Priesthood of Believers, the Church.

Our personal Passover, Pentecost, and Feast of Booths is tied to our “accepting” them by “faith” and our willingness to “receive” them. The kingdom of God does not have slaves, only willing servants. God never forces us to do anything; He sent his Holy Spirit to “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.” (John 16:8-11) All we must do is be willing to accept all he has to offer. It is up to us.

Disclaimer: By accepting this offer, expect change.

Relationships Produce Revival: Deurteronomy 16:16

 Why Should/Shouldn’t My Church Embrace Change? Part XXXXIV 

What do all these feasts have to do church structure or the five fold? The feasts are not about structure, but about relationships between man and his God. They aren’t about religious institutions, programs, or organizations; they are about living organisms.

Passover reestablished righteousness between God and man. “Righteousness” means “being in a right relationship.” Because of what Jesus did on the Cross, the “ain’ts” became “saints”! “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” (Hebrews 11: 6) Those ”who seek Him” have been rewarded eternal life and membership into the Priesthood of Believers.

Pentecost empowered this Priesthood of Believers to live by faith. All those listed in  Hebrews 11 “gained approval through their faith” yet they, "did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us. (Hebrews 11) What was promised would be Jesus and the Holy Spirit who would fulfill Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Booths. The Holy Spirit would empower believers to live out the Logos Word through the Rehma Word.

The Feast of Booths, Feast of Tabernacles, Feast of Ingathering is relational because God is not only calling individual believers to Him eternally, but is calling an entire priesthood, the Priesthood of Believers, the Church to Him through Jesus Christ. Unlike marriage, it is now beyond “death do us part,” Because of Jesus’s death and resurrection, the committed relationship between God and man is now eternal.

Relationally physical and spiritual change happens through these feasts; the earthly body, that looks like mankind, is being changed into the image of Jesus Christ. We will “grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,” and we will “Lay aside the old self, which is corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:15, 22-24)

If we, as believers, will have new bodies, new “structures”, why wouldn’t the Church also transform into a new structure? If your temple (“Do you not know that your body is a temple (tabernacle) of the Holy Spirit?” (I Corinthians 6:19)) is going to be “renovated” or “renewed”, why wouldn’t the Church also experience renovation called “revival”? A new body! A new structure! A metamorphosis of newness, so we as individuals and corporately as the Body of Christ can fly, soar, into the heavenlies with the Godhead for eternity.

 “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast (of Booths), Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37-39)

Jesus announced openly in Herod’s Temple about the Holy Spirit. It would be the same thing he offered the Samaritan woman at the well, “from the innermost being will flow rivers of living water.” Jesus was offering them transformational relationships. “Jesus answered, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.” (John 7:16-18)

Experiencing Deurteronomy 16:16

 Why Should/Shouldn’t My Church Embrace Change? Part XXXXIII

Our Deuteronomy 16:16 passage concluded, “…and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.” I believe worship to be simple, the act of giving back to the Lord what He has already given you. If we believe that, then there is a price to be paid during each of these three feasts; something is to be given back to the Lord.

In his book, The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis has captured the price for Passover. To receive salvation, you have to give Jesus the garbage of your life, that which prohibits you from drawing near to God. Lewis tells of a bus trip to the out skirts of hell and the edge of heaven where the saints try for one last time to persuade their loved ones to come to heaven. They refuse because they do not want to give up that which binds them (ie. pity, self centeredness, greed, wealth, etc.) Looking back, giving God our garbage did not look like a big deal, but it was, for it was difficult, particularly when sin is pleasurable and rewarding to one’s ego.

When one has a Pentecost experience, the price is to pay “one’s all,” everything! If Jesus is to be Lord of one’s life, he demands all because He is in total control of your life. A popular car bumper sticker was “God is My Copilot.” How wrong that premise is if you made Jesus your Lord. He is the pilot, period! You aren’t even the copilot; he flies the plane. When on autopilot, the Holy Spirit is in control! All you have to do is be obedient to His flight plans as He directs. It is was difficult giving up your garbage and junk for your salvation, it is even harder to give up the good things that have benefited you to which you are now attached.

For The Feast of Booths or The Feast of Tabernacles you give up your earthly tabernacle, your physical body. Which is better; living her on earth doing the Lord’s will or dyeing and being with the Lord in heaven? Paul wrote,”For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21) Glorification is giving up this earthly body to dwell eternally in the Presence of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Experiencing Deurteronomy 16:16

Why Should/Shouldn’t My Church Embrace Change? Part XXXXIII

“Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses…”

God is unique in that he treats us individually but sees us corporately as a Body in Christ. God reveals himself through all of his believers experiencing the truth of all three of these festivals as Israel and the Church has done, but that truth can also be expressed individually. For example, the way to salvations is universal: through Jesus. To experience “justification by faith” individually, each person must make the choice for themselves to accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord. The acceptance of Him is an universal principle, but each of our journeys and each of our stories is uniquely different. That is why “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) Your confession is important, for it is your unique experience with Jesus for the first time and being birthed into his kingdom.

The same principle holds true for Pentecost. The principle of Pentecost, the Logos written Word becoming a Rhema living Word in one’s personal life by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, is an universal principle, but again one’s journey, one’s story, on how they got there is uniquely different.

Also, one’s Feast of Booth’s experience is uniquely personal. When a person is in the process of dyeing a natural death, their whole life can flash before them. By reliving their life, they can deal with situations by forgiving people, accepting life’s events no matter how difficult, or releasing events and people. It is as if “life’s judgments” are presented to them as a last ditch effort to release oneself from this world, literally, so they can “rest in peace” if they know Jesus. I have seen people who do not know Jesus in anguish during this time as if being prepared for the anguish in the eternal afterlife apart from God. I’ve seen people set free, relieved, relax, and “enter into peace” because they know the Prince of Peace. That is what the Feast of Booths is all about, each person preparing to leave their booth, their physical body here on earth for an eternal spiritual body in the afterlife.

Apostolic Vision: Deurteronomy 16:16

Why Should/Shouldn’t My Church Embrace Change? Part XXXXII

The apostolic point of view sees the Church as a whole in God’s divine plan. The Old Testament usually outlines the foundation for godly principles, and the New Testament usually fulfills them through Jesus. An Old Testament scripture that sets the stage to reveal God’s divine plan for Israel, the kingdom of God, and the Priesthood of believers is Deuteronomy 16:16: “Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.”

One can understand his passage and its meaning through the different feasts which reveal truths pertaining to the history of Israel, the birth of the New Testament Church, through the life of Jesus, and through the establishment of the kingdom of God.

Old Testament History of Israel:

All are called to “appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses” for “the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover/Pesach) and at the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost/Shavuot) and at the Feast of Booths (Sukkot).” During Passover/Pesach the angel of death “passed over” all the doorpost where lamb’s blood was smeared, saving the firstborn inside from death. This event allowed Israel to leave 500 years of slavery to “pass through” the Red Seas and the Wilderness of Sin to the Promise Land. Pentecost/Shavuot celebrates Moses receiving the written Word on Mount Sinai. The Feast of Booths/Sukkot commemorates 40 years of wandering through the dessert while living in temporary shelters in preparation for entering into the Promise Land. It also celebrates the ingathering of the harvest.

New Testament Church:

To the Church, Passover is when Jesus became the sacrificial lamb whose blood was shed to cover the sins of the world. He would be God’s living Word given to the Church, so when he ascended back to the Father, He would send the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, birthing and baptizing his church with power as the Rhema Word, the living Word, to prepare it for the Feast of Booths when the Groom, Jesus, would return for His Bride, the Church, for an ingathering of saints.

The Life Of Jesus:

Jesus is the fulfillment of all three of these festivals: “the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover) and at the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and at the Feast of Booths. Jesus fulfilled Passover as the Sacrificial Lamb, dying for the sins of the world. He would fulfill Pentecost by becoming the Living Word that dwelt among man and send the Holy Spirit to empower his believers. Finally, through the Feast of Booths, Jesus will return for a glorified Church, harvesting, ingathering his saints, the Church.

Christian Believers:

All who are Christians are called to “appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses” for “the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover) and at the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and at the Feast of Booths.” These feasts are decisive experiences with Jesus during the lifetime of a believer. He must face Jesus as his Savior, Passover, accept Him as his Lord, Pentecost, be willing to give all up, even his physical body, to be with Him in heaven throughout eternity.

The Kingdom of God:

The Kingdom of God is about spiritual growth of a believer. Martin Luther defined Passover as “justification by faith.” Because of what Jesus did on the Cross, God views us ‘just as if we never sinned.”  Pentecost is the spiritual growth called “sanctification” - “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ….. we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13,15) Jesus appeared with a glorified body to the twelve after his resurrection. We, too, will celebrate the Feast of Booths by having glorified bodies when we physically die and go to be with Jesus throughout eternity, a process called glorification.

The Five Fold Spirit Cries Out

 Why Should/Shouldn’t My Church Embrace Change? Part XXXXI

I am convinced that God wants a metamorphosis, a total transformational reconstruction of his Church through the leading of the Holy Spirit. When facing the unknown, particularly the supernatural, man gets nervous. God does not need man’s approval, for He is in total control. Man’s natural tendency is to hold on to control and to familiarity. Historically, the Sanhedrin functioned this way against the prophets of old, against Jesus, and against the new Church. Throughout history, religious officials have often opposed movements of God.

Can we trust what visibly we cannot see and is not tangible, which defies logic and reason, the supernatural, the Holy Spirit? In times of uncertainty, in whom do we place our trust?  ”Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen, for by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible,” (Hebrews 11:1-3) so any movement of God has to come out of the “word of God” by “faith” because ”what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”

Trusting the invisible Holy Spirit and the Word of God is how men of old gained God’s approval. There is no other option but to trust the invisible, the Rhema Word, the Holy Spirit.

“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23,24)

That is why the five fold is so relevant.

The apostolic cries out, “When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” (John 16:13)

The evangelistic spirit announces, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8)

The teaching spirit cries for the Logos Word, ”For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”(Hebrews 4:12)

The prophetic spirit proclaims a living Word, ”For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” (I Peter 1:23)

The Art Of Governing the Church

Why Should/Shouldn’t My Church Embrace Change? Part XXXX

Isaiah prophesied,  “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6) Really, what form of government is resting on his shoulders? Church government? If so, What is that to look like?

The secular political world is all about power and control. Agreement is rare, compromise is common, fighting and squabbling the norm. Corruption hangs around the corner awaiting opportunity, and position and titles are important, yet all claim to be “public servants”.  Today’s church government is patterned after the secular, for men are given titles, positions called offices, and claim to be servants to their congregation. Some churches are congregational where members hold the power, other churches have elder boards, and still others have strong senior pastors with full authority. Since churches are institutions, they are governed by secular guidelines, their own bi-laws, and legal paperwork to remain tax-exempt. The first century church was not governed this way.

The first century Church was governed by consensus among believers as peers in Jesus Christ. Consensus does not mean 100% agreement nor majority rule where 49% still disagree. Consensus was when every believer was willing to lay down his personal agenda and lay down their lives to serve one another allowing the Holy Spirit to guide the Church.

The Holy Spirit led the first century Church into accepting” diversity by making all believers peers in Christ. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) Today’s church can no longer segregate itself by sex, race, title, economic status, or denominations. It has to learn to “accept” one another, not be judgmental.

In the five fold, no one person governs, the whole body does by trusting the Holy Spirit and each other. The “government rests on His shoulders.” Ironically, the Holy Spirit is not above” believers in a pyramidal paradigm, but indwells each believer. Gods Spirit is among His people for a consensus from the heart. If Church leadership is linear, every believer serves beside his brethren as an equal peer. No one stands alone or above others. All are “to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:15-16) That is how the Church governs itself; through body ministry.

Headship does not mean being “over” others, but beside one another as peers. Even in marriage, Eve came from Adam’s side, not his head or foot. Figuratively, they are joined at the hip! I believe that it is God’s will for believers to be “suitable helpers” (Genesis 1:24) as a wife is to her husband in order to be “one flesh” in the Body of Christ. If you are willing to ”lay down our lives for the brethren” and serve one another, people will naturally follow you, making you a leader.

Paul did not serve and govern the first century church alone. He had Barnabas, Timothy, Silas, Mark, Pricilla & Aquila, Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Luke, Demas, Nympha, Archippus, Epaphroditus, Apollos, and many others who stood by him. Church leadership should be pluralistic. Ruling or lording over others creates church politics. Ruling by serving one another as a peer, as a brother and sister in the Lord, brings life. Life creates an organism. Properly governing the Church through Christ-like relationships is the only way the church will restore itself from being an organization to again being an organism. That is why the 21^st century Church must address a new mindset of governing itself.

Singular or Pluralistic Leadership?

 Why Should/Shouldn’t My Church Embrace Change? Part XXXIX

A good pyramidal organization needs many good leaders at different levels, but only one leader can be at the time. His decisions are decisive, and everyone below him obeys his directives in order to be a “company man”. When things run smoothly, everyone is happy. When a problem arises, the man on top tackles it, for that is why his paid so much. Positioning of leaders is crucial to develop “yes men” to follow directives from above. He is your boss not your peer. People who you consider to be your peers, your coworkers, aren’t necessarily your friends but are your competitors for higher ranking positions. By working with one another you appear to be supporting the corporation, but bottom line, you make the boss look good to increase your chance for advancement.              

In the religious world the Senior Pastor cannot have personal relationships with a large laity base, so he concentrates on his leaders. When a problem arises, he too steps forward with authority to solve the problem. His decisions too are final, decisive, and not to be questions. His job as an authoritarian is never easy on relationships. Only professionals qualify; laity can never attain a high position of leadership.

Millennials find that there is no room for leadership for them since they occupy the foundational base of this pyramidal structure. Millennials are looking for linear peer relationships, not vertical relationships based on authority. They want their voices validated rather than always being criticized and dictated to.

Although Jesus spoke to multitudes, he intimately invested in only twelve. He was preparing simple men to be apostles who would see over what the Holy Spirit would do in the lives of believers. The twelve became peers in the faith. Although Jesus told Peter, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church,” (Matthew 16:10) it was not his intent to make Peter the Pope over his church, but he taught Peter to lead by being beside others, serving them. At the house of Cornelius, he validated the gentile’s experience with the Holy Spirit and defended them at the Council of Jerusalem. For the rest of his life he would be their peer, never dominating over them.

The organizational mind asks, “Doesn’t having so many leaders as peers bring confusion? Someone has to be in charge!” If all the leaders are serving one another, there will be no confusion. The Church can never have enough evangelists, shepherds, teachers, prophets, or apostles who serve simultaneously. The key is all must be listening to the Holy Spirit and network through service with one another. Releasing people into the five fold can prevent domination and control while promoting diversity and plurality. The church multiplied quickly because Jesus invested in only twelve who invested in other believers by equipping and releasing them to serve.

Since power often defines position, I ask you, “Does the leadership at your local church stand over you or beside you relationally? Are they your peers or superiors? Do they come across to you as common believers, peers in Jesus, or as superior leaders better than you?”

Are Millennials Vertical Or Horizontal?

Why Should/Shouldn’t My Church Embrace Change? Part XXXVIII

The current church leadership style of being built on pyramidal titles, positions, and professions can be a challenge to Millennials who are looking for linear relationships built on peer acceptance as equals. Millennials are not impressed with pyramidal leadership that has built organizations and institutions but are not effective in developing meaningful, intimate relationships as peers.

The perks of a pyramidal structure as a chance for advancement, providing a good health care plan or a secure retirement system are not as appealing to Millennials as finding relationships who will stand beside you, defend you, lead you, and walk out life with you personally. Why should they trust a Health Care System they are financing, a burdensome pension system they are paying for, and a Higher Education System that places them in deep debt without the promise of a job, or a banking system that pays them no interest on their savings but massive interest rates on using credit cards? When they come to church, why would they not be skeptical of yet another pyramidal scheme? They always lose! Is church just another institution that they have to finance? The pyramidal system benefits those on top at the expense of those below them. The investors are more important than the workers. Millennials are looking for meaningful relationships that will benefit them, not just being the base of a system financing the top.

Millennials are also facing an ethical and moral clash with older generations. Millennials are just trying to survive economically; so living with a roommate of another sex to pay the rent is no big deal. They aren’t looking for formal commitments, just the need to be “accepted”. Being “in a relationship” is important to a Millennial, but not necessarily a marriage relationship. Millennials are being conditioned to take care of themselves, since pyramidal institutions will not take care of them. It is more important to a Millennial to complete high school, get a college education, even if it puts them deep in debt, so they can get a well paying job, and establish a career before thinking of having children, a family, or getting married. Since they aren’t committing to marriage until later, they are sexually active longer as singles, which has produce a generation filled with single mothers, unwed couples, and dead-beat dads.

Before previous generations throw stones at Millennials, I ask, “Why would they embrace marriage when there are more divorces than successful marriages among their parents and peers?” Marriage looks like another institution that has failed them! To them birthing children does not equate to forced “shot gun” marriages, nor does having children outside marriage carry the same negative stigma it once had. The Puritanical days of having a “bastard” child as in The Scarlet Letter is history. Amazingly, the unchurched Millennial is not as judgmental about each other as their churched parents and grandparents are.

If secular and religious institutions have failed Millennials, what does the church have to do to draw them back into its fold? Answer: Accept them for whom they are, where they are unconditionally. Jesus always used unconditional love and grace, not the religious Law. They are looking for genuine relationships, not superficial structures. They are looking for people to walk beside them, not lord over them.

Millennials are looking for someone who is willing to step up, step forward, step beside them through loving relationships of service to fulfill Mathew 15:35-40:

“For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’”

Secular institutions have not fulfilled Mellennial’s needs; they have failed them. It is time for the Church, not as an institution but through personal relationships, to step up and serve, accept, win them to Jesus, and equip, nurture, and care for them in an effort to mature them into the image and fullness of Jesus Christ! That is the mission of the Ephesians 4 Church!

The Pyramid Verses Flat World Views

Why Should/Shouldn’t My Church Embrace Change? Part XXXVII

Since the pyramidal, C.E.O. leadership model is so entrenched in our capitalistic culture, almost every American institutional system is patterned after it. The masses are its foundation; its strong leaders dictate from its apex. President Harry Truman cemented this mentality politically when proclaiming “the buck stops here.” Economically, the minimum waged masses produce the product while the C.E.O. gleans its massive profits.  The American dream is to gain wealth, prestige, and power by rising to the top of the pyramid.

American education, which once sported spinster teachers in one-room schools, now supports a myriad of school administrators who dictate school policy that is also known for not embracing change very quickly. The students, the foundation of this pyramid, are lost under this crushing pyramidal system and mandatory test taking.

Doctors who once owned their “own practices”, did “home visits”, and carried their own little pharmacy in a black doctor’s bag, have been forced to join huge “Health Care Conglomerates” and become their employees. Even a greater pyramidal institution has developed through the Heal Care Insurance Industry and The Affordable Health Care Act, which you now must join by law.

The church has become another imbedded American Institution with the laity as its base supporting a professional leadership structure of pastors and priests.

Like their counterparts of the ‘60’s, the Millennials, today’s young adults, are challenging pyramidal structures through their Internet mentality. Their Facebook world requires you to be a “friend” in order to communicate. When “accepting” them as a friend, one becomes your peer, your equal. Your voice is as valid as theirs. Data and numbers are important to them, and the masses influence the Internet as the Wikipedia phenomena has exemplified.

The Millennial “unchurched” have trouble understanding the clergy/laity divide when they relate to each other as equal peers, have trouble with lectured sermons when they are use to a comment section to blogs on web sites, being told when to stand, sit, sing, financially give, and leave when they are learning to stand on their own. The Millennials leave with more questions than they get answers, and their voice is not validated. They just want to be accepted for who they are, but find church acceptance as being conditional. Millennials are looking for peers, not professionals.

The five fold model extends unconditional love and acceptance through grace; people who are committed and willing to lay down their lives for one another. Through the five fold they can find a way to be born again, nurtured in maturity, and accepted for their diversity.

As a believer in the faith, do I want to remain passive, in the protected safety of the status quo, institutionalized, pyramidal structures, or am I willing to accept and embrace change where my peers are my equals as I attempt to reach my generation for Jesus? The choice lies with each one of us, individually, and corporately as the Church.