I’m still trying to figure out how to use this blog since it’s my first time.

We are in the beginning of restructuring our ministry and our team definitely resonates with the prophetic word.

The church needs to function like the tabernacle: as a mobile structure, ready to follow the leading of God’s Spirit. Very often churches buildings, organisational structures, and a whole host of other things, actually have ended up immobilising churches and churches have become slaves to their structures rather than the structures serving them as they follow the Spirit and seek to further the kingdom.

i think this is a keen observation. along w/ Allen, i’ve been walking thru’ many of these issues and questioning how it got to be this way in so many churches. The tug has been on my heart to step back and observe ‘the church’ as well as MY church.
My observations so far include (in many cases) huge resources being invested in maintaining infrastructures that are not inherently ‘un-kingdom’ related, but not particularly kingdom driven. (does that make sense??)
i won’t go into any detail, as i think we could all come up w/ examples of this. it takes incredible, passionately God-driven leadership for a church to avoid falling into that cycle, i think. ego, lack of clarity, debt, routine, fear of change, immaturity in the body and/or leaders — all of these and more can create the small tear which potentially leads to the unraveling of an infrustructure.
i agree w/ Bobby V - Lordship in MY life comes first … and then a desire to seek community with others on the kingdom path and make a difference in a dying world …. so … i come full-circle — still seeking God on how to clean the painting in such a way that it draws people into its beauty.

Maybe my own recent journey with leaving the church I was assistant pastor of to start something from scratch with my wife and two friends will help. Basically, we have both (my wife, Rachel, and I) had a degree of frustration with the church we were part of but we both knew that leaving because of a few frustrations would never be the right thing to do. I have always felt that the only reason you should leave a church is because God is specifically calling you into something new. It’s not enough to want to leave something behind, I believe that God typically only moves people on into something specific.

I guess in terms of your thoughts and questions, if I was you, I’d just be taking time to see what God is trying to say through everything. Is He moving you on into something new? Or is He awakening something in you to affect where you are now? I guess ultimately, there’s no need to rush or make a sudden decision. Take your time, seek God’s direction, invite some close friends to pray with you, and talk to relevant people at your church. We actually asked two couples to pray for us without telling them what to pray for. We just told them to seek God and see if He showed them anything about us! Amazingly, they came back with very strong words confirming what we felt in our hearts that God was calling us to start something new.

I’ve probably gone on way too long. I hope that helps, but feel back to come back with any more questions.

I’m not sure the community I’m in is the right one for me, anymore. I am very different now from when I first joined, which is a testament to God’s power…and my reasons for joining were based on desperation–I needed to belong somewhere, anywhere, and these people were the most accepting. They are also pretty manipulative, insulating…not like a cult…but less airy than I’d like, now that I am a great deal more independant and mature. (I am, really. Ask anyone…) Plus, there’s no one my age.

So I am wondering which is more important? Building and maintaining community, no matter what? Or finding rewarding, challenging fellowship? I feel torn between the idea of commitment to a local group of believers who I know and who know me and the desire to be challenged and spurred on in new ways.