Wayne,

Thank you for taking time to write such a thoughtful post. But, have you actually taken time to read the articles on this website? It might actually save you some time in responding to my posts.

We are a group of BELIEVERS in Jesus and his teachings. We all come from institutional church backgrounds and habe simply seperated ourselves from it. Our faith is Christ, the Word, and fellowship are still the same.

We believe in living what Christ taught, not what people interpret of his teachings. In addition, we believe that the pastorate as seen in today's churches is Biblically incorrect. The Holy Spirit alone stands as our teacher, with our brethren given the ability and compassion to co-pastor each other. Elders are nothing more than men who stand as examples in our community of faith through their wisdom, integrity, and experience. They are charged with leading their communities by example and being available to use their wisdom to solve disputes among the brethren.

The framework that Jesus created is beautiful. But, it is corrupted by man's interpretations and denominations.

After reading this post and other articles on this site, what points are you disagreeing with? You first posted that you were part of a church, and assumed that there was something strange that I believed. Can you explain?

Jose, I thank you for your response to my post in your forum. My invitation to discuss the truth of the Kingdom of Heaven is open to you and all either here are by personal email to me. I accept your challenge to challenge each other, brother.

First of all, brother, let me make clear that neither I nor anyone in the "body" to which I am a part of have "joined any church". And the body or "church" that I am a part of is not a worldly institution. We do not build church buildings or edifices of any kind. We abhor all appearances to be like those of the false "Institutional Churches", "Organization Institutions" or "Ministries" or what have you, in the world today. Yet we are a unified Body. We meet in small groups or "churches" in the home. We do our best to be complete imitators of the New Testament Church that you can read about in the New Testament. We simply profess to be disciples of Jeshua our Lord and Savior (Jesus the Christ) which means that we are totally committed to His teachings and follow Him only. We believe in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments (Covenants). We accept the Bible translations that are accepted by the "Christian World" today. There are many versions, however; there are very few real differences in any of them as far and doctrine is concerned.

We do not "go to church" we go to a place (generally in someone’s home) where we meet together to worship and serve our God as the scripture calls us to do. "How can you prove your stance Biblically - that using an unscriptural model of community is being the TRUE church?" First of all, we claim to be a part of the Way as it was in "the Way" in the New Testament. We do not claim a monopoly on the "Truth" but the truth is in the New Testament. So, I suppose that we are not claiming that we are the "True Church" but basically just a part of the New Testament Church or "the Way of the Believers" as is the Model of Community as given in the New Testament. I suppose that would be a stance Biblically would not it be? We are imitators of the New Testament and of Jesus our Lord and Savior. We are proud to be imitators in this Way rather than anything that this World has to offer. Wouldn’t you like to be a part of that?

We do not go to some place where we sit in the bleachers or "pews" and listen to someone preach to us. We are not spectators at some fantastic show where someone stands on some stage and we clap, whistle and shout to some foolishness spewed out of someone’s mouth. How appalling that is. We do not have some choir singing to us and entertaining us as if we shouldn’t take part. We all have a song or prophecy to give to edify one another and encourage each other to continue on in His Way. We each pray one at a time, we each have a word of edification and encouragement for all and one at a time. We all feel and enjoy the Spirit with us. The Holy Spirit is what is missing in the false churches today. The Spirit of Jesus being with and among them. What a joy. How refreshing. How comforting and fulfilling. And yes, we partake of the emblems of Jesus as well as we are commanded by Him. He is our Passover. He is the Lamb. He is the true bread and He is the true drink.

Oh, yes, and another thing; one of the false teachings prominent in these days is the false teaching that there are no longer to be any leaders, overseers or pastors in the "Church" today. My friend, as long as we are in the age of grace all things will remain the same as that which was and was taught in the beginning and as is taught in the New Testament. No human can change what our God and Savior established or gave from the beginning. Other false doctrine of this present time is that of material wealth, name it and claim it, the church must concur the world before the Christ can return. There is no covering by any man or ministry that is meant to save man. The only covering that will "save" man is the covering of the blood of the Christ. There is so much noise in the world today. There are so many voices seeking out man or man’s possessions. The only thing that is safe is what the scriptures have to say and question everything and see if it is of truth or not. What anyone says concerning your salvation or calling of God is and should be reconcilable in the scriptures. If the teaching is not in the scriptures or can be reconciled by scripture then it just aint so my friend; it’s just another gospel contrary to the gospel taught in the New Testament.

Jose you said that: "Just because there are people who have unplugged from the organization institutions, it does not mean they have left the Body of Christ. It means they are tired of being a part of something that is NOT the Body of Christ." Is the Spirit troubling you with this? The biblical truth is that if you are not following the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven as is given in the New Testament and professing to be in Christ and allowing the Spirit of Jesus to be in you and submitting to Him then you are not in the Body of Christ. Either one is seeking to enter the Kingdom of Heaven or he is not seeking to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. You are either in or you are not in. You are a possession of Jesus the Christ by virtue of His innocent shedding of His blood for you. You, I and all who are in the world and the world itself and all things therein were bought by the blood of Jesus and have been redeemed by Him. We are now His possessions and He has the right to do with us as pleases Him. He loved us all even while we were yet sinners and without hope. He had a plan from the beginning, even before we were created as to how He could save us despite our own weakness and inability to be obedient to His word and will. What an extraordinary great love. Let us just be willing to listen to the tugging of our hearts by the Holy Spirit when He is dealing with something we possibly do not like or understand. It is His work in us when we are called not something we join. I think it is a good thing when folk unplug from something that is clearly not of God and seek something better. However, it is gravely necessary to plug into the New Testament Ministry and be an imitator of Jesus and the New Testament.

Jose, can you please just tell me what you believe? Do you believe that Jesus is God? Do you believe in the Bible and that it is true and that you should follow it? I hope we can become friends and brothers in Christ and learn from each other. I am sorry it has taken so long to get back here and answer you. I work a full time job 50 hours a week to support myself plus the work of the ministry.

God bless.
Wayne

Wayne, Thank you for your post. I completely understand where you are coming from. But, you have to understand that you are no different than everyone else who 'goes to church'. You claim to be learning and teaching the 'whole truth of God'. So does every church in the world. Yet, you attend an institution that is neither sanctioned, nor called for in scripture. Jesus never asked you to join a church - that is an institution. He asked you to follow Him.

How can you prove your stance Biblically - that using an unscriptural model of community is being the TRUE church? I would love for you to be as detailed as possible for this to be an interesting an involved discussion. Let's challenge each other, brother.

Just because there are people who have unplugged from the organization institutions, it does not mean they have left the Body of Christ. It means they are tired of being a part of something that is NOT the Body of Christ.

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