Some of the original gathering continue to meet with other inspired believers as River Run Fellowship. True to their roots River Run is posturing itself for the next move of God, by preparing a new wineskin for the new wine that is to come. God has said that, 'The whole earth will be filled with a knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea,' and River Run is readying itself for such a time. God's people must always be versatile and resilient, ready to follow what God is about to do.
In looking back we are grateful for what God has done and for those who pioneered a way, yet we continue to press forward knowing that there is more to come. It is nice to reminisce about what was, however the purposes of God are always moving forward to reach the current culture, and to resist the devil and his devices.
Thank you Wally and Eleanor, and all those who together helped establish a way that was revolutionary. We will continue to hold close within our hearts, that sense of expectancy that God can do anything.
"The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity." 2 Cor. 10:4-6
One of the guys in River Run Fellowship suggested these three articles to read. They are accessed by pressing the following links.
The articles address the problem with church buildings. They are not for the faint at heart nor for the traditionalist, but rather for the out of the box thinker and doer. The author strongly implies a major paradigm shift from thinking how to fill a building, to thinking how to grow the kingdom and win the lost.
A recent survey suggests that such thinking is necessary. The survey showed that 80% of church growth consists of transfers from other churches and from children growing up in the church and having children. In other words only 20% of church growth is actually from reaching the lost. At that rate, the church as we know it in North America is unsustainable.
It's time for some unusual thinking and if not, it's at least time for something to jar our thinking. Happy reading!
The Problem WIth Church Buildings PT1
The Problem With Church Buildings PT2
The Problem With Church Buildings PT3
A. W. Tozer thinks so.
'THAT THERE IS SOMETHING gravely wrong with evangelical Christianity today is not likely to be denied by any serious minded person acquainted with the facts. Just what is wrong is not so easy to determine.
One mark of the low state of affairs among us is religious boredom ... And that it is found to some degree almost everywhere among Christians is too evident to be denied.
Boredom is, of course, a state of mind resulting from trying to maintain an interest in something that holds no trace of interest for us ...
Christians who belong to the evangelical wing ... have over the last half-century shown an increasing impatience with things invisible and eternal and have demanded and got a host of things visible and temporal to satisfy their fleshly appetites.
It is now common practice in most evangelical churches to offer the people, especially the young people, a maximum of entertainment and a minimum of serious instruction. It is scarcely possible in most places to get anyone to attend a meeting where the only attraction is God. One can only conclude that God's professed children are bored with Him, for they must be wooed to meeting with a stick of striped candy in the form of religious movies, games and refreshments.
The striped-candy technique has been so fully integrated into our present religious thinking that it is simply taken for granted. Its victims never dream that it is not a part of the teachings of Christ and His apostles.
Any objection to the carryings on of our present ... Christianity is met with the triumphant reply, "But we are winning them!" And winning them to what? To true discipleship? To cross-carrying? To self-denial? To separation from the world? To crucifixion of the flesh? To holy living? To nobility of character? To a despising of the world's treasures? To hard self-discipline? To love for God? To total committal to Christ? Of course the answer to all these questions is no.'
Excerpts from: Man - The Dwelling Place of God, A. W. Tozer, Ch. 30, Religious Boredom
For more, click the link Man - The Dwelling Place Of God, A W Tozer
