It's Getting Better

A Word Of Encouragement For River Run

As for you, I'll come with healing, 
   curing the incurable ...
I'll turn things around for Jacob. 
   I'll compassionately come in and rebuild homes.
The town will be rebuilt on its old foundations; 
   the mansions will be splendid again.
Thanksgivings will pour out of the windows; 
   laughter will spill through the doors.
Things will get better and better. 
   Depression days are over.
They'll thrive, they'll flourish. 
   The days of contempt will be over.
They'll look forward to having children again, 
   to being a community in which I take pride.
          Jer. 30:17-20, The Message

I'll refresh tired bodies;
   I'll restore tired souls.


Be ready. The time's coming"—God's Decree—"when I will plant people and animals in Israel and Judah, just as a farmer plants seed. And in the same way that earlier I relentlessly pulled up and tore down, took apart and demolished, so now I am sticking with them as they start over, building and planting.
          Jer. 31:25, 27-28, The Message

Newfrontiers Canada Conference

Recently Cindy and I were invited to attend the Canadian Newfrontiers Conference in Fredericton NB.  Newfrontiers describes itself as “a worldwide family of churches together on a mission, with over 800 churches in over 60 nations around the world.”  They embrace the same values as River Run (see About Us) and have been growing together for over thirty years.  In recent years some churches in Canada have come alongside the Newfrontiers family, and together they are experiencing God’s goodness.

We’ve have hesitated from becoming involved in something like Newfrontiers, having come out of another network of churches that was very controlling and legalistic.  It has taken several years to heal after a nasty parting and a subsequent church split, and to say the least we are cautious about such things.

Nevertheless we have always believed in the restoration of the church and its ministry gifts, and desired to walk alongside people with a genuine vision for Canada.  It has been our long time passion to see God restore the church with his presence in practical expressions such as spiritual gifts, genuine worship, and mission.  Furthermore we have never been comfortable in being secluded, and realize our need to practically walk alongside others of like mind and heart.

Recognizing these things we asked to Lord to clearly show us what he wanted us to see and experience, and to remove any suspicion and preconceived notions.  We did not want our past to hold back our future.

Upon our arrival we were greeted with great friendliness and hospitality, and in many respects it felt like family.  We were introduced to several wonderful people and welcomed by some good friends with whom we regularly fellowship with in Ontario.  Our Ontario friends (Owen Sound, Alliston, and Toronto) have become involved with Newfrontiers, which is something noteworthy in itself.

I’ll highlight some key things that caught our attention:

1. The emphasis of being Spirit and Word churches.
2. Common values and contagious enthusiasm.
3. Genuine worship that centred on Christ and his work on the cross, and the mix of hymns with new and old songs.
4. The participation of so many with songs, readings, and spiritual gifts.
5. Prayer, and body ministry.
6. The spiritual maturity of those attending.
7. The development of Canadian leaders.
8. An apostolic mission of planting churches in Canada.
9. Unassuming and down-to-earth leaders.
10. Relationships.
11. The favor of God.

Currently Newfrontiers Canada includes churches in Fredericton, Toronto, Oakville, Alliston, Owen Sound, and Lethbridge with recent church plants in Vancouver and Kitchener-Waterloo.  In the very near future churches are being planted in Toronto, Charlottetown, and Ottawa.  In addition other churches in Ontario and Quebec are considering coming alongside.

On a personal level, Cindy and I were refreshed and inspired by: the preaching of the Word, the prophetic word, the presence of God, the freedom of worship, and the love of God and his people.  It was a kiros moment that ministered genuine hope to our hearts.

Newfrontiers Canada is doing a good work and clearly has God’s favor.  They are solid yet also full of grace.  They are ordinary people with vision and enthusiasm.  Newfrontiers Canada has the potential to facilitate in Canada a fresh move of the Holy Spirit, and a coming together of like hearts.  We will hear more of them.

Making Sense Of It All

Somewhere between 2008 and 2009, and after an unexpected and painful church split, the River Run family agreed to continue with plans to construct a new building.  Before the unpleasant separation, property had been purchased, money was in the bank, a highly recommended contractor had already been secured, and preliminary drawings were on the table.  The cost was within our means and it seemed reasonable to continue the project.

Initially the contractor represented a modular building company, however during the process he formed his own design and build team.  We were assured that this would produce a better and more cost effective product.

We intended to build a facility that was simple, flexible, and debt free.  We did not want a typical church building.  All of this was regularly communicated to those involved.

Throughout the process of modifying a design, managing a budget, and determining sub-trades, constant enquiries were made as to whether we were on target as far as time and money.  Each enquiry was met with assurances that we were close.  Nonetheless, we regularly made cost effective modifications to the design to keep us on track.

In June 2010 we were informed of cost overruns on the construction, and that an additional sum of money was needed to finish the project.  The bank granted us a mortgage based on the contractor’s new projections.  River Run would list for sale its other parcel of property to pay off the mortgage.

The Unexpected

In August, work on the project had stalled.  By September River Run discovered that the projections were wrong, and that the mortgage would not pay the outstanding invoices, nor finish the project.  River Run met with the construction people to hear that the previous projections involved a computer error, and that additional monies were needed to finish the project. 

A subsequent investigation by River Run found that again the projections were incorrect, and that actually greater monies were needed to complete the project.  Burrowing more money would not be the solution.

Much could be said about the excessive cost overruns and assurances, but that is best left alone.  Needless to say, the project although 90% complete was stuck, and that River Run’s season of testing was escalating.

In River Run’s mind was the notion to salvage the project.  The sale of our second parcel of property would instead finish the project, and the current mortgage would unfortunately continue.  A year later after several failed offers and a defaulted sale, everything would yet be at a standstill.  Creditors remained unpaid and anxious, and cash flow was at a minimum.  Several families would leave the River Run family and others were discouraged.  Words are inadequate to describe the pressure and adversity that we were experiencing.

Trusting the Lord

In December of 2010 and in the midst of much concern the Lord gave me this assurance from Zeph. 3:14-17.  Each day for the year ahead it was a matter of believing God’s word over what we saw, heard or felt.

Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel!  Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!

For the Lord will … disperse the armies of your enemy.  And the Lord himself, the King of Israel, will live among you!  At last your troubles will be over, and you will never again fear disaster.

On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, “Cheer up, Zion!  Don’t be afraid!

For the Lord your God is living among you.  He is a mighty savior.  He will take delight in you with gladness.  With his love, he will calm all your fears.  He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

In October 2011 River Run offered its new building and second parcel of property for sale.  In a week the building conditionally sold, as did the second parcel of property.  What followed were several inconceivable obstacles including the removal of contaminated soil that did not show in two previous environmental tests.

Today the building is sold and all creditors are paid.  Furthermore the other property will be unconditionally sold by the summer.

The above version of events simply represents a storyline and misses much of the emotional and spiritual challenges we faced.  It doesn’t speak of the fear, frustration, and failure we encountered, nor the love and hope we embraced.  It doesn’t show the faithfulness of the Lord nor his mercies that are new everyday.  While the last four years have been the greatest amount of difficulty this believing community has ever faced, God has turned everything for his good.

Hanging On & Hanging In

Some ask, ‘What have you learned?’  Naivety would suggest that we missed God and that he didn’t want us to have a building, but pat answers don’t cut it and to be frank are just foolish.

We are God’s children and he tremendously loves us.  He intends for us to be just like his Son Jesus, and he will use everything to shape and mold us into his image, including hardships and suffering.  Hardships do not come because God is mad at us or because we have failed to understand him.  Hardships come because he loves us like sons, Heb. 12:7-12.  Job did not miss God’s direction nor did Joseph, yet they suffered and understood perseverance.  Their challenges were intended to produce a harvest of righteousness and to fulfill God’s purposes.

Unlike the old saying ‘it’s easier to switch than fight,’ hardships are to be endured.  We all know that when frustration and fear have their way it’s easy to bail from difficulty, because in Christian culture challenges are unhelpful and irrelevant.  Most Christians presume that difficulties are not part of the package, and that going to church and living good are more about being blessed than suffering.  Suffering in our minds is considered as a telling off from God.

Yet, it is through these difficulties that God is shaping River Run.  We are experiencing his love, mercy and grace.  We are seeing his faithfulness over and over again.  We know the kindness of creditors and the generosity of unbelievers.  We are growing to love each other in hardship.  We are learning to persevere to see God fulfill his promises because all things do work together for his good.

At times we doubted and asked, ‘Why us?  What have we done to deserve this trouble?  Have we sinned, or are we cursed?’  Yet I remember thinking in one ‘ah ha’ moment, why not us?  Why should we get a pass?

We didn’t do everything right and that not only includes this matter but many others.  Yet having said that it doesn’t mean we will do everything right from here on.  Living in a fallen world means that gaffes and oversights will happen, but living in Christ means that his grace supersedes everything.  His grace is sufficient to forgive, fix up, and continue.

You cannot experience something so powerful as we have without realizing that something is dying and that something new is being created.  Adversity, such as hitting a brick wall has a way of helping one understand that everything that can be shaken will be shaken.  And that only God decides on what is to be shaken, and how long the shaking lasts.  Our course of action is to hang on and hang in.  Things will fall off or die, and only that which is essential to the kingdom will remain – things like faith, hope, and love.  Unlike reputation, buildings, opinions, and evangelical expectations.

Going Forward

While in many ways a season is ending, we carry forward values that are eternal.  More than buildings and church names, these values represent a revelation of Christ, and of his kingdom and church, that transcend time and borders.  This revelation is our inheritance that secures us in the season to come, and causes us to see God’s glory in the earth.

The new is still unfolding.  We are less excited about church buildings and more excited about reaching the lost and bringing in the harvest.  We are hungry for authentic worship, and God’s holy presence and direction.  We want the church to be less political and predictable, and more relational, organic, forgiving, and simple.  We see that the church is more about being the church – in worship, service, gift and evangelism.  It is our passion to know God’s favor and to come into something new and refreshing that is relevant to God’s puposes.  Clearly it is about being a people of Word and Spirit, much like the early church.

Our past has set us on an adventurous course that is unusual to say the least, but isn’t that basically the way of the Spirit.  We begin again like we did in the early years to establish a family of believers that are unrestrained by religion, and ready to establish a testimony of Christ and his kingdom in the Peterborough area.  We don’t pretend that it’s going to be easy, but we hope those of like mind will join us in this adventure.

Good Friday

Friday April 6 marked another great bridge event for River Run.  Bridge events are meant to help connect new families and individuals with Christ, and with the River Run family.

An Easter Egg Hunt and Potluck lunch was hosted in Pioneer Park and Master’s College as part of our Good Friday - Jesus is Alive Celebration.  It was a perfect day and a great setting for the event.  The Park was flooded with baskets being dragged by children across the grass, and parents running to catch up. Several new families joined us in the activities.  Those needing to keep a little warmer watched from the grand windows in the lobby, while others prepared the food.

Jason shared a clear message on the meaning of Easter that placed Jesus front and centre in the celebration of the season.  All were reminded that new beginnings and new life comes from Christ giving his own life.

Crafts and lunch waited for everyone inside the College, and as usual the food was top notch.  Many people lingered to eat, drink, and talk, which made for a great day and successful event.

Thanks to everyone for your participation.

Church Zero

Over recent months I have heard a number of fellow pastors share how several of their long time members had left the church.  Had it been one church experiencing an exodus it would have been one thing, but it was much more than that.  Friends and coworkers were withdrawing from different churches by sending pithy emails or by leaving brief voice messages.  Obviously my friends were deeply concerned, which caused one to say, ‘Please God stop the leak!’  Unfortunately it is more than a leak.  It is a culture.

It is clear that things are shifting.  While the North American population is growing faster than the rate of new birth in the church, and while the church’s dropout rate is over 3 million people annually, there is yet another disturbing sign.  Significant numbers of believers are moving from one church to another for flimsy reasons.  Undoubtedly there is a growing instability in the church.

Much of the shakiness seems to be over what people expect of the church.  Some expect more, while others expect less.  Some want all the options, while others are just tired of keeping the options going.  Some want their needs met, when others are weary of meeting the needs.  Regardless, it is enough for people to sever meaningful and biblical relationships in search of something that agrees with them. 

Or are they actually cutting relationships?  While we prefer to believe that the church is family, it’s actually not, or at least not in practice.  For the most part relationships are superficial or absent.  Generally speaking relationships that build up and shape others are seemingly inessential, and the true body of Christ immaterial.  We might think and imagine family, but our lifestyles and decisions suggest something different.

Itching Ears:

Recently I heard this phrase, ‘what we win people with – is what we win them to.’  More or less it means that people who come to church, based on what it offers and on what it can do for them, will leave for the very same reason they came. 

In the church’s efforts to win people, it has made the needs and expectations of the individual top priority.  Meeting needs and satisfying feelings have seemingly become its mission, while equipping God’s people to do his work is overlooked, Eph. 4:12.  In time the church will fail to meet these expectations – as it has already, and relationships will be surplus.  The typical comment heard will be ‘God is leading us elsewhere.’

Similarly, the apostle Paul warned Timothy that over time people would not bother with Christ and the Word of God, and instead go after their own wishes.  He said, ‘… a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.’  1 Tim. 4:3.  Paul knew that people were prone to shape their faith according to what suited their thinking, rather than with the Word.

The Family Of God:

I believe that the Word of God supports the church being relational or family, where people strengthen each other, work out their differences, and take steps together to extend God’s kingdom.  It is centered on Christ, and on whom we are and are becoming in him.  Each member is carefully joined to the other, while growing together to be the home where God lives by his Spirit.

Furthermore I believe that the modern pattern of church is faulty, and lends to expectations that cannot be sustained.  As a result it burns out those who try to keep it going, and gives way to a revolving door that unsettles and obstructs God’s house.

What’s more the church has become fickle, much like the world.  By and large people have grown increasingly intolerant, fussy, and unreliable, while spiritual qualities like self-denial, perseverance, faithfulness, and joy have faded away.  The church is too easily bored, offended and dissatisfied, and no longer has the time, interest or staying power to become Christ-like. 

It is the age of Church-Zero.  It’s like the real thing, but with fewer calories.  It looks and tastes similar, and satisfies the immediate need.

Raising The Bar On Being A Disciple:

It’s doubtful the answer is found in modifying the church system, and more probable the answer is in us (the believer) rediscovering what it is to be a real disciple of Christ.

We need to lower the bar on how church is done, and raise the bar on what it means to follow Christ, because the church is rooted in believers obeying Christ.  It is essential that we relearn how to love the Lord with all our heart, and how to take up our cross and follow him – at any cost.  We must intimately realize the deep love of Christ, and be filled with the fullness of him.  We must know him who is able to do more than we can ever ask or imagine.  We must live a life of love found in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.  Only then, can the church become what Christ has intended.

Jesus said, ‘those of you who do not give up everything cannot be my disciples,’ Lu. 14:33.  He also said, ‘go and make disciples of all nations … teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, Mt. 28:19-20.  Jesus was less concerned with the system of church and more concerned about people becoming disciples by obeying him and his Word.

If every believer denied him or herself and followed Christ, the church would be less opinionated and more harmonious.  If believers were filled with the Spirit, the church would be more outgoing and less inward looking.  If believers contributed their gifts and abilities, more would be creative and fulfilled.  If believers knew the Word of God and obeyed it, there would be more stability.

‘If’, suggests that there is a choice – to do or not to do.  The revolving doors in churches, the dropout rate among Christians, and the church’s barrenness are easily solved if we choose so.  Will we chose to be disciples or will we opt for Church-Zero?

Celebrating 40

Forty years ago this February Wally & Eleanor Best initiated a gathering of a few people in Lakefield High School that was to become a prophetic influence in Ontario.  Wally had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit in '71, and believed that a life in the Spirit would change the church for the good.  The Fellowship as it was known would become a leader in the charismatic renewal, and would go on to evolve into several new and prophetic expressions touching many lives in the years to come.

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

The Problem With Church Buildings

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

Is Boredom The Problem?

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

God Heal This Land!

Almost four years ago River Run Fellowship made preparations to erect a new building to house its church activities.  Over these past years we have watched it emerge with hope.  At the same time we have also known many difficult struggles and disappointments.  Ultimately the struggles have led us to believe it was best to sell it all.

The sale of the properties was faster than one could imagine however it too was met with unbelievable complications.  Yet River Run people continued to believe that God can do the impossible.

With that in mind, on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 Barney Coombs (Vancouver), Dennis Penner (Pickering), and Andrew Wynn (Newmarket) met with Stephen on the building site to pray that God would complete its' sale.  Together they asked God to 'Heal this Land' and to 'Make the bitter water sweet'.

Barney reminded the group of the power of negative words and of their menacing effect.  Together and in agreement, they bound and broke the power of negative words or curses.  Words like demise, peril, and loss had been spoken against the church, and were specifically bound.  As Barney prayed, he proclaimed with a commanding apostolic voice, "Enough is enough, bring this chapter to an end!"  He continued with reminding the Lord of his promises to His people.

In addition Stephen blessed those who had cursed them.  He asked God to strengthen, increase, and use those who had specifically spoken negatively of the church and himself.  Heartfelt forgiveness toward the church's accusers was offered before the Lord.  The Lord's presence was among the four, and God was hearing them.

The time of prayer and warfare was completed when Andrew took a mallet from among the framing timber and struck the platform as if it was a gavel.  He said, "It's finished, seal the deal Lord - it's time for these people to move on!"

God had ordained the day.  Barney had arranged to be with Stephen two weeks prior to Wednesday, January 18th.  Andrew and Dennis had asked to come to pray with Stephen six days prior to the 18th, not knowing Barney would be there.  The company taking soil samples outside on River Run property, happened to do it at the same time the group of four were praying inside the building.  To God be the glory!

The group picture was taken by the person taking soil samples.

Christmas At River Run 2011

Not too many years ago the majority of people in churches were mostly from the surrounding area, where as today's church is a mixture of local people, and people from around the province and out of province.  Many people are traveling during the Christmas season. This makes for a very different church and the need to rethink how we celebrate seasonal holidays.


Most church celebrations are as near as possible to the actual holiday.  This year for example churches would traditionally celebrate Christmas with something special on Saturday, December 24th or Sunday, December 25th - and for New Years with something special on Sunday, January 1st.  Added to the already planned family celebrations, it makes for a busy time of year.

However the River Run folk were encouraged to be with their families and friends for these occasions, when we cancelled both Christmas and New Year Sunday Worship Services.  This allowed people to travel where they need to be, and to visit as long as they are able.  Equally any service at home would not be half attended.


For this reason we celebrated Christmas on Sunday, December 18th.  We sat around festively decorated tables and enthusiastically worshipped the Lord with our favorite carols.  The children spiritedly sang some songs with actions that made everyone smile.  Stephen concluded the service with a message about anticipation, illustrating the story of Mary and Elizabeth.

Then it was time to eat our Christmas lunch.  Spring rolls, bun-wiches, festive hors d'oeuvres, and more were laid out on the buffet table, and everyone helped themselves.  It was good to eat but it was also good to hear the laughter and see people enjoying themselves.  A special shout out to the those who organized the event, it was one of the best!

Tot's Playdate Christmas Party 2011

Tot's Playdate happens each Monday morning and offers a great opportunity for moms to meet other moms, and for tots to play with other tots.  Usually there's coffee and snacks, and sometimes there's an outing or special event, yet without exception there is always good conversation and genuine support.  If you would like more information on Tot's Playdate, contact us at riverrunfellowship@gmail.com


Santa makes a special visit to Tot's Playdate!

The Church Of No Frills

The Roots Series by Stephen Best Copyright 2011

‘You want to be with me because I fed you’ (or because of what I did for you).  This was Jesus comment to the crowd that followed him to Capernaum (Jn. 6:26), after he had fed the five thousand.  He had filled their hungry stomachs with bread, and they wanted more.

In his words is the subtle yet painful reality that people desired him for what he could give them, and for how he made them feel.  Unlike the disciples, the people were not interested in giving up everything to follow Jesus.  They were simply following him because of the frills. 

Church Hopping

Unfortunately things haven’t changed very much.  Many Christians attend churches simply because it offers them some kind of benefit other than ‘Life in Christ’.  The benefit can vary from something as simple as soft chairs to something as common as youth ministry.  These benefits may seem trivial yet many Christians base their church attendance and experience on what a church has to offer, thus the term church hopping.

Regardless of the benefit, it is symptomatic of a Christian mindset that views the church as a faceless organization, and the believer as fickle consumer.  It conveys the idea that church is a service industry obliged to meet consumer demands, and believers as its self-seeking customers.  If one church fails to satisfy one’s wants, there is always another one down the road that might.  I find this disturbing and can only imagine how this must grieve the Holy Spirit.

Thirty plus years of ministry has shown me that what some Christians look for in a church, are generally the same things why they leave a church.  Generally they will search out a church that meets their criteria of music, Sunday school, youth ministry, or a Sunday service, and equally will leave over their disapproval of the same things.  At times their disapproval will spawn serious offenses and frustrations that if left untreated, emerge again with the next church that disappoints them.  Although this seems petty and shallow, it is often the case.

Is there anything wrong with comfy chairs and a dynamic Sunday school?  Of course not, and who wouldn’t want the best for our backs and children.  It’s nice to have something for everyone.  Besides, isn't the church suppose to offer all this stuff?

When we stop being the biblical church and run after what we think makes up the church, we are in a truckload of trouble.  When church amenities take precedence over Christians acting responsibly to the Lord, or when we are benefit driven over unity driven, the church has strayed from its original directive and it now serves itself.

Jesus Will Build It

The church that Jesus was building was straightforward and mobile with no gimmicks.  It was intended to thrive under any economic condition or political administration.  In it’s design was a Holy Spirit ability to endure, sacrifice, and overcome.  Their love and service to each other, their ability to rise above difficulties, and their modeling of Jesus in their everyday lives identified them as the church.  They lived effectively and genuinely by being less self-absorbed or more outgoing.

Concerns for the children, teens and elderly, the women and the men, the mothers and the fathers, the poor and the lost, the married and the singles, the widows and the orphans were met with united prayer and action.  Everyday the early church spontaneously and genuinely gave themselves to the Lord, and to the care and development of their church family.  It did not depend on a Sunday service, a church program or a pastor.  It was Holy Spirit driven in every individual believer.  Everyone was engaged in the Lord’s work in a simple way.

While many of us recognize that the church is people, we still struggle to free ourselves from an organizational – consumer mindset.  We have become too familiar with getting rather than giving.  Although we admire those who live simple and suffer for Christ’s sake, we on the other hand don’t want to be one.  After all, we have mistakenly learned that God’s blessing means bigger and better, more and never less.  It was Paul who said, “I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little.”  (Ph. 4:11 MSG)

Giving Rather Than Getting

The crux of the matter is that we Christians frequently think like the world, and especially when it comes to matters concerning the organized church.  Unlike JFK’s memorable words, we think of what the church can do for us, and not what we should do as the church – and we’re okay with that.  This however must change.

We get a clear image of the church in Acts 2:42, when they committed themselves to following God’s Word, shared meals and various interests together, remembered the Lord around the bread and wine, and when they prayed and worshiped together regularly.  This in essence was the church, and the Lord was so pleased that he added more people to them every day. 

The church is at it’s best when it’s love for Christ is demonstrated through their love for each other, and when pettiness, frustrations, and vested interests are exchanged for a genuine sense of fellowship and mission.  This is the church that Jesus is building, “a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.”  (Mt. 16:18, MSG)  Hell itself is threatened as the community of believers genuinely commit themselves to the Lord.

New Motivation

The cross of Christ is the place of new beginnings for the church.  While it speaks of forgiveness and a new destiny, it also speaks of a new motivation for every believer.  The self-seeking heart that caused Adam’s separation from God was nailed to the cross, and a new heart of laying-down one’s life was imparted.  The church came forward as sacrificial people willing to contribute, be involved and be responsible.  The ‘Sunday morning Christian’ or the – ‘what’s in it for me thinking’ was now on the other side of Calvary.

Born again believers are the church set free from self-indulgence, insecurity, guilt and fear – to serve each other with the greatest love and respect, Gal. 5:13.  When God’s people seek to serve themselves they cease to be free, and are no longer living in the life of the Holy Spirit.  The church turns inward and is self-serving when options, convenience, and special features become the focus.  In effect it becomes a club.  On the other hand, the life of the Spirit is a life of love and sacrificial service.  Where you find love and service you have found the church that Jesus is building.

People’s frustration with the church is obvious considering everything we have made and expect from it.  To recapture the essence of the church we have to go back to the cross and see our self-interests and concerns nailed there, and that we are fitted together.  We have to see that a new life in Christ means saturating ourselves in God’s purposes first, and not worry about missing out on anything. 

When we seek him, Christ will take care of our everyday concerns and matters of the heart (Mt. 6:33).  If the church hasn’t a Timeless Treasures Group or a Rock of Ages Worship Band, it will be okay.  If we lack resources and customary programs, it will still be okay.  Around the world God’s people have survived on less.  We need to remember that the testimony of Jesus has been successfully shared from one generation to the next through imperfect and unrefined churches, which have solely relied on the supernatural ability of the Holy Spirit.

My Utmost For His Highest - Oswald Chambers

December 9


Very few of us debate with the sordid and evil and wrong, but we do debate with the good. It is the good that hates the best, and the higher up you get in the scale of the natural virtues, the more intense is the opposition to Jesus Christ. "They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh" – it is going to cost the natural in you everything, not something.

The natural life is not spiritual, and it can only be made spiritual by sacrifice. If we do not resolutely sacrifice the natural, the supernatural can never become natural in us.


December 10


Some of us are trying to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God before we have sacrificed the natural. The only way in which we can offer a spiritual sacrifice to God is by presenting our bodies a living sacrifice. Sanctification means more than deliverance from sin, it means the deliberate commitment of myself whom God has saved to God, and that I do not care what it costs.


My Utmost For His Highest

About The Church

The Roots Series by Stephen Best Copyright 2011

‘Going to church’ and other phrases like ‘the church on the corner’ are commonly used phrases in our culture.  More than ever it is acceptable to understand church as attending a religious service held in a religious place somewhere on Main St., Anywhere.  It’s a part of our everyday lingo.

Somewhere included in this thinking of church is a belief system that appears irrelevant.  While many people might appreciate church and what it stands for, especially during the holiday season or in moments of crisis, they might also say that it is out of touch with the real world.

Some church leaders have accepted this perception and have developed new ways in how church is done, so that more people might actually ‘go to church.’  It’s now fair to say that both religious and cultural perspectives suggest that the church’s identity primarily includes a service, place of worship and an arrangement of activities.  Church is now something we do, as opposed to something we are.  It is like going to the cinema at the mall.

Added to this perception of church is the perception of success.  It is also widely accepted that a church is perceived successful if it has an attractive building, numerous people attending and various programs for all ages, not forgetting an amiable worship service and an engaging leader.

What is wrong with this picture?  Who wouldn’t want a church that is relevant and meeting our needs in a comfortable atmosphere?

To adequately answer this question it’s best we use the Bible to understand what the church is about.  As mentioned there are many different notions surrounding church, but Jesus said that he would build his church, and that leaves the Bible as the only measurement that really matters. 

The following are simple reminders of what the Bible says about the church, and are intended to help us have expectations that are like Christ’s.

1. Our English Bible translates the Greek word ‘ekklesia’ as church 113 times in the New Testament.

·      Ekklesia simply means a gathering of people called out from their homes.

·      Attending a church or doing good deeds does not include someone with those who are called out.

·      The called out refers to those people who have committed their lives to Christ by receiving him as Lord, Col. 1:13, Eph. 2:4-10.

2. God’s house or the church is a gathering of people committed to following Christ, Eph. 2:19-22.

·      The Bible clearly shows that the church is not a building, but rather people called out of their homes to gather together.

·      The church includes every race and ethnicity that professes Jesus as Lord.

·      The Bible does not ask us to go to church, rather it says to ‘consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,’ while also ‘not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching’ (Heb. 10:24-25).  In other words the church was to meet regularly with the intent of encouraging each other.  The traditional ‘going to church’ might seem easier.

3. The church’s primary goal is to offer itself as worship to God, 1 Pet. 2:5.

·      We do not ‘go to church’ nor do we ‘do church’, we are the church that collectively lives a life of sacrifice to God.

·      The church is not to serve us, but rather the church (the people) is to serve God and make Him famous.

·      You cannot ask what a church has to offer without first asking, “What do I have to offer?”

4. The Bible describes four basic functions of the church: applying themselves to biblical teaching, encouraging, enjoying each other’s company, and sharing in the Lord’s Supper, Acts 2:42.

·      The Bible describes the church as ‘relationally centered’ rather than ‘program centered’.

·      Similarly the church is not a Sunday activity, as it exists beyond a one-hour service and the one-day of the week.

5. The church is an assembly of God’s people where every person thinks about others, and practices genuine love through acts of generous serving, giving, and praying, Rom. 12:6-18.

·      Practicing genuine love is not volunteering.  It is being obedient to Christ.

·      The church is not a social convener.

·      The church does exist without programs, events and buildings.  It actually thrives when every member does its part.

·      Church activities are not to be a substitute for practical acts of kindness.

6. The church anticipates persecution and attack, yet Jesus said that it will not be overcome, Mt. 16:18.

·      Believers are constantly encouraged through the Bible to be ready for difficult times, Jam. 1:2, Mt. 5:11-12.

·      Churches are perceived blessed because they have a good worship band, or because they have a great attendance at their services, but the Bible says they are blessed when they suffer for Christ’s sake.

7. The church has been given abilities to develop the church and to equip God’s people to do His work, Eph. 4:11-12.

·      The church has laborers not celebrities or academics, who work to see God’s people live life as Jesus intended.

8. The church is an organic assembly of God’s people, Col. 1:18, Eph. 1:22-23.

·      The church is not a nonprofit organization or a charity, and exists regardless of government support.

·      The church is not a business or a bank account.

9. When and where the church gathers is insignificant, God’s presence is there, Mt 18:20.

·      The presence of the Holy Spirit identifies God’s people more than any charitable number or full church building, Ex. 33:15.

·      The Holy Spirit’s presence is not delicate and airy, but supernaturally practical.

10. The church is a living testimony of God’s grace and in turn genuinely works toward the salvation of their neighbors, friends, and family, Acts 1:8.

·      Where Jesus is actively involved in the lives of his people, there is not only a modeling of his grace, but also a declaration of it, Rev. 19:10.

11. Signs and wonders are anticipated in church life, Acts 2:43 & 47.

Summary:

Ø    An overhaul on the understanding of church is needed, and a more biblical model must be desired.  Simply replacing man-made traditions with more man-made improvements is not enough.

Ø    The church is people who belong to Jesus, and who are being changed by the Holy Spirit to be like Christ in the world.  The church is not a product to be consumed.  Nor should it be promoted with every imaginable thing that appeals to people’s worldly senses.

Ø    Rather than programs being the church’s ‘calling card’, Christ desires to make himself known through the church.

Ø    God designed the church to be simple and to function within any geographical boundary, form of government, and economic system.  It is adaptable and movable.

Ø    The church’s success is related to the active presence of the Holy Spirit, rather than the size of its’ congregation or building.

Ø    The drive to fill empty seats is a secular value that distracts the church away from its roots.  Let’s reach for something more purposeful by applying biblical teaching, encouraging others, fellowshipping together and regularly ‘breaking bread’.  God will then add to His church.