Church is not Church
November 2008. Nine years ago I was asked to move and be a part of what I consider to be one of the most extraordinary opportunities in human history. At that point it had been a long time coming and a dream come true. Little did I know that it would go against everything inside of me. Life as I knew it then is completely gone. My dreams, desires, aspirations, the trajectory of my life, all gone. I wouldn't change a thing.
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Just because you've heard the word moon doesn't mean you know what is there. You may have seen pictures, watched documentaries, read books, taken a class, but you have never been there. You may go to a dance club called the Moon with all kinds of space decoration, craters of white sand with everyone dressed like an astronaut, but you don't know what zero gravity feels like. One of my favorite quotes is "Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken." That great scene in Good Will Hunting when Robin Williams tells Matt Damon that "...your just a kid. You haven't the faintest idea of what your talking about." If you haven't seen it I won't spoil the scene. This about sums up what I thought I knew about Church. Hell, about life.
What most people call church I would spell c-r-u-t-c-h, without the broken leg.
When I asked the Lord Jesus what HE wanted church to look like, I had no idea the answer I was going to get. I just wanted to get this one important part of my life straight before I went on to other things. I didn't realize I was literally going to get the point of all creation. What some have called the Eternal Purpose, the Mystery of the Ages, the Foundation and Fruition of the Kingdom of God, Jesus Christ Himself and His literal Body on Earth. And I'm not talking about the cross, resurrection and Jesus saving us from our sins. That was only the means, not the end.
Nothing is the same now. I have the same bible that I bought over fifteen years ago but I am not reading the same book. Everything that I thought was good in my life, everything that I thought I had figured out is a complete wash now. What I wanted to do with my life, gone. What I wanted my life to look like, gone. How I interact and see people, gone. How I see myself, gone. The daily commerce of my life and everything that I had built up to nine years ago, gone, gone, gone.
If you like your life as it is, don't look for the church. If you want to keep your plans, and the nice, neat infrastructure of your life, do not dig deeper. It will ruin your life. If you can stay in the institution and ignore all the things that your conscience is telling you, do it. In fact, stop reading this insignificant little turd of a blog and return to your life.
But if you can't turn your head from the problems that you see, if there is a question in the back of your mind not wanting to let you go, if you have to know what lies behind the curtain of what Paul of Tarsus called "the Mystery", you won't be disappointed. Jesus will show you. He WANTS to show you. It is what we were all intended for. Is He calling you?
There is more. More than you could possibly imagine. There are vast stores of things that 99.9% of people have never experienced. Though I have only had a little taste, it was enough to ruin me. I could never turn back even if I wanted to. The Romance between Jesus Christ and His Church is the most marvelous plan ever conceived. To be a part of it is higher than the highest honor known to mankind.
The church building on the corner with all its normal trappings; parking lots, pews, stages, pastors, smoke machines, loud music, etc. is not what Jesus is after. He is after a woman. But not just any woman, The Woman. Also known as The Church. The Church is a thousand times more than getting people saved and missionary work. The church as we know it is not The Church. The Church that Jesus is after is breathtaking.
Before you call the heresy police on me at least take a moment to consider what I'm saying. Ask yourself, "Is what I'm experiencing the same as what I read in the bible or am I reading my present experience and old traditions into the bible? Could there be more than what I'm experiencing now? Is the church as we know it really what the God of the Universe intended it to be?" I am not saying that going to an institutional church is wrong, or you shouldn't be a missionary. I'm not here to point out how we've all got it wrong. I am talking about a story that all stories are a picture of. I am talking about the reason you were created. I'm talking about the substance of all your dreams...
I am talking about sheer Beauty Herself: the Bride of The Lord Jesus Christ on earth.
This is not a doctrine. This is not a pedestal. This is not an opinion. This is not "the way I see things". This is not a new fad of church. THIS IS THE HEART OF GOD and it should not be taken lightly, ever. No one is getting rich off this message. Quite the opposite. Saints throughout history have literally been losing their life for this message, figuratively and literally.
The Pearl of Great Price awaits. The Treasure hidden in the field is wanting to be found. Will you sell ALL to purchase this tiny seed? Is it worth it? Is He worth it?
---
Just because you've heard the word moon doesn't mean you know what is there. You may have seen pictures, watched documentaries, read books, taken a class, but you have never been there. You may go to a dance club called the Moon with all kinds of space decoration, craters of white sand with everyone dressed like an astronaut, but you don't know what zero gravity feels like. One of my favorite quotes is "Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken." That great scene in Good Will Hunting when Robin Williams tells Matt Damon that "...your just a kid. You haven't the faintest idea of what your talking about." If you haven't seen it I won't spoil the scene. This about sums up what I thought I knew about Church. Hell, about life.
What most people call church I would spell c-r-u-t-c-h, without the broken leg.
When I asked the Lord Jesus what HE wanted church to look like, I had no idea the answer I was going to get. I just wanted to get this one important part of my life straight before I went on to other things. I didn't realize I was literally going to get the point of all creation. What some have called the Eternal Purpose, the Mystery of the Ages, the Foundation and Fruition of the Kingdom of God, Jesus Christ Himself and His literal Body on Earth. And I'm not talking about the cross, resurrection and Jesus saving us from our sins. That was only the means, not the end.
Nothing is the same now. I have the same bible that I bought over fifteen years ago but I am not reading the same book. Everything that I thought was good in my life, everything that I thought I had figured out is a complete wash now. What I wanted to do with my life, gone. What I wanted my life to look like, gone. How I interact and see people, gone. How I see myself, gone. The daily commerce of my life and everything that I had built up to nine years ago, gone, gone, gone.
If you like your life as it is, don't look for the church. If you want to keep your plans, and the nice, neat infrastructure of your life, do not dig deeper. It will ruin your life. If you can stay in the institution and ignore all the things that your conscience is telling you, do it. In fact, stop reading this insignificant little turd of a blog and return to your life.
But if you can't turn your head from the problems that you see, if there is a question in the back of your mind not wanting to let you go, if you have to know what lies behind the curtain of what Paul of Tarsus called "the Mystery", you won't be disappointed. Jesus will show you. He WANTS to show you. It is what we were all intended for. Is He calling you?
There is more. More than you could possibly imagine. There are vast stores of things that 99.9% of people have never experienced. Though I have only had a little taste, it was enough to ruin me. I could never turn back even if I wanted to. The Romance between Jesus Christ and His Church is the most marvelous plan ever conceived. To be a part of it is higher than the highest honor known to mankind.
The church building on the corner with all its normal trappings; parking lots, pews, stages, pastors, smoke machines, loud music, etc. is not what Jesus is after. He is after a woman. But not just any woman, The Woman. Also known as The Church. The Church is a thousand times more than getting people saved and missionary work. The church as we know it is not The Church. The Church that Jesus is after is breathtaking.
Before you call the heresy police on me at least take a moment to consider what I'm saying. Ask yourself, "Is what I'm experiencing the same as what I read in the bible or am I reading my present experience and old traditions into the bible? Could there be more than what I'm experiencing now? Is the church as we know it really what the God of the Universe intended it to be?" I am not saying that going to an institutional church is wrong, or you shouldn't be a missionary. I'm not here to point out how we've all got it wrong. I am talking about a story that all stories are a picture of. I am talking about the reason you were created. I'm talking about the substance of all your dreams...
I am talking about sheer Beauty Herself: the Bride of The Lord Jesus Christ on earth.
This is not a doctrine. This is not a pedestal. This is not an opinion. This is not "the way I see things". This is not a new fad of church. THIS IS THE HEART OF GOD and it should not be taken lightly, ever. No one is getting rich off this message. Quite the opposite. Saints throughout history have literally been losing their life for this message, figuratively and literally.
The Pearl of Great Price awaits. The Treasure hidden in the field is wanting to be found. Will you sell ALL to purchase this tiny seed? Is it worth it? Is He worth it?
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