Corporate Church

[Pax]

Pax,

As I was reading along what came to mind was elections. Our government elected is no better than the people that elect them. In the same way, these corporate structures as the church subsist on people electing them by funding them. I believe this problem will remain until Christ returns in Person to destroy it. While these problems are going on, the true church structure will reemerge as it once was in the first century. When it reaches its pinnacle, Christ returns.

I believe this too and see it happening in my little town here in Canada. I have been very discouraged by the mess created by men, both outside the church and inside. Hopefully He comes quickly.

The buzz word is to get people to think about it. Biblocality = Biblical locality. It is wonderful to hear your acceptance of the only means by which the church is divided. Realize, the problem is, no one ever thinks in these terms. They are always trying to figure out how to usurp their particular denomination or some other way, but not the Biblical way of the local churches: informal apostles choose elders to take care of the entire locality. How simple, just as it is found in the Scriptures! This is called Biblocality. I wonder if I am the first person in the world to use this term? It is interesting how intuitively sometimes things just come to us. I was studying deeply vol. 1 & 2 of Church and the Work, by Watchman Nee, along with the Bible, when it just came to me. Those things given to us by the Holy Spirit will come seemingly out of nowhere and so effortlessly.

I don't understand everything that you propose, so I can't judge it. I have to read more about informal Apostles and the like.

My problem is that even with this system, there is divisions within the community. Like I said I live in a small tiny town in Canada and there are at least two different groups of "local churches". They don't see a couple of points the same way, and there you have it - division again.

I think division is the natural course of man. I don't know how to reconcile that with the idea of the "called-out" Church. This is what I call your biblocality church! LOL!

Ultimately, the names don't matter, it is the heart, the desire to be true to what He has called us to. If you read Acts, as we did as a group last year, it is an amazing and beautiful journey to understand the simplicity of the True Church. Not the church created by men, but the True Church.

What you describe about schooling for pastors is called the "pastoral system", and it is like you said, just an offshoot of the Roman Catholic system in its formal training and expense. Though we hold nothing against anyone that goes through such schooling, it by no means is a requirement, and whenever it is made to be, and it is the standard by which to judge, then it is just head knowledge and not one being led by the Holy Spirit. Apostles do not apply to an organization to be able to do the work of the Ministry. They just go out and do it. Teachers, prophets and evangelists are those who have these gifts, not because they have a diploma. Elders are working souls, just like you and I, and do not draw a salary for the work.

I understand this. I have to admit though, I don't understand your understanding of Apostle. Maybe it is my understanding that is wrong, but I always thought of Apostles as those who walked with Christ, or as in Paul's case, was chosen by Christ after rising from the dead.

One of the problems I have here that I honestly don't understand is how then do these new leaders of the church support themselves. That is where the system by man makes a little bit of sense, but like everything else, it is taited with coruption and gets away from the truth of Christ. I thought if it was me I would do it outside of my job, so I could do as Paul in the letter to the Thessalonians, work so I can eat.

Your points are reasonable, except for one: you "don't understand and agree with everything that this site has to say". Can you be more specific?

Well, maybe I should have written that differently. I should say that I don't understand everything and leave it at that. Things like your idea of partial rapture. To me the end times are important, but I am concerned with the here and now, and I feel that penticostal theology gets away from the here and now and moves too much into the end times and trying to set dates and figure things out. I am here now, today. That is what I focus on.

That being said, I am not saying that that is wrong. I just have to read it more and understand it better.

The Apostle thing I mentioned before I also have a problem with, but it is more a matter of my lack of understanding.

I thank you for your availability to Christ and your desire to seek HIS truth.