A New Wineskin?

I pray to God that I make sense with what the Spirit leads me to write , as this has been something that has been in my heart, and on my heart for a while, and it regards the inward and outward manifestations of what He wants the Church to be in the 21st century IN America.I desperately , DESPERATELY want to address the issue of faith, Living Faith as opposed to religion and institution. While I believe very much in accountability and covering for any ekkelsia in formation, religion and institution do not save the lost, Living Faith does. Institution is the experience of meeting with God ritualized, hidebound, dead and stultified. God the Holy Spirit Who lives within us, and makes tabernacle within us, is not ritual, He is Mystery and Mastery.I live in a community where Jesus is an afterthought. I live in a community where a Christian is assumed to be a "republican" first and foremost and not a follower of Jesus. This community is so politically liberal, that to witness Jesus' love and Gospel, I have to push my way thru a thicket of worldly political assumptions on the part of those we minister amongst. This dichotomy has forced me to walk the talk, and to focus on the "least of these", for they are the only ones who have any patience, brokeness to hear the Wind of the Holy Spirit. The only "church" in this exurban California Canyon has been torn apart by the devil and fleshly worldlings bound by their carnality and pride, a very bad scene. Lawsuits, dismissed pastors, who had done nothing more offensive than preach a Full Gospel, and leadership unaccountability. A bad scene.But as there was darkness, so comes the day. As there was death, so there is resurrection. Three thanksgivings ago, God took this corrupt and dark heart of mine and breathed His will into it. I was made an orphan three Thanksgiving's ago, and my heart was filled with rage, and He said, "dont, go instead and feed the other orphans"......so I did. This Thanksgiving, for the first time, the believers and followers of Jesus that worship in the house church at Mimi's, came alongside me, and feed the poor of our community. Not only were they of service in the Love of Jesus, but they also tasted what the Fellowship of the Believers written of in the 2nd chapter of the Acts of the Apostles was like.It was NOT about religion and institution, it was about Faith, living active Faith based in the Word of God, the koininia of man, and the Life in the Holy Spirit, that gives you the GIFT of faith and the GIFT of impossible love. Impossible love is washing filthy feet, and in those feet seeing your feet.I have a vision of a church in a community such as this, and it doesn't happen in a building. I think it should happen in a tent, a tent much like the Recabites would live in; Jeremiah 35. A Beduoin tent, dark and mysterious, in a glade of trees. and inside the tent, are carpets, and rugs, there might be folding chairs, there might be cushions, or benches. There are no platforms, because all are on the level, none is higher, esteemed not by man. There are no electric lights, only candles, standing candlelabras, or a tent doorway left open. Yes, its a deliberate, intentional return to day gone by, a evocative remembrance of when the Lord conducted His earthly ministry, a remembrance of a day when the word, "purity" was not frowned upon, but celebrated. The air is fragranced by incense, the dried potpuorri of flowers, and by the prayers of the fellowship. All musical instruments will be unplugged, unfettered and allowed to operate in the gifts of the Spirit. It will NOT be a worship service built around a lecture, it will be a worship service built around God, and Head of this Church will be Jesus,and the Spokesman will be the God the Holy Ghost. There will be praise, and testimony and worship sharing and freedom, freedom in Christ.and part of this worship will not be sixty seperate groups of people splitting up after the "lecture" to have sunday lunch at Dennys, or Carrows or the Soup Plantation, but one body eating together in love and friendship based in Christ.I live in Topanga California, if anybody has any suggestions, prayers, knows where to get a beduoin tent, or substitute...anything...please contribute to this thread or pm me.I love Jesus, and I love His Church.Neil

My prayer is that all who read that precious bit of Scripture take it up in their heart and bury it there. I have.Lord bless you today sir.Neil

Where is Topanga exactly?I am lazy and wondering also where this is! I will be God-willing going to bible school in Murietta, California for the next 2 years starting feb 1st 2005. Who knows what the Lord has planned, it would be interesting to meet.

Check it out; Topanga is right down the Coast Highway from Malibu, about seven miles to the west of Santa Monica. The town is infamous as a hippie haven from the sixties, and now its a very yuppified, very new-agey, very post-Christian place, and wouldnt it be evidence of our Lord's sense of humour if he birthed a white hot, sky blue, Holy Ghost revival right here in hippie new age central? There's a an old shuttered bar, along Route 27, thats Topanga Cyn Boulevard, and it was named Bruno's California Trail, everybody called it the "Stop-n-Fight", well, I prayed for God to close it and He did......then I claimed it for Pentecost in the Name of Jesus, and asked God humbly and respectfully, please Lord, use this bar as a New Testament church, use it for revival.He's a covenant keeping God. The thing about revival , as you know, is that mere humans like us don't do a thing, God does the work, we just let the seeking penitents know where to park.....and then we get flat on our faces, and pray along with our Dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.Praise God, I can see a day when the three of us are laid out , face down, praying in the Spirit, admidst a glorious Move of God. Do you know what I believe? I believe in a God Who can give sight to the blind, and heal the lame. amen. and you know what? Right now, in the house church at Mimi's, we have a young brother, who is blind, and we have a sister with a withered limb, injured in auto crash, and I believe with all my heart, every fiber in this body that Jesus can heal both of these precious people. I see both their faces now, and I see them healed, and I see people turned around when they realize that God is real, and He is alive and He moves among us, and He is in the healing and resurrection business.Something is happening brothers, Something very good. I praise God, and I thank Him for joining us together in this ministry of reconciliation.Isnt Jesus wonderful? The only thing that grieves me is when I fall so short of His glory.My love to you both,Neil

Mapquest.com to topenagaYes California the more I learn about it, is a place that needs God! There are pockets of places where there are many churches but there is alot of false conversions and new agy complacent, lukewarm churches. There seems to be a sense of "peace, peace" in California but "sudden destruction will come". These are perilous times and we need to get very serious with the things of God. I am encouraged to hear your heart brother that you desire for God to move and for people to come to God. Its awesome that I am coming down to California and Mike is there, I hope we can all meet together God willing to pray that God would rend the heavens in California.

flame?.....for a prudent word of caution?no. God bless you for that nugget of wisdom, and I agree 100%. If an ekklesia is based on anything other than the Word of God, its gonna go onto the rocks and shoals of error and disorder. Guaranteed.Its funny, when you write something, you know whats in your heart, but sometimes one only conveys half the thought, and it would be easy to see how what I wrote would be construed as Holy Ghost fluff based on "feelings", and having a "good time in the Lord", y'know , where we all get on all fours bark like dogs, giggle like mental patients, making whooshing sounds, and "ahhhs" , and call that revival, or the "emerging church", when in reality its just immature no-pain weirdness masquarading as worship.The Bible is honey to the soul, even the parts in Judges, that to me represent the absolute depth of the human experience as represented in Scripture, its all Honey and a Rock, and a Foundation that God's Church can be built upon.The Bible, to me, is also a mystery document, and my favorite parts, are those where I cant really figure out EVERYTHING, where I have the freedom to say , "I don't know"...like the 2nd thru 4th verse of the 12th chapter of the 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians......"things that man is not permitted to tell".I love that! what things? Oh Jesus, tell me in Heaven, please Lord. Mystery. Why do these pagans think they have a corner on mysticism? They have nothing! They have no Book, they are empty rain clouds. Why does the Dalai Lama get to be called a "holy man", and we have to dress (and think) like CEO's, and be "purpose driven"?why???I'm not talking about show now....y'know showtime, and purpose-driven eccentricity....I'm talking about the Lord Jesus of the Book....in His day, Jesus was so far outside the orthodoxy, yet He could pick up a Scroll of Isaiah and navigate thru it pretty adroitly, and then have dinner with the freaks and the unwashed and the prostitutes....and then wake up before dawn and go to a lonely place to pray by Himself.....where has that gone in our lives?I wanna be like Him. I think about Jesus, and I carry Him in my heart, Praise God...but I think about what it must have been to eat dinner with Him, what it must have been like to swear up and down TO HIS FACE that I would never deny Him, then to have Him look at me as I do deny Him, and then to have the resurrected Christ ask me , "Do you agape love me?".......oh man....this nail pierced heart......sorry, I went off on a tangent...lol......God bless you for that word, and the advice of an elder.In Him, Neil

Yes , Topanga is up by Malibu, and as I wrote before its a old hippie town, now bedroom yuppie community. I agree with you on gimmicks and fads. Right now we worship in the home of a 79 year old Spirit filled widow by the name of Miriam. They'll be maybe 15 to 20 people on the Lord's day, and there were three tonight at the Thursday evening intercessory prayer meeting, Miriam, (aka Mimi) Pastor Bob, and myself. God blessed me with a weeping ministry tonight, I was asking Him to help me get more caught up in High places with Him, and to resist the flesh. All day long that concept, "to be caught up in High Places with God", has been running in soul, and God has me reading Isaiah 55 over and over again. I was asking Him, what it means to be a "mystic",and thats what He showed me, ....Isaiah 55. If you ever desire to worship at the house church that meets at Mimi's, drop me a line...or if you could be so kind, please get on your knees and ask God to send the Fire down on Topanga..Holy Ghost Fire. All it takes is one person locked up in their room for one hour, and you could change history here. There are 13,000 people plus here taking a walk down the causeway to hell, and they dont even know the danger they are in. Thats the sad part, they have NO idea, because there are pastors within this canyon, pastors with a pulpit who will never mention the danger that an unsaved sinner faces, and furthermore, you will never hear an invitation from these pastors to drink of the Living Water...there's a hillside, facing the towns main highway,(20,000 cars a day) and I will post signs on this hillside that the drivers can read: I heard the Holy Spirit telling me to put one in there that reads "PRAY", but I almost feel like putting , "YUR FACING HELL"on that mountainside ....but I gotta do what God says. He also told me to write a letter to one of this towns pagan shaman's, (not kidding) and asking him who he serves. Oh I'm postively tired.Good night and God bless you is my prayer.Neil