Drove by a "church" today (rare in SC, I know). The sign read something about youth, another program and "Revival 8/26." Ugh. I rolled my eyes and became sour and bitter once again. Well, that's how others view me when I get like this. Honestly, I'm just so uncomfortable with it all. I thank the Lord above that someone else feels the same way I do. A teacher of mine said, "How can you schedule a revival? A true revival is from the Holy Spirit. How do you know when he is going to show up?"
That is why I rolled my eyes. Who says when the Holy Spirit is going to show up to do something miraculous. If that were the case, than little baby Mikayla would still be awake. I would never have done a crossfit workout. I would have a shirt with her name on it. Why? Because all the people that visited, all the prayers that were sent, the powerful words spoken in hope would have kept that sweet precious girl from passing on. But that didn't happen. The tears, prayers, times of hope renewed right there in the hospital room were left with hurt and pain. If we could control the miracles of God through the Holy Spirit, we wouldn't have lost Mikayla. Still, "churches" continue to put up signs telling us when they will have a revival. Do you think God and Jesus are up there laughing? "Let's send the Holy Spirit to them the Sunday before at the 11 o'clock service instead. Let's see if they still have the service on Friday." Who on earth are you to think that you can tell the Holy Spirit when to show up and revive your "church." Perhaps there's something far worse that needs reviving. *moves soapbox a little higher. stepping up. clears throat* Ok, you see the word church in quotation above. That is because the word church is so poorly misused in our culture it's sickening. Oh how I wish they knew! The word church refers to a body of believers that live within a certain area, ie the church of Rome, the church in Jerusalem, the church of Ephasus. You get the picture. The buildings have been named "churches" because that's where the church was meeting. But even that is wrong. That is centuries of secular world creating an institution of the church body. Now I know that so many people know and understand that the beings of Christians are the church. We meet together for corporate worship gatherings. But the system is wrong. The system we have all over America is a business/educational/political set up. This is not how the first century Christians worked. They didn't go into the temples in Jerusalem after the Jews had their service. They didn't rent out the nearest building that could hold enough people. They met in homes. They gathered together in love. When they ate a meal, they were taking communion. They were together in their lives. There was no pastor. There were a group of elders. Those elders didn't run services, but they helped guide the church when needed. So what did the church do? They gathered in the houses. They ate together. They shared testimonies of God's power and wisdom in their lives. They sang songs, prayed, spoke. Each one. Male and female. They all used their gifts within the body to serve God by serving each other. The Holy Spirit moved in the church providing all that was needed. It's my struggle on a regular basis when it comes to "church." I attend the women's group on Sunday mornings. For as much as I love the teacher, and know that she is a godly woman, sometimes I want to ask her to stop speaking. Sometimes the Holy Spirit is moving in such a way that we don't need someone to facilitate the conversation. We are pouring into each other with scripture and love. We are speaking the truth, and unpacking the scriptures. Throw the outline out. Put the notes away for a different day. Let the Holy Spirit do what is necessary. *puts soapbox away for another day* Who are we to tell the Holy Spirit when to show up? Who are we to run over him when he is leading? Who are we to set time limits and restrictions on the God of our Salvation? I do not have an answer. We need to come together with hearts open ready to receive and give all within the body together. We need to meet and greet each other in love. We need to sit in the silence and all the time to move while the Holy Spirit works through us, as we need to. We are the church, the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is on us, not clergy, to do what is necessary as we allow room for the Holy Spirit to work.
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