Why has the CHURCH forgotten???

What has happened that so many people who have said that they are His followers yet have stepped back from following the LORD with all their heart and lives? What has happened that those "called out ones", HIS church, have lost their understanding of what the church designed purpose is?

Jesus still desires for us to be empowered by His Spirit for the purpose that he has created them for, but it seems like so many of God's called out ones do NOT know that that is or (if they do know) do not want to do that anymore.

Some may be sad at this BUT I think that GOD is stirring His people again and this is a GREAT opportunity we have been given. It also encouraged me GREATLY as I am hearing spiritual leader after spiritual leader saying the same things alone the same lines.

I don't know if you heard about this, but on Pentecost Sunday, Rick Warren told his church that "If you want to remain a passive Christian, find another church."The Christian Post writes:

“Pastor Rick Warren has a message for the some 20,000 people who attend Saddleback Church: If you want to remain a passive Christian, find another church. During last week’s sermon (Pentecost Sunday), Warren laid out a plan for Saddleback's next "Decade of Destiny" in which he's anticipating exponential growth. And the plan has no room for fake Christians, he indicated. "Let me just be honest with you as somebody who loves you. If you passively just want to sit around in the next 10 years and just waste your life on things that won't last, you probably want to find another church because you're not going to really feel comfortable here. Because if you're in this church, I'm coming after you to be mobilized," said the renowned southern California pastor. Saddleback celebrated its 30th anniversary last month and in preparation for the megachurch's next decade, Warren took the congregation back to the first church in the New Testament for a look at what "real Christianity" is all about.

"There are a lot of things done in the name of Christianity in the church that Jesus Christ would disavow," he lamented. "There's fake Christianity, there's phony Christianity, there's pseudo-Christianity."I want us to look at the real deal. What does it mean to really be a follower of Jesus Christ?" Unfortunately, the churches and Christians he sees today in the 21st century are a far cry from how they were in the first century, he noted. Aligning Saddleback with the DNA of the original church – which grew from 120 believers to dominating the Roman Empire within 300 years – Warren directed the congregation to adopt and strengthen eight characteristics of real Christianity as found in the book of Acts. One of those is “mobilizing everybody from kids to seniors” "Everybody's a minister," he stressed. "In the original church, there were no audiences. Rather, everyone was a contributor and participator which led to the tremendous growth of Christianity"

As I edited the article a bit, you can find the whole version of it here.

I think it is safe to say to 20,000 people "find another church" if you are not willing to join us on mission. Do we, do I, have the courage to say that our church of 100 people or less? What if they take us up on it? What if they leave... then we would not have a job...

....but what if they don't..... but hear your passion for joining the LORD in his purpose for which the church has been created. What if they say YES LORD YES.... I think they might...

Maybe we need to be more concerned of communicating prophetically to our Church that if we do not join the LORD on His mission... we all are at risk of loosing something VERY dear to us...

In May 2010, Zondervan publishing is releasing a book by Hugh Halter & Matt Smay called “The Gathered AND Scattered Church” .

Read these quotes from the book;

“God’s church is a missional church, a community that is sent and given away for God’s purposes. While I believe the unsent church is still God’s church, she is a bride that has lost much of her intrigue and beauty. For God’s church to reemerge in your local church, you must be willing to let the bride become beautifully sent. You must allow God to send you, to send your ­people, and you must begin to see yourself as part of a larger story of God’s mission, which began with Abram and continues today through leaders who desire to see God’s marvelous ways change the course of history.”

They go on to write...

“I believe that God’s ­people want to go BIG! They’re tired of being the unsent church— weary of church ser­vices, sermons, in-house programs, and Bible studies that never push them out and challenge them to really be the missional ­people God has called them to be. “

I BELIEVE that this is THE time for you as a solo pastor in a smaller church to call your people to go out and be the people God has created them to be as part of HIS church...

I am for you...

-K