i:60 We Are Not a Church But We Are a Church.

We Are Not a Church But We Are a Church.

Does not make much sense. But on the contrary, it does. As a follower of Christ my entire life I have been part of the American church. So I am fluent in Christianese. I know all the types of theology. I know church etiquette, the debate about worship, and the debate about free will. When it comes to men’s groups I've been around the block a few times. Most of my life I couldn't stand men's groups and when I had to attend one I would find a place to hide and have a dip of Skoal and sip on an energy drink. For those who know me would say I'm an extrovert always around people but the real me really wanted to be an introvert and when it came to men’s groups I'd easily become one and take off somewhere to be alone with God in my own way.
Then something changed about 2 ½ years ago and I won't go into the details because it is hard enough to get a man to read a paragraph let alone 2 or 3 pages. I was invited to attend an event called M24. Basically, it was where a bunch of men got together on a mountain for 24 hours (M24) to praise and hear God through testimonies and worship. I don’t know why I went but I did. I thought to myself I hope this isn’t a cult or some charismatic, drunk in the spirit, spirit slaying come to Jesus mountain high moment, slapped on the head pass out on the floor type of event. To this day I don't know why I chose to go. It was out of my character yet I went and what I found changed my life forever. For the first time in my life, I found authenticity. Have any of you experienced authentic people in your life? There is something about them and being around them. You are almost drawn to them in a feeling of comfort and transparency within yourself. It is not about being a Christian or some other label its that these men that came from all over the valley were authentic. This was not natural. It wasn't because of who they were and where they came from it was about who was there with us on that mountain. It was the first time in my life that I experienced the Acts 1:8 church or in other words the presence of the Holy Spirit in a gathering of 1200 men to be exact. The fruit was the evidence of the Spirit's presence in which He would mingle in and out of these men and hover over the depths of their hearts, including mine. My heart, my soul, and my mind came together that weekend and I have continued to Bea part of this group of men and the ministry that they lead. So let’s get back to my first statement. We are not a church and I try to explain that to those I encourage to come see what we are about and there is nothing wrong with the church in regards to its structure and its purpose. But a church is used only in noun form. Yes, I know that linguistically church is not a verb. A verb indicates action; it shows movement. Church falls in the noun category, specifically a place. Places don’t move. They have no action. They don’t do anything. The Bible tells us the church is the community of believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. In fact, the word “church” comes from the Greek word ecclesia which means “an assembly of people.” “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20, ESV) This ministry will never take from a church nor will it compete with a local church, instead this ministry will only compliment and accessories the local church causing it to be a “verb” church a of action and encourages brothers and sisters to be authentic with one another and to out do one another in their love of Jesus for all those around them no matter what building or place that they are in. If I had to describe the influencers men’s ministry in what God produce through its function you would find it in this piece of scripture. please don’t get upset because I'm using the “message” translation or It will just validate my point of limiting God’s reach and the power of the Spirit’ through what a person believes to be acceptable bible translation

Romans 12
Place Your Life Before God (message translation)

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, which always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and functions as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.

If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.
Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody. Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.” Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.