Brenda
 
 

True Organization of the Local Church
 

On Easter morning I was brought out of bed early to spend time with the Lord. He showed me the way He really wants His church to operate. It was breathtakingly simple--and obvious--and yet completely opposite the way the organized church of this generation functions.

                 .... I would caution, however, that the main danger in UNDERSTANDING how the Lord wants to establish His church in each region is that before long we'll begin to PLAN TO DO IT FOR HIM. There are already too many "cell ministry" churches being run by the arm of the flesh. I believe that, if we will wait on Him, and ask Him to have His way in us and in His local church, HE WILL PUT IT TOGETHER FROM
START TO FINISH. Already, I'm starting to see this happen. . .

                  ... On Easter morning the Lord drew me out of bed to fellowship with Him, and met me in a very sweet way. It's hard for me to describe how He showed me the things to follow--a combination of gentle words, pictures, Scripture references. . .all brought together by His Spirit. But He showed me the pattern that He has for His church, His body. . .and it's breathtaking in its simplicity, and in its strength.

What I saw was that each region has a network of home churches, with a maximum of 12 people to a fellowship. (This is reflected in the Lord's group of disciples.) Each fellowship has a core group who are gifted to "equip the saints for ministry"; ie: the five-foldministry. BUT, the emphasis of each home group is different, depending on how the Lord places each group together--one secret of the success of this church is that it is all done through prayer and by the revealed will of God, and not by our own fleshly plans and administrations.

Each group has a couple of elders. These are mature saints who oversee--but do NOT RUN--the meetings. They have the wisdom to allow the Holy Spirit to do that. . .and to discern when something 'foreign' has entered in. Elders from each group in the city gather together on a regular basis to share with the rest of the body what is happening in their fellowships, and to seek the mind of the Lord on strategic matters that might come up regarding the church as a whole. They also visit other home churches from time to time, both to check for correct doctrine and practices, and to see if the Holy Spirit is doing something that might be shared and brought back to their respective groups. They also get together to pray for those who need confession and healing. Elders report to one another, and to apostles.Oh yes. . .I believe the Lord is going to appoint apostles and prophets who will travel from region to region to meat with the areas' elders, and visit one or two of the home churches. Again, this is for the purpose of correction, communication, and impartation throughout the body of Christ.

I forsee the possibility of a publication for each region. This publication would be the 'lifeline' of the fellowship of believers within a region, and will share timely prophetic words, teachings, psalms,parables, etc. Many would be drawn to the Lord through this work, which would be put together by those who are gifted for it. This  is how all of the work of the Kingdom would be done. No one would ever be placed into any kind of service unless it had been clearly determined, by the Holy Spirit, that that person was gifted and equipped for that service. I don't see this publication containing information about the whereabouts of particular church homes, or who is attending where, or any kind of mere 'social' news. This kind of information should be kept on an informal, personal level. . .because of the persecution that iscoming.

This persecution is just around the corner, and is one of the reasons why the Lord is going to call us to small, less conspicuous groups. The other reason is because of all the problems cited above: so that we willhave fellowships based on Him, and not merely on some set of truths ABOUT Him. He wants to be real to us, and to lead us and guide us in every regard. This will be more easily accomplished in small groups. Small groups are also more easily overseen, so that if error/deceptioncreeps in, it's easy to detect and correct. I believe the groups will be quite fluid, and will often have friendly "splits", as the Lord adds to their numbers, and leads part of the fellowship to another purpose.

I see that some groups will be specially equipped for taking in 'baby' Christians, and discipling them until they're ready to be placed in another group, as the Lord leads. There, they'll continue to be trainedin the word, and taught to hear the spirit. They'll learn what their gifts are, and how to properly use them to edify the body. At the proper time, when one of the other groups needs, for example, a worship leader,teacher or administrator or prophet, that well-grounded young Christian can be sent to that group, to fill its need. Other times, a group may have need of a prophetic voice, or teacher. . .or someone to come in anddiscern a situation and bring the mind of Christ to it. . .and so the group's deacon or elder will make that need known to the city's overseers, and the overseers will prayerfully decide who to send to that group to meet the need.

ALL of this, of course, is started and upheld by prayer. No one moves until the Spirit of the Lord says, "Move!" The praying women are the backbone of this organism. (Of course, men will also pray--but I clearly
see that the Lord is calling female intercessors to the fore in this)...

Submitted to the church by Brenda Imus
 

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