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Subject: Outside the Camp
Date: 9/05/01
I have always loved going to church. The sheer joy of going to the
"house of God", and to enjoy his blissful presence. In fact, my favorite scripture passage is the entire Bible
is Psalm 122:1: "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord."
I was born
(again) into the wild and Spirit filled Charismatic movement. The fire that fell from heaven seemed to be an answer to the
60's delusion and deception that plagued this country. Oh, the glory that penetrated me. Fearlessly running around telling
everyone about Jesus!
However, over a period of time, this cooled off for me and many brethren in the church.
A majority of us wouldn't or couldn't sustain the flow. I call them "backburners" after the song by Greg X Voltz.
I know so many beloved backburners who left the church, and who have stayed away, it just breaks my heart. I am praying,
like the song, that God just has them on the backburner, and He will again light a fire of renewal under them. What'cha got
cookin back there God??
About five years ago a new fire fell from heaven on me. This time the glory was intense
but somehow different. It came with such power and anointing, sometimes I just couldn't contain it all. I was swimming in
the river of glory! However, it came attached with stipulations of things like holiness and obedience. Things we charasmata
had overlooked or negleted before.
I renewed my commitment to the church and to the body. I had moved back to
my hometown and started attending my old church. In it's place there were no barefoot hippies praising God, but a new modern
facility with well dressed and well heeled brethren. Instead of waves of the Holy Spirit directing traffic in the worship
and preaching, I found a well organized and a well timed service. After about a year I was starving and dieing on the vine.
I left in search of a church which could satisfy my rabid hunger for God, and my undieing love for the brethren. I was tired
of shaking hands before service, and forgetting the names as I walked out of the building.
For the next several
years I bounced around from church to church looking for that magic to return. The most well known charismatic independents
or denominations were like dry bones to me. I finally found a church that appealed to and fulfilled me, the "river"
seemed to flow here. Although, after about six months, I began to have nagging questions like why am I always seeing the
same faces day after day, week after week. Why aren't people pouring off the streets? The poor, the destitute, the homeless.
The heartbroken sinners? Why does all the revelation, knowledge and authority flow through the leadership only?
My
conscience and mind were wracked with indecision. I scoured the scriptures and commentaries on a steady diet of the Book
of Acts. I began to see a clear distinction of what was, and what is now. The body is, and always has been a living breathing
organism "...building itself up in love...that which every joint supplies...the proper working of each individual part."
(Eph 4:16) I found other like-minded people and web sites on the internet. If you are facing this dilemma, I recommend:
http://nextreformation.com
I have left the church building. I am now part of the house church movement "breaking
bread from house to house...with gladness and singleness of heart." (Acts 2:46) Another couple from my old church are
now in our house church. They were once my cell group leaders for over a year. I can honestly say we are more bonded and
intimate in a couple of months than all the rest of the time put together. It has not been easy, at first I suffered like
a drug addict with no fix. But now I am feeling the rest and assurance of the Holy Spirit that this is the sovereign will
of God.
Please don't get me wrong. I am not down or despondent with the institutional church, rather I believe
Jesus is calling out to some born from above believers to forsake all and count the cost of furthering His Kingdom. Brethren,
if you believe the apostolic anointing is beginning to be released and the Book of Acts will once again become a reality,
be prepared to go outside the camp to serve the Master.
Brother Les Lyons
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