The Things We Have Learned
Since this blog is about equipping leaders to lead, and since much of what I do is involved in the building and the development of the Church, I will spend the next few blogs discussing things I/we have learned about the building of the church.

By way of introduction, it is important to understand that the church is in a process of "building". Jesus said, "I will build my church..." The Apostle Paul speaks of the church and says in Eph. 2:11 "in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." It is clear that Jesus didn't create the church, in the sense of the church being a finished product after Pentecost. That was only the beginning or the birth of the church. We are called to labor with the Lord to continue to see the church develop according to His plan. Herein is a very delicate area of discussion. We are not called to build "our" church, but His. This sounds simple but how we perceive the ownership of the church will determine how we build. If we are building for ourselves or motivated by leaving our own stamp on it with, "the glory going to God", the we will build something very different from the triumphant church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, the things I will be sharing, "The Things We Have Learned", come out of that endeavor to build on earth what we seen and heard from Him.

• We have learned a new paradigm. There has been a lot said these last few years about new paradigms. A "paradigm" is defined as , "an example servings as a model; pattern." When we began 3 decades ago, the Lord made it clear that what we were to assist Him in building was a new pattern. For us that meant we would end an old paradigm of "just having church", and enter the pattern of seeking to be the church. That is not a cliche', but a functional statement. For me it was revolutionary. It meant and end to a "one man show". It meant that John Wesley's cry that, "I set myself on fire and the people come watch me burn was an outdated and dare I say, unscriptural. The new cry must be, "I labor to see the people, the congregation catch on fire so the world can see them burn in the workplace." This would be the beginning of helping the church member enter into realm ministry to God and man. It was in fact, the priesthood of the believer. My Pastor, Ken Sumrall, said many years ago that it seemed to him that about every 50 years the Lord would have to take a group of people back to the "store fronts" in order to break his church back out of religion and into usefulness. (Paraphrased) We must always be open to new models on earth while keeping an eye on the model in heaven. However, God's ultimate plan or model never changes.
• We have learned the necessity of the centrality of the Scriptures. We must keep the Scripture as our guide and allow it to be the primary plumb line. A plumb line is used in building to set the walls, but it is also used later to see if the building has moved from it's original foundation. There are times when the plumb line will require walls to be torn down in order to get them back "in plumb". The more the reason to seek to make sure that we build according to the Biblical pattern to begin with. Many churches are captured and paralyzed by methods and traditions that are far removed from the Bible.
• We have learned the necessity of the Spirit Filled Life. We must build with the words of the Prophet Zechariah ringing in our ears, "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord." One of the primary reasons that the Lord calls for a new paradigm is because religion leaves God's pattern of the building taking place in the power of the Holy Spirit and turns to the intellectual and organizational powers of man. This cannot be stressed enough and especially to a younger generation who may have never experienced a true season of renewal. In that season the Holy Spirit is the voice of the builder and all who build are determined to hear from Him before any action is taken. I was told as a young "builder" by a seasoned church pioneer, "I have plans in my files that I was taught of how to build a church and Jesus is only a small part of the process". That means that it is possible to build something that looks like the church but in reality is only a powerless man made imitation.

Let us seek His face in order to see His plan before we begin any building in the name of the Lord and let us continue to examine that which we are building to make sure we haven't left His plan and purpose.