We have a mega church here in Denver, well, one of several mega churches,
and when we were looking for a church several years ago, this mega church,
actually it is several minutes north of where I live but my mom and step dad
went there, started a church probably a mile or two west and a little south
of my home.  I heard the new pastor on the radio.  This mega church starts
new churches all over Denver.  Generally, they start a new church in an area
where they have several dozen people already driving half way across town.
That group is then used to start another branch church off the big mother
ship, if you get my drift.  After hearing this new pastor on the radio for
several weeks, I called him.  This was when the church was small enough that
the pastor took his own calls.  I explained my situation and that none of
our children were old enough to drive yet.  He said, "Let me check with
others in the church and see what we can work out."  By the way, the pastor
literally drove passed my house every time he went to the church further
south because he personally lived up north.  About a month later, I had
already figured he would never call back again, I got a call from him.  He
said, "I'm sorry but we just don't have anybody who can pick you up."
Remember, I doubt we were more than two miles, at the most, from the church.
Yes, we have taken buses and even cabs to church before when it was possible
to do so.  There was no Sunday bus service in that area of that church at
that time.  Needless to say, we never went.  I have a bag filled with
stories like this.  Thank the Lord, we finally found a church, and it
lasted, as I mentioned before, 5 years.  The last two years were very rocky
and bumpy.  The pastor finally was asked to leave by the denomination, fired
in other words, because in 13 years of being the pastor, the church had
dropped from a hundred down to about 3 or 4 people.  It was one of the
saddest experiences of my life to watch the closeness of fellowship and the
great spiritual potential of this church just slowly drip down the drain.  I
felt as if I were dying myself at the time.  I wish I could be more
encouraging along these lines but except for a few isolated areas and places
in the country, I have been watching the church in America slowly dying by
shift their focus to arketing techniques and other mundane methods other
than letting the Lord build the house.  If you have a special gift of music
or some sort of a talent or happen to be rich, your chances of making an
impression and being accepted are a million times greater.  In fact, try it.
Your first trip to the church, hire out a limousine, and if you can afford
it, rent some out of this world clothes.  Note the type of interest you
receive.  Wait a month and then find somebody with a VW from say the late
sixties.  Dress poor.  See if you are even noticed.  You ask, "Why is it
this way now?"  Because we have taught for a couple of hundred years, if not
more, that there are no apostles and prophets today because they died out
with the last apostle, whoever he was, and we have lost our Biblical
foundation of church government.  It will not change until the Body of
Christ returns to the Bible model, as they so often say, and Body structure
is renewed to square with Scripture.  Ephesians 2:20 confirms we were built
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Jesus as the chief
cornerstone.  They are also listed as number 1 and 2 in Ephesians 4:11 ahead
of evangelists, pastors, and teachers.  Pastors, according to church
government, are listed as number four.  We have allowed churches and
denominations or religious organizations and parachurch ministries to
elevated pastors to the top, eliminating apostles and prophets all together,
voting and electing our way to the top.  There is no such Scriptural
evidence or model for such activity in the body of Christ.  Pastoral
leadership was once assigned by apostles and prophets and overseen by these
apostles and prophets to insure they maintain Bible doctrine and a
Scriptural foundation.  I could go on preaching like this on this topic for
hours but it isn't well received so since this isn't Sunday school or
church, I will stop now.  I'll take up the offering, however, later.  I've
studied this for years and came to these conclusion through the Biblical
evidence.  If you can stomach it, ask me what the church would look like
today, in my opinion, if we were living under the bible model instead of
this made up outfit we have running now.

Phil.


Phil.