From Wikipedia--A church is an association of people who share a particular belief system. The term church originated from Greek "κυριακή" - "kyriake", meaning "of the lord". The term later began to replace the Greek ekklesia and basilica within Christendom, c. AD 300, though it was used by Christians before that time.

I find it interesting that although Widipedia describes the church as "a group of people," each of the pictures of "a church" are of buildings. Google image: Church.

Why is it that the church has been reduced to "a building?" How many times have I been asked, "so you started a church, where's your building?" Actually, the best question I've been asked, & the definition given within the question came from a militant Atheist who is our neighbor. She said, "So you've come here to start a community?" It boggled my mind when she asked because I have yet to hear anyone say anything about the people when I talk to them about church; this includes people who have attended church their whole life, or who attend churches who speak about mission: It is my conclusion that people, churched people!, don't know what church is. Church is a people who, not a place where.

This comes about because a friend of mine is about to do something new. He is the pastor of a church & confessed to me, "I've created a service of Sunday go to church people." He is about to step into a new direction where he can "be" the church to his community in the Bay Area. He's realized that it takes more than preaching about mission, he has to take what religious Christians find to be their safety blanket & turn it into a time where a group of people "go" & become the church to the world.

Well, it finally happened; Somebody Accepted Jesus!
This last weekend the gals went to a women's retreat in Redding & they were able to bring one of the women who has plugged into our church. During the weekend she accepted Jesus' gift of salvation, telling everyone, "I've become a Christian." We are all very excited & expectant for what the future holds for our friend & her husband; she will be counted among the redeemed of God, & He is blessed.

Now we enter into the reality of "what now?" What is the next step in discipleship to Christ? Where do we go from here? Actually, we have a couple of confessed Christians who are plugging into our church, but who have little relationship with HIM. On paper we know how to draw the diagrams that create a "lost to leader" path, but in real life, with real situations, it's a bit more interesting.

We are looking for a room to meet in. Since the rainy season is approaching, & we've been mtg in a park, it's time to find a room in SC to meet in. We have one available, but it is only available on Sunday nights. Does that matter? God has chosen for us to live in the mtns of SC for right now, so we are faced with a unique set of questions; as is everyone ;-).

Anyways, Our friend Accepted Jesus! She leads the line of the many who will hear, confess, & live the gospel among "all nations" from our church.

You can tell what people are all about when you find out where they spend their time & money. Jeff & I were laughing last night because in the future we will look back at what we have purchased as a church & chuckle. Of course there's more too it, but here's a peak into what Antioch Church of SC spends their money on.

What does it mean to live for Jesus? Well, first off, it means: Live For Jesus!

We’ve been worshipping at San Lorenzo Park, which is right downtown SC. We get there at about 10:20, set up the chairs, feed the ducks, get out the instruments, go to the bathroom, then worship God, share what we saw or felt during worship, bathroom break, preach or teach (I gravitate towards preach; Rachel can’t sit next to me ‘cuz I freak her out!) from scripture, discuss what we’ve experienced, & then we’ll go out to eat or scoot on home.

We’ve been praying about what to do about the poor. My wife & I have said “we don’t want to do something just to say we do something, but we want to do what God’s doing.” So, we’ve been patient. (That said, at our leadership mtgs we always bring up the poor & what we’re not doing.) Rachel (GO RACHEL!) had the idea of having a drum circle where we sang worship songs, which would attract people, & then we would invite them to share a meal with us. Well we did it yesterday & it was too much fun. We were able to meet two homeless folks & touch their lives. We invited them to meet us at the park Tue. night for Lifegroup. Let’s hope they show up. “Follow me as I follow Christ.” Show up!

Here are some of the highlights of yesterdays “Living For Jesus” day. Stephen, Laben’s friend from Trinidad asked him to be a groomsman in his wedding; IN TRINIDAD! Laben didn’t think he was having any effect in Stephen’s life, but guess what Laben, you’re a man of God! When I asked if anyone heard anything from God after worship He-Jyoung says, “When Siena & Sky are dancing I think God is present.” He doesn’t believe in Jesus! Sky’s father, Greg, met Linda at library story time & came to church, let his daughter dance with Siena in the middle of our worship circle. Greg doesn’t believe in Jesus; “What are you thinking as you watch us worship Greg?!” Jeff’s student worker, who wants to plant a church, came to church. In transition to the drum-circle I saw the homeless guy, Mark, but couldn’t get to him. So, I went to Josh & said, “Hey man, can you go invite Mark to lunch?” (read his blogHere). I don't know why he calls me Chris. Our drum circle was too much fun & we met Carol from back east. She had evidently been punched in the face & we got to hang out with her for quite some time. She ate a lot of pizza.

The life of Christ was just happening & it was too much fun. Will it be like this each time we meet? Maybe it will; or maybe it won’t. Our mission remains the same: Love God, Love People, Make Disciples; Equip them for the work of the ministry, the building up of the church, demonstrating God’s Kingdom in all Nations.

Up at the Ranch we are really wrestling with God. We had one of our most fruitful prayer & intercession times the night before. We are growing in prayer! We must grow in prayer. We’ve been having a worship & prayer night once a month for about 2yrs & this last Sat. night was legit. We’re moving past the generic prayer mtg & into intercession.

God’s is so awesome & we’re continuing to learn what it means to “be violent” with him. (Matthew 11:12) We are enjoying him, which results in a triumphant church! Nothing fancy, just allowing our delight in God to overflow into a delight in mankind, which results in evangelism, which creates repentance, that leads to discipleship, so we can do more church, shouting louder shouts, declaring God’s passion for the nations, which produces churches from our church; more of the same… Oh, & don’t think any of this happens without a healthy appreciation for the taste of: Humble Pie!