No Water to Wash Away This Longing to Come Clean

I agree with Ed. While traditional settings aren't the end-all be-all of worship, they are irreplaceable in a couple of areas. They provide easy access to fellowship for one. They also provide a "field hospital" if you will for those who are passing through and need the encouragement and healing. There are more of those people than you know. There are also certain sacrements that unchurched people will miss out on. One of them is communion. I believe this to be a very important thing. The rememberance of Christs sacrifice and victory over death and sin. You may also miss out on the sacrement of baptism. I suppose you could still celebrate these sacrements, but the gathering of people who did that would be considered a church.

Listen, the Church is always all around us. It should be present and visible in everything we do. You can and should worship God wherever you are and in all that you do. But there are simply some things you cannot do outside a church that you can do in a church. I'm not saying that walls matter or that even a preacher matters, but the people do matter.

Thomas Payne said that when the first person landed on this continent there was no government. As soon as the second person landed there there had to be compromise. It was understood that, "You don't kill my animals or destroy my property, I won't do the same to you." The same applies to a church. As soon as two people are gathered in Christs' name it automatically becomes corporate worship. There automatically become rules and roles. They may be unspoken but they are nonetheless there. After all, church doctrine is for us. It isn't for God.

When I said that G-d spoke to me thru your message I meant He more of gave me a reminder to uplift my spirit on another concern in my life that has nothing in the least bit to do with our unchurch conversation.

I feel G-d wants me to stay and work within the four walls of the church, but I also feel Him moving me toward doing something more, working outside the box. I feel like I'm on an unending path of seeking G-d and I just want more, but I find this waiting to be very trying.

It is hard to write an article about technology. I am a Media Ministry major at The Baptist College of Florida and it seems like we cannot keep up with the world. Everything I learn I learn on my own because by the time textbooks come out they are out of date the concept are great but the technology they discuss is out of date. I try to learn something new everyday about the industry. Blogs and reviews are the new textbooks for technology degrees. I would love a copy of the article. What publication of lifeways is it going to be in?

Chris - I agree with you 100% that we don't have to express our corporate worship inside a "traditional" church structure. What I am saying, is that whether it is in an open field, a community center, a home, a rented office building or whatever...as Christians we must not get away from worshipping together on a regular basis. I'm all for going outside the box, but going outside the "church" box doesn't necessarily mean that we get away from the most important things we do. Worshipping together as a group of believers is not just one of those things we've always done that we don't know why we do it, at least not where I worship. It is something that we are commanded to do in God's Word. When we are told to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.....it wasn't just referring to assembling inside the "church walls". It was a basic command to meet together regularly with other believers for a time of worship. Corporate worship is a very important time in the life of a believer, because as we connect with God in worship, we also connect with other believers. Believe me, I don't limit my worship time to what I do inside the traditional church setting. I worship every day as I am alone with God, but I will not allow my time constraints, nor my petty differences with other believers in my church, nor my personal preferences on how I think things should be done, come between me and the time I have to gather with other believers and worship together. What an awesome time!! I think too many traditional churches don't really experience "true worship", and that is why people can walk away from those churches and never miss a thing.