Let’s go BC — beyond church

Johnny Hart, creator of the comic strip, BC, defined prayer as “allowing God to have His will in your life on His terms.” That’s also a great definition of going “BC–beyond church.”

Church meetings are set up by the will and control of man. A person plans and directs them. However, to go beyond church we need to allow God to have complete control (to personally bring forth His will) by letting Him actually direct the gathering according to His terms.

How can we do that? It’s really quite simple. We trust what Jesus said in Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three gather in My name, there am I with them.” We allow the living, present Jesus Christ to speak to the hearts of the people in the meeting and tell them what to do. Then we allow them to do it.

When people meet to be patiently prompted & propelled by Christ’s presence, rather than to passively listen to the presentation of a prearranged program; the lost word of the Bible (ekklesia) comes to life in their midst. Glory, power, and love fill the place where they are gathered.

Ekklesia is amazing. One after another, as moved by the presence of Christ, people open up their heart and share powerful words, testimonies, prayers, and songs. Compassion and joy flow freely. 

More about ekklesia @ this link.

beyond church kindle

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About Steve Simms

I like to look and think outside the box. In college I encountered Jesus Christ and I have been passionate about trying to get to know Him better ever since. My wife and I long to see the power and passion of the first Christ-followers come to life in our time. I have written a book about our experiences in non-traditional church, called, "Beyond Church: An Invitation To Experience The Lost Word Of The Bible--Ekklesia." If you need encouragement, search for: Elephants Encouraging The Room and/or check out my Amazon author page. Thank you!
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3 Responses to Let’s go BC — beyond church

  1. johnwhite732758590's avatar johnwhite732758590 says:

    We in the LK10 Community http://www.lk10.com/ completely agree with this way of thinking about what we do when we gather as ekklesias. We values these ideas… Jesus is present when we meet in His name… He is the head (leader) of the church… He brings the agenda when we meet.

    In fact, all of our house churches typically take 5-15 minutes for everyone to listen. The facilitator asks everyone to take out a piece of paper and write this on the top: “Jesus, what do you want to say to your people (ekklesia) today?” People listen on their own and write down what they hear from the Lord in answer to that question. Then, the people back together and share what they heard. We have discovered, as you have, that Jesus does an amazing job of leading these meetings. We say, “Church (we’re still learning to say ekklesia) emerges from listening.” I describe this process here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BDBw1HZJWs

  2. Glen Goddard's avatar Glen Goddard says:

    Not only does this apply to church fellowships but also to marriage relationships …

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