Perhaps it’s not enough to gather to only hear the word of God. Perhaps Christians also need to gather to say and do the word of God as the Spirit prompts them. (James 1:22 & Romans 8:14)

Is there a church service anywhere that will allow even one unprogrammed moment? Can Christians get off the Sunday morning script for at least a quick breath of the experiential reality of Holy Spirit’s presence? When I was a teenager attending a Presbyterian church, they did allow a spontaneous moment. It was a tiny period of silent prayer. We were permitted (for thirty seconds or so) to mentally pray our own prayers (and think our own thoughts) instead of just being trapped in the rigidity of routine religion.

A church service that allows unscripted moments is very hard to find. I love to gather with Christians to all “draw near to God” (James 4:8) without a program. A beautiful thing begins to happen. Together we begin to see, hear, and experience the Holy Spirit directly taking the lead and we realize that “This is that spoken of,” in the Bible.” (Acts 2:16)

When Peter preached in the Bible he made the declaration, “This is that spoken by the prophet Joel,” as he explained the unprogrammed energy, power, and excitement that was overflowing from the gathered Christ-followers. Nowadays preachers act like that was that, and that now Christians are supposed to gather not to make Spirit-led biblical declarations, but merely to listen to their sermon.

Is this that? (See Acts 2:16.) I don’t believe that this that we call church attendance is the same thing as that relationship with the risen Jesus that the first Christians had. What JD described is much closer to biblical experience than just passively hearing the Word.

God gives us fresh fruit but by the time people get through with it we’ve often turned it into a can of fruit cocktail. God gives us His Spirit, but we too often replace the Spirit with programmed religion.