Church "HUH" What is it Good For?

Remember the old "WAR -- HUH What is it good for?... absolutely nothing" Song from the 70S?  Sometimes we need to evaluate things. 

I started to think of things that should not be done in Church. Or to put it another way, are far more effective if NOT done in Church. Here's a short list:

Witnessing... be a witness, don't DO witnessing.

Healing... sick people aren't in Church. Lazarus couldn't make it.. he Stinketh. You gotta go to them

Deliverance.. Demons might show up, but they are mostly in the square. Confront and cast out... Paul did and they were

Worship... HUH? I mean that's what we got a team for.. to lead us.. It's a start.. but it must lead to a lifestyle of worship.

PRAYER.. I think it's OK to pray in Church.. but being in a church doesn't amplify or enhance your prayers. Corporate prayer is good if it's not read and rote. God already knows what you wrote down... effective and fervent are hard in a redux.

Giving.. if all you give for is to make sure you are well recorded for you contribution to the IRS and a member in good standing (which to a pastor usually means you are a giver) then you aren't generous. It's good to support ministry, it's good to enter into God's provision, it's good to have someone release over your life in response to giving. But if you see a person and Holy Spirit says give to them... and you don't because you can't get a receipt... you are a fraud.

Ministry... all of it should be available, but if you are called to be a minister of God you probably can't do it inside the four walls. That's where equipping takes place. Ministry is what you do when no one is looking. The best prophetic words I ever give are private, simple and alone with them. The prophetic line isn't near as good.

So then you ask..What's a church good for? Fellowship. Bury and Marry Venue. Sometimes an encouraging word. We just need to keep from stumbling into making it a destination unless it is.. sometimes.

Sometimes I need to experience God. To touch a manifestation of Jesus in his revelation. That can come thru Corporate worship. That can come thru the Prophetic or Apostolic word. That can come thru the activation of the gifts of the spirit. That might even come thru preaching.. though less often than most preachers believe.

We cannot be effective trying to activate the vision and ministry of another man or woman. We can help it. We can encourage. But we cannot do much more.

The ministry of a Church and those gifted enough to lead them is to raise up disciples and then drive them OUT of the church into the areas of ministry they were long ago called of God to pursue. Keeping them in the fellowship and under the covering is like keeping hogs in a hog-house. It's a constant battle to not let them get a whiff of what is outside the four walls. They might just get out and you'll never get them back again.

Raise em up, send em out. Sometimes they'll end up all bloodied and wounded and wander back into the fold.. patch em up and shoo them back onto the battlefield. That's what a General in the Faith does. NOW TEN-HUT!