The Church Without Walls

Written by Barbara Mccrary

Copywrite June 22, 2011 at 2:21 am

Many churches are busy about their business.  The churches and leaders are all about Building “their” ministry. Building their personal castles full of platforms yet all sharing the same vision. 

Few are catching the vision that there is strength in numbers.

The Father is grieved. No wonder the earth is shaking.

In the process of building ministries and monumental buildings, wearing the names of our many fancy ministries, many are suffering, without jobs, homes, food. (there is no need to name any ministries as you know who you are through the conviction of the Holy Spirit.) Including some ministers themselves who are working for the kingdom night and day and are going without food or even income , here in the United States as well as some in India as well as other nations who even sacrifice their own needs to meet the needs of the orphans and widows. This should not be.

Millions of dollars are going towards buildings for the foundation, which is needed, but there is a better way that will bring Glory to God

There are many strip malls standing vacant that could be used for God’s service to reach thousands of people who are suffering. There is a way to take those buildings and turn them into community centers that would benefit many in job training, medical services, food services, networking, counseling centers, even financial and residential services. Creating a chain of Christian owned shops for those who have crafts and such that they would like to sell. If the church by Creating a chain of non-profits would work side by side, networking for the kingdom of God, this would not have to be. The Vision is huge, but it takes ALL of us!

By creating such a thing and everyone contributing a 10 % tithe from their profit to go towards the community itself , inside and outside of the church, where no one should lack any good thing.

Genesis 41:56

The famine was over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. And the famine became severe in the land of Egypt.

Malachi 3:10

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.

We must get out of our traditional routines, and expand our vision beyond the walls and get back to what the initial church was about. It was about people and there were no walls, no buildings.

How many mouths could be fed with the amount of money that has been put into a building?

There is a word for some of these platforms and that is called Idols. God is going to destroy those things that we have made our idols until we put our eyes on what really matters and that is Him.

Nothing else really matters. When we leave this earth, we can take nothing with us. 

  What is in your hands today? What can you lay before the king to give to his kingdom…

I hear that song ... The Little drummer boy … come they told me parumpapumpum, a new born king is he parumpapumpum.

He had nothing to give to the Lord but to play on His drum.  I pray the body of Christ is getting this.

God is stretching our faith but at the same time he is trying to get us to align. Many are holding onto things, which have become our idols. But as we release those things and allow God to step in, his ways are far better than our own.  He is able to do things beyond our own understanding.

If we the church have people struggling in the body of Christ and we see them and do nothing, we are not living our lives as God would have us and we are hypocrites. This is sin. If the church leaders are aware and do nothing, I fear what will happen to many.

Deuteronomy 8

Remember the LORD Your God

 1 “Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you.

6 “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you. 

11 “Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end— 17 then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ 

18 “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. 20 As the nations which the LORD destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD your God.

If God deposits millions in your hands today … What will you do with it?

The Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25   

14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 

20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 22 He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 

24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ 

26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 

29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

What will you do with what God has placed in your hands?

We are to bring our goods to the storehouse.  A storehouse can be a church community where many bring their gifts, their talents, their professions, or what have you and use them to help one another out in their time of trial.

It is that simple.

The book of  Matthew , chapter 25 reads about separating the sheep from the goats.

The Sheep and the Goats

 31-33"When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

 34-36"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why: 

   I was hungry and you fed me, 

   I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, 

   I was homeless and you gave me a room, 

   I was shivering and you gave me clothes, 

   I was sick and you stopped to visit, 

   I was in prison and you came to me.'

 37-40"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'

 41-43"Then he will turn to the 'goats,' the ones on his left, and say, 'Get out, worthless goats! You're good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because— 

   I was hungry and you gave me no meal, 

   I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 

   I was homeless and you gave me no bed, 

   I was shivering and you gave me no clothes, 

   Sick and in prison, and you never visited.'

 44"Then those 'goats' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?'

 45"He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.'

Churches, what are you doing to help those who are hurting right now?

There are some out there who have millions of dollars built up for their ministries and I know that money is needed to do ministry as it is expensive. But many of us have gotten caught up in living this luxurious lifestyle. We have idols sitting in our homes that sit there and collect dust and are never used.

Do an inventory around your homes people and ask yourself... is that something I really need? Is it for the glory of God or is it for my ego? Our homes should be a statement of the kingdom. That does not mean storing up treasures on earth.

Matthew 6:19-20

New King James Version (NKJV)

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 

We as a nation need to re-examine ourselves and our priorities. We have been the richest nation and we have horded our wealth, we have been greedy and self indulgent, while many are starving and being sold in the sex market. We as a nation need to repent for our sins for our lack of care to the widows, the children, the prisoners, the homeless.

Not all the churches have done this, but I would say many have come to this. 

When benevolence funds cease to exist anymore and people are being referred to the government program, single women from the church are in positions where they feel they are forced to compromise who they are in Christ to survive , what are we doing people? We are handing the church over to the wolves.

We need to establish our own community that will tend to those needs of the body of Christ.

Self indulgence has got to stop, hording and greed has to stop.

What is it going to take to make the church wake up and align with this word?

Father God, give our spiritual leaders ears to hear what you are saying today.

Give them eyes to see the traps that are being set up to hurt the church and the sheep.

Lord your word says without vision we parish. Lord, help those who have not caught this vision to catch it and align. Help them to lay down their own personal agendas and come together as the Body of Christ.  In Jesus mighty name! AMEN!!

I am hearing an alarm go off in my spirit regarding this...and it is pertinent that the body of Christ aligns and begin to rebuild the church as we have known it to be and do a shift into the new.

Isaiah 43:19

Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

WE are to GO. GO out. Not stay planted in one place. WE have to go out into the world. The harvest is plenty , the laborers are few. A church building keeps us in a box. 

Many have gone to the churches for help and have been turned away . This is not right . We are told to feed the hungry, take care of the widows and the children, visit those in prison. 

People. we have got to align with the call. This is our call. I believe the Lord is causing us to change our way of living . He did not bless us to continue to fatten ourselves up , but to beable to bless others. Our nation is showing it's gluttony not only in this way , but in the Physical.  We have become a fat nation , full of arrogance, gluttony, and greed. It is time we repent. 

2 Chronicles 7:14

New King James Version (NKJV)

14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.