This post is not an argument against established institutional churches or ministries. If you are content where God has you then that’s awesome. I don’t want to convince you otherwise. This is simply a small overview of my journey and an invitation to others that are searching for the same thing.

For the last couple of years we’ve been on an interesting and very challenging journey. It’s been about three years since we left the church that I grew up at. We didn’t leave out of offense, because we were uninterested in Jesus or even because we were bored. We left so that we could begin seeking Jesus in authentic community with Christ as the head.

For about 12 months prior to actually leaving I had read Acts and the epistles many times, along with other books such as Pagan Christianity?, Reimagining Church, The Untold Story of the New Testament Church, From Eternity to Here, The Normal Christian Church Life, Created for Community and some other great works God placed in my path. To make a long story short I had discovered that the questions I had been asking were indeed the right ones. The Church of Jesus Christ is a living organism and has been plagued with traditions of man, rituals and hierarchies that seem to go against the New Testament teachings regarding community, life in Christ and leadership. The headship of Jesus has been lost throughout the years for a large percentage of Christians.

So I finally sat down with the youth pastor of the church I grew up at and told him the situation. I shared the struggles I had been having as well as my decision to step down from being a youth leader, playing in the worship band and even attending the services altogether to find church life outside of the institution. He understood and gave me his blessing for the journey we were about to begin. While his blessing may not have been necessary, it was very important for me to hear and receive as he has always been someone I’ve looked up to, and still look up to, spiritually. Clearly there was no offense because just a few weeks later he married my wife and I.

Fast forward three years.

Since beginning this journey we’ve discovered many things. We’ve learned that this organic church thing looks, and will look, like nothing we expected. We figured that by now we’d be having regular meetings and doing all sorts of great things. Well it’s been three years and we are just now to a point that we are going to begin gathering regularly and will hopefully be able to have some outside help in the near future. It’s taken three years to strip us of not only what we knew but also of our expectations. That’s a process I’m sure will never really end. It’s taken three years for us to realize that the methods don’t really matter. Three years to learn to not be afraid of moving at all because we’re worried we might live out from ourselves and not Christ within.

Yes, this has been a difficult journey so far and we have all even had some spiritual barrenness at times. But praise God that through it Christ is becoming greater and greater in our eyes. I’m truly thankful for all that we have experienced so far because it has brought us to the place we’re at now. We haven’t arrived, and never will while on this earth. But we press on in order that we might know Christ and display Him alone. That is the goal.

So now I would like to extend an invitation. If you are in the Evansville, IN area and are looking for or are interested in organic church life, I would love to chat, meet and invite you to come hang out with us. I would love to hear your story. You are more than welcome to come join us as we begin this next season in our journey. All we want is to seek Jesus in community, whatever that ends up looking like. I’ve done a lot of searching for others interested in organic church in my area over the last few years and have never really found anyone or any other groups. That’s why I’m using this article on my blog to reach out to others that are searching the inter-webs for the same thing.

You can contact me through the comments on this post or through Twitter and Facebook. On Facebook, please message me before sending a friend request so that I don’t miss it. I’m kind of a slacker when it comes to looking at friend requests. I look forward to meeting some awesome people.

The mark of a life governed by the Holy Spirit is that such a life is continually and ever more and more occupied with Christ, that Christ is becoming greater and greater as time goes on. The effect of the Holy Spirit’s work in us is to bring us to the shore of a mighty ocean which reaches far, far beyond our range, and concerning which we feel—Oh, the depths, the fullness, of Christ! If we live as long as ever man lived, we shall still be only on the fringe of this vast fullness that Christ is.

Now, that at once becomes a challenge to us before we go any further. These are not just words. This is not just rhetoric; this is truth. Let us ask our hearts at once, Is this true in our case? Is this the kind of life that we know? Are we coming to despair on this matter? That is to say, that we are glimpsing so much as signified by Christ that we know we are beaten, that we are out of our depth, and will never range all this. It is beyond us, far beyond us, and yet we are drawn on and ever on. Is that true in your experience? That is the mark of a life governed by the Holy Spirit. Christ becomes greater and greater as we go on. If that is true, well, that is the way of life. If ever you and I should come to a place where we think we know, we have it all, we have attained, and from that point things become static, we may take it that the Holy Spirit has ceased operations and that life has become stultified.

Let us take the example of one who is given to us, I believe, as amongst men, for this very purpose of showing forth God’s ways, the Apostle Paul. The words which he uses to define and express what happened to him right at the commencement are these: “It pleased God . . . to reveal his Son in me” (Gal 1:16). Now, that man did a very great deal of teaching and preaching. He put out a great deal. He had a long and very full life, not only in the amount that he put out, but in the concentrated essence which has defeated all the attempts to fathom. At the end of that long life, that full life, that man who said concerning its commencement, “It pleased God . . . to reveal his Son in me”, is crying from his heart this cry, “that I may know him” (Phil 3:10); indicating surely that with the great initial revelation and all the subsequent and continual unveilings, even being caught up into the third heaven and shown unspeakable things, with all that, at the end he knows nothing compared with what there is to be known. That I may know Him! That is the essence of a life governed by the Holy Spirit, and it is that which will deliver us from death, from stagnation, from coming to a standstill. It is the work of the Spirit in the School of Christ to present and to keep in view Christ in His greatness. So God, right at the beginning, brings Christ forth, presents Him, attests Him, and in effect says, This is that to which I will to conform you, to this image!

Order The School of Christ in paperback here

Order The School of Christ for Kindle here

Christ is our life. He is not a doctrine or a “thing.” We should be content with learning Him, even slowly, through real life and simply seeking the things that are above, where He is. In Christ we have an open heaven, complete and direct access to God and the things of God. The Holy Spirit will not simply provide us with more information to clog our minds or Twitter feeds. The Spirit will shows us Christ. In all things we will be shown Christ. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Although the Lord may see fit to use various books, articles and spoken messages to help us along the way. We need to first of all know Jesus Himself. Besides, true understanding can only come from the Spirit. So what good is everything else if it provides us with nothing more than information to be analyzed with our natural minds?

The natural mind cannot grasp or understand the things of God because they are spiritually discerned.

Information is not bad. But too much can be harmful.

Let us seek Jesus in simplicity with our minds set on Him and the for the sole purpose of knowing Him.

The rest will follow.

I was also considering how Jesus went about living by the Father’s life, a life source beyond Himself. Jesus is our “example” in that He shows us how to live by the life of an indwelling Lord. The Christian life isn’t a life in which we live by our natural self for God. Rather, the Christian life is a life lived by Christ in us. Through us.

All things are by Christ, through Christ and for Christ. This includes our lives, both individual and corporate. But to learn how to live by this indwelling Christ we also need each other. You are a part of Christ. I am a part of Christ. His body must be united in order to form His true image. I believe, based on experience, that the more we (the members of Christ’s body) are for whatever reason separated, the less understanding of Christ we will be able to receive.

Jesus Christ is found in community.

So let us look to Christ and let us not forsake the fellowship of believers.

I won’t go into a full-fledged book review right now or anything. I just want to share one of the best explanations of Christianity that I’ve ever heard or read. This is a passage from chapter 10 of Jesus Manifesto titled “Who is this Lord of yours?”

Genuine Christianity is learning to live by an indwelling Christ. Consequently, the Christian life should be reframed as God’s life come to earth and displayed visibly through human beings. The Christian life is the outflow of “Christ in you,” the breaking forth of God’s uncreated, indwelling life – the radiating of God’s own energy in fallen, human vessels.

- Frank Viola & Leonard Sweet, Jesus Manifesto

It’s amazing how something stated so simply and that is completely possible to do, can never fully be exhausted, explained or understood.

Christ is all.

The sermon has been preached, the Passion play has been performed and all eggs have been collected (that is, until you mow the lawn next weekend).

Yes, Easter is over along with hearing the proclamation of “He is risen!” prior to shouting “He is risen indeed!”

Easter is over. But Jesus is still alive.

Yesterday I was thinking about the Easter holiday. I don’t have anything against Easter or celebrating it. But I find it harder now to make a very big deal out of this particular day. I mean, Jesus died and rose again once for all. Shouldn’t this incredible event be celebrated and lived out every single day?

Jesus Christ died and rose again not just to secure a spot for us in Heaven, although that does happen. This act did something for us living now on the earth. This death and resurrection brought us into a new reality, a new kingdom, a new way of life. We were in Christ when He died on that cross and we were in Him when He was raised to life. His experience became our experience. We too died and were raised to new life in Him.

And now we live by that very life of Jesus Christ. His indwelling life is our source for life.

I think the more that this fact becomes real to us, the harder it will be to make a very big deal out of these holidays. Not that we shouldn’t celebrate and observe them, but the point of Easter should be celebrated and lived out every single day.

Just some post-Easter thoughts to consider. I hope you did have a great Easter weekend.

I’ve been a huge fan of John Mark McMillan for years. His writing is incredibly thoughtful and truthful and he always seems to point his listeners to Jesus. I really appreciate this.

So because Easter is just a few days away I thought it would be appropriate to share this song from his latest album called “Economy”.

Ray Hollenbach (studentsofjesus.com) also wrote a blog post called The Theology of “Murdered Son” on John Mark McMillan’s blog. I highly encourage you to check out that post as well.

You set us up above all the stars
You set us on a high place by where you are
While we were dead you made us your friends
And scattered our debt upon the wind

Glory to One
God’s murdered son
Who paid for my resurrection
Once from the dust, once from the grave
Daughters and sons from the ashes you’ve raised
And hidden our faults even from your own face
And scattered our debt upon the waves

Glory to one
God’s murdered son
Who paid for my resurrection
Glory to One
God’s murdered son
Who paid for my resurrection

Glory to the one who
Who overcame in death
Glory to the one
Who paid for my offenses
Glory to the one

Once from the dust
Once from the grave
Daughters and sons
From the ashes you’ve raised
And hidden our faults
Even from your own face
And scattered our debt upon the waves
And scattered our debt upon the waves

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this song in the comments.

You can purchase John Mark McMillan’s last two albums albums, including his latest with this song (Economy) by clicking the links below.

Economy by John Mark McMillan

The Medicine by John Mark McMillan

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. – Hebrews 11:24-26

In the last post I mentioned Paul’s statement in his letter to the Philippians about regarding all things as rubbish compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ. The good and bad of this world all shrink in comparison to Jesus. The joy or pleasure we might get from a purchase, experience or social status is absolutely nothing compared to the joy and pleasure of knowing Jesus Christ. What an incredible opportunity not only offered to us by God but even desired by Him.

So Moses considered the hardship that was a result of following God far better than the riches of the world. I think that pretty well speaks for itself.

Nothing can compare to knowing Jesus. In fact, everything begins with knowing Him. By seeing Him and continuing to look to Him and fellowship with this Christ that lives inside of us. He is in us and we are in Him.

Jesus Christ is our very environment.

We may be pulled in one direction or another, through marketing and the world around us telling us that this and that can satisfy us. We think to ourselves that if I could only have this or accomplish that then I will be satisfied. I know all too well that we will never find true contentment or everlasting joy in anything other than a life fully submersed in Christ, our natural habitat after regeneration.

So it’s not that pleasure and joy is bad. It’s just that our standards are too low. We find satisfaction in things that really aren’t satisfying. Nothing else can do what only an indwelling Lord can do.

So let’s just give up. Let’s stop living this life and instead rely on the life of Christ. Regardless of the situation that places us in, whether comfortable or uncomfortable according to the world’s standards, it will be far greater than the alternative because of Christ’s centrality and supremacy in all things.

Because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ.

Because even the reproach of Christ is greater than the wealth and treasures of this world.

Here’s the statement that I’ve been thinking about the last few days:

If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. – C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

As Christians we have the most incredible, fulfilling and enjoyable gift that exists. That is to know Jesus Christ.

Paul stated the following in his letter to the Philippians:

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ… – Philippians 3:7-8

So we have this incredible opportunity to know Jesus Christ. To really know Him and to be known by Him. But it seems that we truly are far too easily pleased. We can make up all up sorts of excuses for not knowing Jesus more every single day but they crumble when shown in the light. They hold no water. The sad truth is that we are indeed too easily pleased.

We’re ok with working a cushy job, paying a mortgage and receiving Bible teachings that point more to morals powered by the flesh more than they point to the person of Jesus Christ. We’re ok with a life in which we know we’re saved and that’s enough for us. It’s not that the things we do are inherently bad. It’s just that they are nothing when compared to the incredible worth of knowing Jesus Christ more every single day.

There’s nothing greater than walking in His life, communing with Him and sharing Him with brothers and sisters in community.

This is exactly how I came up with the title for my blog. I called this blog Divine Discontent because that’s a feeling I’ve had for a while and to be honest one that I hope I never lose. I don’t won’t to be too content with my life in Christ. We could never exhaust the riches of Christ in this lifetime. There is always more of Him to know. Like Paul, I want to press on toward that goal while forgetting everything that lies behind.

Let’s stop being so content and satisfied with things that fade away and hold no eternal value. True satisfaction can only be found in Jesus Christ when His will, not ours, is being done in this lifetime.

I started into the third chapter of The Spiritual Man today. If you aren’t familiar with this book, in it Watchman Nee discusses the three parts that make up man: spirit, soul and body. The spirit, being the inner most part of man, is how we connect with God. His Spirit dwells in ours and therefore our spirit is the member that should control the soul and in turn, the body. Unfortunately many people, even many Christians, are controlled more by the body or natural traits of the soul rather than the spirit.

When I came across the following passage in chapter 3 I was stopped in my tracks. The following is something that’s been on my heart for quite a while. Check out what Watchman Nee says about the soul in relation to seeking knowledge and wisdom:

In the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge, even of so-called “spiritual knowledge,” activities of the soul often can be detected. When one tries to increase his knowledge by doing mental gymnastics over books without waiting upon God and looking to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, his soul is plainly in full swing. This will deplete his spiritual life. Because the fall of man was occasioned by seeking knowledge, God uses the foolishness of the cross to “destroy the wisdom of the wise.” Intellect was the chief cause of the fall; hence, in order to be saved one must believe in the folly of the Word of the cross rather than depend on his intellect.

A while back I wrote a post titled Our Need For Spiritual Understanding that I think resonates with this statement. We have so many resources available to us these days. From books to blog posts, podcasts, conferences and tweets. There’s a wealth of information just waiting to be consumed. I sometimes tend to consume as much I can. Often without waiting on the understanding from the Holy Spirit before moving on to something new or different.

I think we all need to be reminded to slow down from time to time. Maybe even at all times. Slowing down isn’t a bad thing and it doesn’t make us lazy. In fact when we slow down and allow the Holy Spirit to truly show us things we come to know Christ greater than if we were simply reading and memorizing a bunch of information.

Sometimes we just need to heed the Lord’s words when He said “be still and know that I am God.”

The Christian life is a spiritual one. It’s not based on theories or traditions. The Christian life is lived only by the indwelling life of Christ in us. True understanding and knowledge that really matters only comes from one source. That source is the Jesus Christ connecting His Spirit to ours.