LRC, Houston - the weekends-free church in Houston, Texas

When one says that they are a “Christian” what does that mean? Does it signify that they are followers of Jesus? Are they wedded to the Judaeo-Christian principles? Are they followers of Paul? Do they identify with Catholicism or Protestantism? And if so, which of the tens of thousands of Protestant flavors are they most like? Long before there were what’s called Christians, there were “Christ Communities“. Each of these communities lived a life of love; sharing the many stages of life with one another. There were no buildings that were called a church because the PEOPLE who were committed to the COMMUNITY were the church. They met wherever they could, but they lived “in community” with one another. To a very large degree, we’ve lost that paradigm in America. And it’s one of the reasons why “home churches” are so popular in America.

Historically, the early church was fragmented into several major communities that banded together to try and figure out the implications and meaning of the life, death, and resurrection of this man called Jesus from Nazareth. For some He was the
Messiah, some a god-like being, some the actual Son of God, and for others He was a host of descriptive supernatural concepts.

What’s your view?

There was the community in Jerusalem that was headed up by James, the brother of Jesus. They were most interested in seeing Jesus as one of them, a Jew, and so their community majored on the Jewish law. There was the Johannian community of John that was deeply esoteric and saw Jesus as pre-existent. There was the Pauline community of Paul from Tarsus, and his followers who did not feel obligated to follow the Jewish laws. There was the Thomas Community centered in Syria where most of Gnostic adherents gathered.

These were not denominations!

Even after having lived with Jesus for three years, the apostles were greatly divided on WHO He was and what He was all about. We still are today of course, and even more so!

Unlike today wherein it’s all about rules, doctrine, and believing in beliefs (external stuff), the apostles felt that the message of Jesus was about INNER knowledge, a spiritual state of being, and a liberation from the cares of this world. It’s much like the very early gospel that didn’t make the grade- the Gospel Of Thomas wherein we read, “Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death”. And few people have taken notice of the 1958 discovery of Morton Smith of a “Clement of Alexandria” letter that was discovered in Mar Saba, near Jerusalem.

In that letter Clement referred to “another Gospel of Mark” wherein he quotes the phrase, “There is an innermost sanctuary of truths hidden for the perfection of our being.” Unfortunately the traditional church is not teaching these “inner revelations” that were at the heart of the teachings of Jesus. Instead the church is teaching discipline, morality, church rules, codes of conduct, and by-passing the spirit and heart issues.

Surely we can do better: you must know there is more!

Richard Smoley put it this way, “We know the world is not what it was meant to be; we know there is something better, and each of us instinctively aspires it. We sense that something stands between us and this happiness”. I know it so! And I am determined to live my life as though it were so. I am not interested in being a church that wears it’s doctrinal beliefs on their sleeves, nor a church that competes with others for membership, nor being on radio, TV, or doing all those other “things” that characterizes church culture in America today. Let’s face it, the church in America has built a religious counter-culture instead of being the leavening spirit that Jesus advocated. I am living to build a “faith community” that wants to BE all that Jesus was, and in that understands, that as we serve God in and through one another, we also serve the community.

CultureShapers does exactly that and more!

I am primarily driven to BE (me personally) ALL that Jesus said I could be so that I can GUIDE those in this community to be even more. Who can lead you or take you where they have not been? Who can ask of you what they are not? So, on Friday, June 29th, we have our last service as Liberty Revival Church. We keep the initials LRC, but they stand for something else. Come Friday night and discover the NEW NAME of LRC : A Culture Shaping Church! One that is shaping the church culture more like that of the community life that Jesus depicted.

Want to be a part of the journey?