I wonder. I wonder if, when Jesus told Peter that Peter would 'build the church', did Jesus mean the church as an institution of man, or as the Body of Christ? Is the church as we see it today in the Miami Valley--or America--the church that Peter 'built'? Have turned church into something that it was never meant to be? Is church an invention of man used to push and pull the masses and to line them up in submission? Or was it originally divinely-orchestrated as a way to give assistance to the sheep of God's pasture?

Jesus told Peter to build up the Body of Christ. NOT the church we see today.

The church buildings outside ourwindows are not blueprints of the organic Early Church.

Acts 2.

Church has been turned into something it was never meant to be.

The church, in reality, is not a place. It is a living, breathing, organic organism. An organism of believers interconnected. An organism whom offers love and acceptance, and finds itself in deep relationships with God and its 'parts'.

The place where a 'church' meets is just that--a place. Nothing more. The church is what praises inside, and leaves out the front doors and into the world.

If we are truly acting as one Body of Christ, why do we find division and competition amongst other 'churches'? Why are strict and angry lines drawn between Protestantism and Catholicism? Why is the love for our brothers and sisters in Jesus turned to despise?

What is the point of clocking-in and clocking-out of church, offering a little money, a few songs here and there, and listening to a message if our lives aren't colored by God's own brush? What is the point of worshipping on Sundays but not on other days of the week?

Let the sermon be our talk. The worship our lives. The prayer our sleep. Live in the existence of God. Bathe in God 24/7/365

Is this really what Jesus wants for the Bride of Christ?