Prayer Evangelism by Ed Silvoso

Author:Ed Silvoso
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Prayer;REL012080;REL030000;REL079000
ISBN: 9781493414284
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2018-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

1. These videos––Transformation in the Marketplace––can be accessed at our website, www.transformourworld.org.

2. John Dawson, Healing America’s Wounds (Ventura, Calif.: Regal, 1997).

6

Recent Paradigms

The Church is found in buildings, mainly on Sundays; but it does not belong there. The Church belongs outdoors—that is, all over the city.

The five paradigms discussed in this chapter are now beginning to take hold throughout the Church, bringing home a most refreshing point: The Church does not belong in buildings, but rather, it should be found all over the city.

Kites do not fly in attics, but in the sky. They may be stored in attics, but that does not make the attic their natural habitat. Boats do not sail on a trailer that is pulled along the road; they sail on the water. Boats may sometimes be seen being hauled on a trailer, but that is not their defining locale. Likewise, the Church is found in buildings, mainly on Sundays, but it does not belong there. The Church belongs outdoors—that is, all over the city. Let me tell you a story that will illustrate this more clearly.

The church picnic had been planned expertly. Workers had been assigned to every age group, and the finest specialists were put in charge of logistics, games, ministry and sports. The right equipment was secured and transported to the picnic site. The entire congregation showed up on time and with great expectation. Everything was in place, and everyone was looking forward to a great time. But thirty minutes into the picnic it began to rain torrentially, and everybody and everything had to be moved in a hurry to a nearby barn.

Making the best of a bad situation, the leaders divided the barn into sectors. They put the barbecue grills and the serving tables toward the back of the barn. In the center of the barn they set up the table games. To the right they created a children’s area. Next to the children, they positioned the youth and their overpowering worship band. The adult section was placed closer to the exit, with a subsection reserved for the intercessors; and between them and the main door, a sports area was hastily set up with improvised volleyball and mini soccer fields.

Unfortunately, no one was happy. Most of the games and all of the sports had been designed to be played outdoors rather than indoors. The barbecue smoke stung the people’s eyes. In such close quarters, the music that excited the youth was driving the nearby adults crazy.

Things reached the boiling point when a deflected soccer ball hit the dessert table, splattering meringue and mousse and whipped cream onto everything and everybody. Tempers flared, unkind words were exchanged and what could have been a memorable day became an infamous one. Why? Because what went on inside the barn was meant to take place outdoors.

This is true of the Church today. Many of the problems that plague her would not be problems at all if the Church were to operate more outdoors than indoors. The latter exemplifies the erroneous notion that the city should come to the church.

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