Sing To The Lord A New Song: Book 4

SYNOPSIS FOR CHURCH GOVERNMENT
By Doug Vermeulen

How does the end-time Church, a Church ‘without spot or wrinkle’ the Glorious Church look? We explore that theme in particular in this book, although the idea is pursued throughout the Sing To The Lord A New Song series of Books 1 through 12, looking at various aspects of Ephesians 5:27.
And might take it for himself, a church full of glory, not having one mark or fold or any such thing; but that it might be holy and complete. [Bible in Basic English]
We look at the organizational aspects of Church government, where and how the Elders, Deacons and saints relate to each other.
Men’s traditions get in the way of doing Church on a Scriptural basis.
How do we do Church without men’s traditions?
The Operational Manifesto, and other information in Book 4, gives a way to give practical effect to Church governance on a Scriptural basis..
We look at the descriptions given in the Scriptures of the people needed to be Elders and Deacons. What is not commonly understood is the way the people who Jesus has gifted with the five-fold ministry, Apostle, Prophet, Pastor, Evangelist and Teacher, interact in an approach that leaves Jesus running His own Body. The Jethro system of Church structure, 1 main person at the top, leading 10’s, 100’s and 1000’s is not a biblical configuration.
The principle of Corporate responsibility with Individual freedom of function and Individual freedom of function with Corporate responsibility is intertwined in the biblical way of doing things, and needs to be expressed in that manner
The fact that Jesus is High Priest of the order of Melchizedek, and that we are Priests in the order of Melchizedek is shown in the book, and contextualizes Church operations.
Priests officiate in terms of their sacrificial duties, and as the sacrifices in Christianity are now spiritual sacrifices, and not sacrifices of animals, these are correlated in a small chart in the book.
So we have Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Elders, Deacons, Apostles, Prophets Pastors, Teachers and believers all aimed at doing the Father’s Will here on earth.
The book points to the biblical way of doing Church, and this would make the Church here on earth build the Kingdom of our God without the destructive nature of men’s traditions’ getting in the way.
Men’s traditions came into the Church during the reign of Emperor Constantine in about 300 A.D. when a pyramid configuration for the Church was instituted. Also, the pagan ‘holy’ days were turned into Christian holy days to gain acceptance with the populace. All this sent the Church off at a tangent to the Scriptural way of doing Church ever since.
We need answers to the following questions -
How is the Church ‘without spot or wrinkle’ to be constructed?
When we have the right format – what do we do with it?
How does service and not status become the norm?
How can a Church become self-evolving?
We need to use the definition given in the Scriptures to build a Church ‘without spot or wrinkle’. Ephesians 4:11 – 16 clearly states that if use the format listed in those scriptures we become like Jesus.
We need to know the Biblical structures for the way a Church can be governed without becoming a dictatorship; Book 4 provides that information.
When we flow in the function given to us by God [further detail on our functions in God is given in detail in Book 7 of this series], and move away from the “I will set myself up above” format, we will be able to build a Church in biblical patterns, and then Church growth becomes automatic and self-evolving.
Book 4 covers the organizational aspects of Church government, where and how the Elders, Deacons and saints relate to each other.
The Operational Manifesto gives a way to give practical effect to Church governance.
A chart showing the relationship of the Godhead with the local church, the five-fold ministry and church government is also provided