Here's a challenge for you: Name three churches in America where most
of the members could be described as spiritually mature! The sad fact is
that such congregations are rare. Most believers today are not far above
the spiritual baby category. They've made a decision for Christ at some
point, but haven't gone through the growing up process:
- learning the Scriptures
- cleaning long-standing sin habits from their lives
- developing self-discipline
- withstanding difficulties or persecution
- becoming overcomers, as in Revelation 2 and 3
- learning to respond to abuse with Christ's love.
Most Christians today must, in fact, be spoon-fed to survive. But as a feeding
tool, the sermon is a well-documented failure. It provides barely enough
lift to get the hearer to the next sermon a week later! So the problem of
stunted growth in the typical institutional church is built into the structures
and customs (the sermon being only one of them). After turning to Christ,
most converts grow for perhaps two years and then plateau. Living Springs
is designed to greatly accelerate your spiritual growth in four ways:
- The mere act of moving to this site and joining a new kind of community
will require you to generate some extra spiritual gumption right off the
bat!
- Your interactions with helpful Christian friends will be a daily experience.
And remember, all of us are committed to building you up and not letting
you stumble.
- More important, the Lord Jesus has a way of showing up in our meetings,
leading us into precisely the kinds of topics and actions we need most
for our growth.
- You'll have some pretty good spiritual models all around you. Though
we all struggle, you'll find that the folks here tend to have problems
on a bit more advanced level!
Who
comes here to live?
The main question we ask inquirers is, Does God want you at Living Springs?
If so, we'll do all we can to help you get here.
We aren't looking for religious people who are big on their denominational
traditions or highly defensive about secondary matters. If everything right
down to chewing gum and saying Darn! is a matter of life or death to you,
you might not be happy here.
The main thing is your heart and how nicely you'd fit in. So far, we have
folks here from all over the country, from all kinds of backgrounds, with
a variety of personalities and a fair range of conservative theologies.
What we have in common is a sense that the Lord himself has brought us all
here, He's going to do something special and exceptional in and through
us, and He's making us one in Christ, just as Jesus asked the Father to
do in John 17: " ...that they may all be one, even as Thou,
Father, art in Me, and I in Thee..." We would be delighted if God decided
to make Living Springs ground zero for a fulfillment of this prayer!
Children
There are many children of all ages here ... and there's
not one of them who would swap Living Springs for anyplace else they ever
lived. The things they love most here are their friends, swimming in the
lake, and almost infinite exciting places to explore and things to discover.
What's
It Like In Our Meetings?
So far, we meet in each other's homes on Tuesday evenings,
and on Sunday mornings with a potluck dinner afterwards. Although some of
us here attend other churches, our meetings here are "open church" events
where everybody is encouraged to bring something to share as part of the
body of Christ, with Him as the head. We have a lot of singing, praise,
worship, and sharing. We steer away from classroom-type meetings which give
the appearance of a teacher or pastor who "has it" dispensing it to a congregation
of passive hearers.
In our meetings, God is the audience and we're His worshipers/entertainers.
We're delighted when He shows up in ways we can experience.
But if you prefer a religious format for meetings with nothing
unexpected happening, you will still be welcome, and there are all kinds
of good churches within a 20-minute drive, including a really excellent
one just across the road! One day soon, people from "every tribe, tongue,
people, and nation" will be surrounding God's throne. We have close connections
with missionaries in the Middle East and other countries. This makes us
realize that we are a small but important part of what God is doing in the
world and in our neighborhood.
