Contemporary, Cutting Edge Church of Outside The Box; Featuring Innovative, Radical & Current Heart Longings of An Average Believer

*Disclaimer*
Opinion Alert! I am no expert on how a church building should be run. The radical wish-list below is meekly based on what I believe the Bible says a church should look like and my experience of being part of one.**
                                                                                                                     

1) TEAM Leadership, Not Dictatorship

Team foundation facilitates transparency & accountability. Monetary and directional decisions are made with wisdom, prayer and careful advising --consensus based rather than mandates hinged on autocratic whims, emotions & circumstance. Team-Leaders are free to lead within scope of their gifting and not micro managed. Being Team-led encourages relationships, unity & active enthusiastic involvement. Secrecy is avoided and integrity of everyone is preserved.

2) Church VISION & Emphasis On 5-Fold Ministry
Team-leaders of the house should be Pastors, Evangelists, Apostles, Prophets and Teachers. One man or woman cannot and will-not embody all the ministries. God set it up this way on purpose so we would be dependent on Each-other!

Present the WHOLE gospel, utelizing the entire team of leaders. Don't be exclusive to evangelism. Tell the un-churched why the good news is good news--help them distinguish from what is the bad news.

The salvation message does not rest solely a Pastor's shoulders. And the alter-call (or response card) is not the apex of a church experience. ALL Christians are expected to spread the gospel and not just on Sunday. It is the Holy Spirit that calls and persuades anyone to receive Christ. If the non-believer doesn't respond to the preached message, it doesn't mean we've blown it. As long as we are obedient to speak the truth, let us be satisfied that its not their time yet to receive. At the very least we have planted seed or watered the God that is already at work inside them. The harvest belongs to the Lord, not the Evangelist.

3)Head-Pastor A Shepherd-Pastor: (Preacher/speaker or not)

Pastors are not herders of cattle. They are shepherds of sheep! The Pastor should be a friend to his congregation, an elder that offers counseling and guidance. One who is humble and gentle and invests their life and time into discipling & KNOWING, exhorting and feeding their sheep, running after those who stray and apologizing when necessary. A church body should not be led by executive or administrative CEO. Church is  a FAMILY, repeat/referral network based. We are not Hollywood, a corporation, or a retail marketing business.

4) Benchmark For Churches 'Success' Measured In Fruit, Not By Number Of People Who Showed Up Or Filled Out A Communication card.

Fruit: Are needs 1-10 listed here being met?  Does the church have bountiful volunteers?  Do the regular attendees bring visitors? The question we should be asking is--do they want to volunteer, are they proud to bring their friends? Are folks genuinely excited to be there?
The answer to that cannot be quantified with numbers. Growing a church based on statistics cannot be applied to an entity like the Church because it's innately personal, cellular and creative. To do so ties the hands of God and puts him in a box.  Who needs the Holy Spirit when we have all the answers in a database?

5) The Preacher(s) To Minister Authentically: From The Word AND From Their Own Reservoir Of Life Experience (truth & light, water & salt)

The minister should be vulnerable and transparently giving of themselves to congregation in order to connect, engage and identify with the people. Ministers should seek to hear from God through the Word and prayer and utilizes their own unique strengths and personal testimony in order to get the message across in an authentic way only they are anointed to do so.  Not with stock lessons, borrowed sermons, or by researching what is 'relevant' teaching in today's popular church. Tell the WHOLE truth and do not sell out, no matter what looks are on their faces.

6) EXPRESSED Appreciation, Gratitude & Respect And Honor For Volunteers/Lay-Leaders & Committed Members.

We all need to be encouraged! Jesus & the Apostle Paul made time for it, the Pastor(s) should make the time as well. Love; Kindness,  hospitality, generosity and friendship are the constitution of what makes PEOPLE a Church, if we don’t have love amongst each other, we have nothing. Where there is no love there is discouragement.  If the people continue to be discouraged the church will soon be divided and after awhile, we wont have a building to stand in.

7) High VALUE Placed On Organic Worship, Prayer & Holy Spirit Leading:

Worship sets the tone for the message being preached (if it does not serve as the 'message' itself). Worship prepares the heart to hear and scrubs from the inside. When prayer is incorporated, Holy Spirit is free to convict, transform & heal. Worship & prayer are the ONLY things God receives from the body in a corporate gathering. A trust-worthy Worship Pastor should be delegated the full scope of their responsibility, granted full-liberty to lead worship in whatever capacity suited to his/her gifts and ability including song choice, genre, style, be it solo, band or full choir. Administrative leaders and the like need not touch, micromanage, hinder and especially interrupt worship.

 
8) A Church That's Built On A Stable/Biblical Foundation: A Tried and True Model Of Love, Friendships, Worship, Prayer, Holy Spirit, Teaching, Giving & Invitation.

Creativity is NOT a foundation to build a church on...fluff, hype, gimmicks, 'contemporvant' packaging come last. If we build a church on creativity first its an upside down pyramid of a solid church model. If we copy everybody else, then the antiquity of gifts within our body are rendered useless. If every ministry within the church body is 'formulated' and minimized to the point that 'anyone' can fill the spot, then our individuality is discounted.

9) Be INVOLVED With Other Local Churches, Not In Competition
We are ALL one body. Regardless of where the tithe money ends up, NO restrictions or discouragement of volunteering or participation in 'another' churches activity or outreach, period. Enough with the competition between bodies! It's bad enough that Sunday is already the most racially divided day of the week. Again, we are all ONE Church.



10)Majority Of Funds Going Towards Outreach Not Overhead.

Mortgage payment eating up most of the tithe? Maybe its time to downsize. If the people of the church love their church (each other), it won't matter where they gather as long as there's room enough.



More to come...

My friend recently convinced me I have an eccentric family ripe with 'characters' that perfect strangers would be interested to read about.  I happen to think my day-to-day is pretty ordinary but she managed to rattle off a few incidents from my life that she finds worthy fodder for blogs. Our conversation got my creative inspirations flowing again, so below I've brainstormed some material that I may include on forthcoming posts. If you know me, feel free to add your topical suggestions, I just might blog about it! Thanks, Christina:)

The List of Potentials...
 
Embarrassing Perils of Audrey's Big Mouth

The Things I Say After 11pm

Why I Will Be Sad When My chicken Cat-dog Dies

The 5 Personalities of (my) Children

Why Jeff Carries a Murse

Baby in the Wash Machine

Words That Creep Me Out

Faux Pas of a Former Teen-Mom

The Things my Kids Have Destroyed

The Things My Kids Have Dumped/Eaten/Thrown-up

I Apologize In Advance, I Probably Didn't Mean What You Thought I Said

The Dogmatic Suzy-SAHM I Used To Be vs.The Amiable Impromptu SAHM I Am

The Drama Queen That Is Our Son Jamey

Ninja Realtor by Day/Fledgling Country Music Star by Night

Cardinal Rules Of Garage Sailing

Why I Can Never Clean My Room

Baneful Dieting that WORKS

Rebellious Religion *HERESY*

My Peculiar Matrimony 

Why the Duggars Wouldn't Let Their Kids Play at Our House

Unorthodox Punishment: They won't do That Again

Magic Pills and Why I believe in Them

Living at Random on Purpose

12-Step Cheeseburger Addict

Why Liars Make Me so Stinkin' Mad *EXPLICIT*

I Can See Through You: Exposing My Secret Powers

Babies Are Awesome, 7-11yro Are Not as Awesome

Contemporary, Cutting Edge Church of Outside The Box

Rambling here...just read and move along, or don't.

I'm supposed to be cleaning my room right now. I'm supposed to be doing a lot of things I'm not doing. The past few months have been a lesson in humility. I've fallen short in everything I set out to do. I have also learned communal living isn't for sissies, and I am one FYI. I think I retracted that blog I wrote about cohabiting with people that aren't your family, but in case you didn't read my comments, don't try it unless your single or a college kid. "You can never go back". Wisdom straight from my own 21 year old daughter, life experience for me. Oiy, live-n-learn, I guess. So this wont be a long blog, or it might, just checking in really. Gotta throw my fans a bone...heh, heh.

The short of it is, the economy has officially caught up to the Frey Fam. We tried having a live-in house guest from mid-November until the 3rd week of January and it just got weird, fast. Thank God that's over. But we are still in a pinch these days. We'll be fine in the end, but it's not good out there for Realtors like myself. Last month Clark County had somewhere around 340 total home sales. That may sound like a lot to you but Clark County has over 3,400 listings. If every Realtor had two listings that means, about 1300 of us didn't get paid?! Statistics are actually not as sunny as I paint them, however.

I used to be so good with the family budget. Recently, I've let it go to pot cuz I never know when we'll have money to pay whatever. So this huge pile of envelopes is growing on my desk and its daunting. I'm afraid of it. So I let it sit there and torment me. Times are rough.

But we're changing things around here at the Frey estate. Pinching pennies and such, we'll be OK. Cause that's how the story always ends. Things have a way of working out. Trusting God makes it a little less stressful. Right now I'm just searching for the balance of my responsibility and where I'm supposed to allow Him room to direct our steps.

All this financial hubbub got me wondering what my life would look like if I didn't have to worry about making an income. Why, I could write blogs every day, I could scrap book and have time to convert all my family movies into DVDs. I could set aside time to write music and read and daydream and have lots of recording sessions. I could journal more, pray more, cook more, clean more. I would visit my sisters every day for coffee. I'd go to Africa and meet my sponsor children and stop by Hawaii to hang out with my BFF. I'd do concerts with my music friends and I'd buy lots of clothes and my house would constantly look fabulous and my kids and husband would be happy cause I would be happy, right?!
*sigh*
Meanwhile, I'm breaking out. I've never had acne before and now I'm on every medication, RX and over the counter. I'm determined to beat it. But if I would just drink about 6 more glasses of water a day it would probably clear up. Thing is, I just forget. Like I keep forgetting to pick my daughter up at the bus stop. I was writing this blog when I got a call from school that they brought her back because I wasn't standing outside in sub-zero temperatures waiting for her. Actually, I did go out there but the bus had come and gone and it was about 10 minutes of shivering and frost bite before I figured it out. No, I'm not blaming the bus driver. Even though I can see the bus from my driveway and it wouldn't kill her to pull up 100 feet to let my daughter off. Yeah, she'd rather teach me a lesson on punctuality by inconveniencing herself. Ah pffft. Join the everyone hates Lisa club.

Seriously though, I fear I'm a little discombobulated cuz I'm PMSing. I'm also empty-nesting, with two kids recently moved out of the house. I'm all confused on portion control when making dinner. After 14 years of marriage I'm supposed to be making sure to feed that, too. I'm just so distracted. I'm calling Jared 'Elih' and Jamey 'Jeremy'...I really just wanna got to the neighbors house and hang out. She is like 5 years behind me and her life doesn't look as complicated, even though I know it is. But but she makes me forget. We watch cable and talk about music and stuff.

I'm feeling old, too. I have  grown man-child in the Marine corps who could potentially be 4 months away from deploying to some God-forsaken desert to shoot people he doesn't want to kill. He misses home and neither one of us has managed to cut the umbilical cord yet. My 14 year old son has been on a massive growth spurt and is now as tall as me. My 9 yr old isn't far behind him as his once too-tight jeans are now in need of a belt. And Audrey, well if you know her then you know its like living with a mini me. She doesn't quit talking though. And she thinks she's 15. I guilt myself that I don't hang out with our 21 yr old daughter enough. Shes in her Jr yr of college. I'm so proud of her but I'm wondering how she got to be so old?? OMGsh and the possibility of grand kids just HAUNTS me!

So I'm at this crossroads. I have dreams I'm almost too ancient to achieve, and I gotta hurry up or forget about it. But if I gave up on them, I could focus on my job and probably make lots more money! I wonder how my life would look if I put all my energy back into my job?....ugh. I don't think I love selling houses enough. It's a lot of paper trails and phone calls and marketing and long hours away from my family and missing church. Financially, it makes the most sense so it makes me feel selfish that it's the LAST thing on earth I want to do right now. So I do short-sales instead. Have you heard of those? I'm an expert...No really, I am.
:-/
I'm frustrated with church too, BTW. NOYB why, I just am. It's a debacle, full of people who've messed it all up. Prayin' that will work itself out too... Lotsa prayin' going on. Maybe that's how God likes it. It's all on him now. I've done enough damage and I'm surrendering. The next few decisions I make are crucial, the life altering kind. I have a big chance to really screw up my future or an opportunity to start a new journey, maybe both. But right now, I just want a nap. Dinner is in the crock pot, help yourself, I gotta go to walmart and buy milk and fruit.

New day tomorrow:-)

Thankful

Snarky, cold, black & white, aloof, pointed, sarcastic, unemotional, dispassionate, confusing...I'm thankful today because, in spite of these constructive criticisms, I know I am still adored by the friends and family that feel brave and safe enough to tell me these truths without mincing words. I am a lucky girl and I know it.

I'm thankful for all my vastly different friends who teach me new perspectives and challenge my thinking. I'm blessed with a humongous fambily that loves me unconditionally.  I have a husband who treats me like a queen, and wildly unique children whom I love with such intensity I could eat them for breakfast. I'm honored I got a hand in raising my husbands little girl into a beautiful & smart woman, my 1st daughter.  My heart bursts with pride that my firstborn son is the bravest man I know, proudly serving in the USMC. I'm ecstatic that these two oldest kids are now grown-up awesome people. By God's grace I've still got my health. I'm thankful for the twists and turns in life--the ups & downs that continue to stretch and teach me, that my glass is always half-full and I get to drink coffee, eat chocolate and laugh every day. I'm privileged to get to sing and lead worship each week with an amazing bunch of uber talented people. I'm thankful that my home is always buzzing and chaotic, our paid-off cars still run, the hubs and I are still employed. I'm thankful that my sister, Christy, is still alive. I also thank God that one day I'll see my dad and son, Kaden, again. I'm thankful for family that are also my best friends and that my best friend, Stephany, is family. I'm also lucky enough to live next door to one of my bff's. I'm fortunate to live in a country where my dreams can be a reality if I'm willing to work for it --and it doesn't hurt that I'm connected to a network of incredibly gifted friends and family.  I have an uncertain and amazing future to look forward to and God Himself to walk me through it. And I love my kitty...and makeup.

I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up!

We are all gonna get old. This is a reality I cannot contend with, but I don't have to like the effects of it.  As I sit here and bemoan my looming fate, I realize getting older is not really what I have a problem with. At thirty-seven, I feel as though I have physically reached the crescendo of my youth. All facets of my personal wherewithal are working together in perfect harmony--health, beauty, youth, wit, drive, intelligence and chutzpah. Maybe thirty-seven is not even my summit but its a great plateau! I've actually not felt more secure with my looks, style, personality, spirituality and relationships than ever before. For the first time in all my life I feel like I, at last, have the confidence and perspective to achieve anything I put my mind and hands to do.  I want to keep this feeling and I want to stay this youthful and driven and fashionable forever, I want to vacuum pack it and preserve it until I'm dead.

Burnt Pork

I burned the dinner. Normally, I wouldn't admit it but my neighbor slash blogger friend next door, inspired me to write about food. The more she raves about her magical cooking pot, the more it makes me want to tell the world what I'm cookin' up. It just so happens to be my luck that last night I incinerated what was meant to be pulled-pork. A disaster still noteworthy, nonetheless.

It's actually my friend's fault. I blame her for enticing me to whip out my electronic slow cooking french-oven. With all this 'set it and forget it' business she keeps blabbering, somehow I got caught up in her enthusiasm, lost touch with my inner chef and really did forget I was cooking at all. Now my pig taste gross and it looks like poo.

But this disgusting cremation wasn't all for nothing. I learned that teryaki marinade turns somewhere in the 4th hour of simmering. My house stinks now.

After the children and husband gagged down their single blackened pork biscuit (and to my further embarrassment) our lovely friend, Yuliya, dropped in unexpectedly. Our friend is so hospitable. She swore up and down that our house smelled just like chocolate chip cookies!...eh? Well, Yuliya is European, their culture must make them think chocolate chip cookies smell like burnt teryaki butt.

Anyway, I must go and dispose of my shredded chocolate chip carcass (that Jeff accidentally on purpose left out all night). So, no serious blogging today. For that you will have to visit my witty friend, 'Christina the Southerner's' page. She is funny. I'm funnier in real life than in writing. Especially at night. She should blog about that.

A Mission Statement In Christianese

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,

Please forgive me for the following blasphemy of our sacred Christian lingo. I feel led to exhort the holy rollers who abuse christianese in the world and among the flock. There's a check in my spirit that exposing the over-use of our jargon for the foreign tongue that it is, will not only help us to laugh at ourselves but also spurn us to fellowship as a congregation in a more practical way. Take no offense, this is all in fun! 

I feel called to press in, that my works bear fruit and boldly confess the good news as a sanctified Born-again should. Furthermore, I feel moved to take a leap of faith and exegete from the scriptures on a level heathens might finally understand us. Can I get a witness?!  May the Lord set me on fire and I pray God will open a door if it be His will!

I am humbly inspired to use the giftedness God has imbued into my heart. Although, sometimes I feel attacked by the enemy, but its nothing a little storming the gates of heaven and a bit of intercessory with my church family can't fix. I just tell myself I'm a priceless treasure, even if only a foot in the body of Christ. I rest in the glorious joy of the Lord, going deeper with God, being open to the Spirit, and coming into agreement with other prayer warriers, while we wait for the prophetic inspiration of the new wine to go to the next level. I rebuke the curse of Adam, I do not receive it. Because, Glory be, I have the anointing and my mantle is secure, I've found the Lord & have the Victory! My spirit is renewed every time I get a dose of the Holy Ghost. God forbid I end up an old wineskin. I mean, WWJD?

 No Jesus, no peace but I know Jesus & I know peace. It's not a religion, it's a relationship. My father is a Jewish carpenter for heaven sake! Therefore, I have a burden to plant seed for the harvest. I just need to carry my cross, plead the blood and take my thoughts captive so I don't end up a lukewarm backslider drowning in a lake of hell fire.

As I was fasting in supplication for inner transformation, seeking the mind of God, meditating in reverence of the Word, there was a quickening in my spirit that convicted me. I realized I was wandering in the wilderness, being tested by fire so that my testimony will touch the hearts of the unbelievers to set them free so they will be free indeed. We've got to turn or burn from our worldly ways. For we are all redeemed by the blood of the lamb, with forgiveness and without condemnation, we are restored.

I have a higher calling. I can do all things with mustard seed faith that moves mountains.  By faith and not by sight, I believe the Lord works in mysterious ways-- especially in my prayer closet during devotions. Sometimes I just get so slain in the spirit my heart overflows with joy and peace that surpass all understanding.  My cup runs over whenever I lay hold of the promise. All I have to do is name it & claim it or blab it  & grab it and wait for the windows of heaven to pour out the blessing. Everything happens for a reason and God doesn't give us more than we can handle, right?!

I confess, even I burn with righteous anger when I don't see fruits of the spirit. I constantly remind myself to hate the sin and love the sinner. So I'm encouraged by rhema word to walk in truth and let my light shine to illuminate the revelations of spiritual warfare. To be salt of the earth I have to drink living water!

I hope I've been able to minister to your spirit, that my words won't return void in your walk. As I am in the way, I hope God ordains and prospers you for the mission field. I'm blessed to be a blessing. Lord willing, I am just clay in the potters hands and pray the Lord will use me as his leaky vessel to manifest his presence when I lay hands on you and anoint you.

Hallelujah! This is the great commission of the five fold ministry! If we expect to see the incarnation during the latter rain, avoid the mark of the beast, and be caught up in the rapture; we must put on the armor of God. We must enter Sabbath rest to see the shekinah glory and avoid the tribulation of Armageddon.  The trinity was presented at Calvary and justified the immaculate conception!  The lost are edified in the assembly of his disciples, not with speaking in tongues but by partaking eating and drinking the body of Christ. Sinners get salvation and will be welcomed through the pearly gates if they repent at the alter call and are baptized in the Holy Spirit.  When we ask Jesus into our Hearts, we become his sheep and stay in his grip. With our prayer language we can reach the world and convert the unsaved.

I have a prayer request. Let us start a prayer chain and say grace so that we can have peace about this:

Dear gracious and loving big man in the sky, 

I beseech you &  I bow my heart. Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub which we are about to receive from Thy bounty, bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies, surround us with a hedge of protection, send us with your traveling mercies,cover us with your blood, help those who cannot help themselves, and help those poor in spirit because cleanliness is next to Godliness and all men are created equal in the body of Christ for the pursuit of happiness.

God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change and wisdom to know the difference. It weighs heavily on our hearts, Father God, help us to fulfill our calling, to pray-in the manifestation of a charismatic revival of the saints--and especially for our youth  and small groups. Bury our sins at the bottom of the sea of forgetfulness.

Fill the God-size hole in our hearts and wash away our iniquities. Give us the manna from heaven, let us not partake of forbidden fruit, cause us to overflow in your abundance and sustain us with your blessed assurance. Let us abide in the fear of the Lord to have real spirit filled encounter retreats in tent revivals to learn how to become fishers of men that win souls. Empower us not to drink cuss or chew or go out with those who do. 

Transform our old man into a new man and give us deliverance from our sin-nature into the land flowing with milk and honey. Allow us to prosper in the year of jubilee, to bring in the seekers for your kingdom come, because we know you will make a way. May we get all we can, can all we get, and sit on the lid. God is good, all the time. God is great, I pray the Lord my soul to take. May we rest in peace. Amen

25 Random Things About Ms. Frey

As previously posted in Facebook Notes, January 26, 2009:


1.I don’t like background noise & I cant think with music playing unless it relates to the song

2. I’ve learned how to gain weight even on vegetables :(

3. I hate the smell of unbathed dogs

4. I bite my nails sometimes...I know its gross, don’t lecture me

5. Broccoli hurts my stomach but I love broccoli

6. I am learning to play the piano

7. I spend HOURS writing using a real pen and paper a few nights every week

8. If I didn’t get old & fat & had a buncha money I would have more babies, lots more

9. my favorite gifts are accessories and eating out

10. I'm going to get a BA in liberal arts/speech & communication someday. Maybe. 

11. Before I die I will learn to speak Spanish & Russian. I hope.

12. I want to adopt more kids, just don’t tell Jeff. I’m gonna spring it on him when we're old

13. I love cats but don’t have any cuz I’m allergic

14. I can jerry-rig almost anything if its broke; I can also cook, sew, draw, & cut hair very well but I don't enjoy any of it.

15. I’m running 10-15 minutes behind life and that offends a lot of people

16. I’m terrified to speak in public but I know its destined for my my near future

17. I am an average singer

18. I wear most of my perfumes at once cuz I cant decide on one

19. I like blood and gore except my own blood, especially from a deep cut, triggers a vasovagal response in me at a subconscious level

20. We own and we use 2 washers and 2 dryers daily to keep up with the ridiculous amount of laundry 4 kids and 2 adults generate

21. I hide massive quantities of chocolate in my closet and behind my bed

22. Fast food is my drug of choice and there is no rehab

23. When I get overwhelmed I wont answer my phone

24. I keep my phone on vibrate so the ringer doesn’t make me mad

25. I hate all my clothes