Tips on forming a CORE

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There seems to be hesitation among the people on the email Network regarding the formation of Congregations of Recorded Elders. Because Congregations are free assemblies they are formed organically. But the Kingdom of God appointed to the Apostles by Jesus was an actual government. The Apostles were called out and appointed by Jesus to accomplish a task of shepherding his flock. These ministers were accountable to God for the care of His flock and keep them free souls under God. While each congregation is an organic freewill assemblies of Elders of families the ministers as the body of Christ are responsible for taking account of those families and their needs as good shepherds. Here are some tips toward simplifying the understanding of that process.


1. Congregations are not complicated

Any time people gather together it can be said that they congregate. They are in a congregation.

A question is what is the common reason this assembly of people have chosen to come together to congregate or be in congregation?

Why do they congregate?

Elders or heads of Families congregating in free assemblies may form a Living Network of 10s, 100s, 1000s if bound by love alone and their faith the The Way of Christ may prosper as a nation without diminishing their individual liberty, in accordance with the practices of the early Church.

A Congregation of record is simply a Free Assembly of Elders that share a common choice for “minister” (public servant). The Congregation of Recorded Elders is is the responsibility of the minister who has taken on a "sacred purpose trust".

The Elders common purpose for gathering is to repent and to seek the Kingdom of God at hand and His righteousness. The Elders freely gather around their His Church office of service and trust in faith, hope and charity. Their offerings are votive in nature to determine that natural flow of the life of the network.

The ministers are public servants in one form of government who accepts the responsibility to administer the offerings according to the doctrines and ordinances of Jesus the Christ. The minister as a trustee of Christ accepts this shared "sacred purpose" by assembling with other ministers also believed to be seeking that kingdom and godly government.

If a licensed minister who is not yet ordained cannot enrich themselves from the offerings they receive. They can pay expenses directly related to their ministry. If he or his family is in personal need, then they should seek to get help from God's altar by talking to their own elected minister.

2. Distance is not critical

His Church minister may be quite a distance from where you live. We have numerous technologies we can use to connect as if we were in the same room. While it is true that additional opportunities avail themselves if we are “local”, if we start now with what we have, we can better prepare to “hit the ground running” as we discover others nearby willing to share our journey. Congregations will form and re-form as we reach more people who are closer together. Don’t let distance be a stumbling block to getting involved.

Since ministers are not gathering people to themselves but leading the people to Christ and the Holy Spirit the distances can actually be an advantage as Elders must become more self motivated by their own personal faith in Christ.

3. “Ministers” are not what you’ve been trained to think they are

We are all familiar with how a “minister” looks and functions in the modern church. Remove that model from your mind. In a “His Church” Congregation, the “Minister” is simply who the families in congregation think might be the best capable of serving the needs of the congregation, and also being a communication point with the other congregations. He does not need to be the smartest person in the room, or the one who knows the most about the bible. He is not there to be a go-between between you and God. Think of a minister as someone who will take on the responsibility of making sure nobody in your congregation get left behind in a time of need. It is someone who can take the time to know the 2 – 10 families who have chosen him/her well enough to know when they need assistance and discern what kind of assistance will help the needy become strong again.

It is worth stating again that the His Church minister is in a position of service, not power. In the Kingdom, the ultimate position of power rests with the Elders (see below). The Elders determine the purpose, direction and flavor of the congregation. The minister is there only to aid with that task, to help keep the Elders connected, and to maintain communication with other congregations through their ministers.

4. “Elders” are natural

Every family has an “Elder” – someone who is the decider or provider or even the eldest. “Elder” is a family office, and families may have different ways of determining who is the Elder. Today’s broken families can blur this concept quite a bit, but let’s say that we can find agreement among at least part of your family on who can be considered the “Elder”. The elder of your family would be the one who can make time to interact with the other families and the minister in congregation. Contrast that image to many of the modern churches who “elect” elders to sit on a board and handle the funds of the church. Now remove that from your mind. The “Elder” of your family presents offerings to be used by the minister as he is guided by the Holy Spirit for Christ’s purposes.

5. There is no need to abandon your current “church”

Many fear that if they choose to freely assemble in a His Church Congregation that they will be choosing to leave the “church” they currently fellowship with. That is not the case. Assembling with others in a His Church Congregation is making known your choice to help your brothers in need by free will offerings so they will not need to pray to those who will provide assistance by forcing neighbors to contribute. It is turning around from the way men who lack faith have provided for the needy since Cain created his first city-state and instead of pursuing a Godly inspired caring for their neighbors by free will offerings. It is a life direction. It is repentance. You may even become an example to follow for those in that “church” if they are given eyes to see what you are doing.

6. Offerings are given entirely to the minister (burnt up)

You choose your minister as someone you trust to best perform the wishes of Christ as guided by the Holy Spirit. As part of that “trust”, any offerings you make to him to accomplish that goal are given entirely. You give up all control of your offering trusting that the minister will use it as Christ would. You do not get to direct how those offerings are applied. It is casting your bread upon the water in hopes that they may return should you become the one in need some day. You may “suggest” to the minister your intent, but it is his to decide. This relationship allows you to retain your freedom in all other aspects of life besides what you have given as a gift.

7. Every day is “election day” in the kingdom

The “check” or “balance” to the trust you place in your minister is that you, as an “Elder”, keep watch over how the resources given to him are used. If your minister begins to use offerings in a way you think is not led by the Holy Spirit, you should approach him for an explanation. In the case where a resolution cannot be arrived at, you have the option, and perhaps even the responsibility to choose another minister to give to. Just remember we’re all figuring this out and forgiveness will be necessary by all so that we may be forgiven.

8. Give as you are led by the Holy Spirit

When we give to those whom we trust will make the best use of our offering, we create a flow of life for the body of Messiah. Without blood flow a body dies. Giving is proactive. We give to strengthen our society. We give to draw near to our heavenly Father. Giving exercises spiritual muscles that we may have neglected. Being thankful for the opportunity to give, molds us into the cheerful givers spoken of in scripture.

What I’m trying to convey by all this is not to be afraid of creating or becoming part of a Congregation of record. We learn by doing. We will make mistakes. That presents opportunity for forgiveness. As we work at this together, we will realize better and more effective ways to cooperate and strengthen our society. The more we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, the more opportunities will be presented to us. None of this can become reality for you if you don’t take the first step. Nobody else can do that for you. There are ministers and elders willing to give you a hand up. Reach out to them. If you are unsure, ask – seek – knock. Serving an infinite God means it is an infinite journey. It’s time to take the next step – together.

There are people all over the world looking to get started on the path back to our Father’s ways. Use these e-mail groups as a tool to find each other. That’s why you are here after all. Right?

9. Chemistry of Congregating

There is a lot of talk about relationships in the forming of congregations. There is a natural chemical secreted in the mind that draws us to an addiction to fellowship. These learned behaviors are backed up by generations of gregarious social unions through interactive affirmations. They will always be important in forming the bonds of a congregation.

The hormone oxytocin is stored in the posterior pituitary gland. It plays a role in intimacy, sexual reproduction of both sexes, during and after childbirth, and social bonding. It has been referred to as the “hug hormone” and the “cuddle chemical” because of its reported role in promoting positive affirmation of social virtues like trust, empathy, intimacy, and generosity. While oxytocin may play a physical role in encouraging behavior, it is not the only factor affecting these higher order social attributes.

Social Virtues complement one another. It is important to develop natural social friendships when gathering as well as to forgive the differences in other people because of their upbringing and life conditions.

Current Kingdom Government Offices of Service and Trust that serve Congregations of Record

Each one of these Kingdom of God government offices of "sacred trust" serve the Elders and their families that elected the minister, and the foreigners and strangers sojourning with them.

Join with a free assembly in you area
by asking on the Network for more details:
Minister of Record
HCBL | HCGL | HCHS | HCJR |
HCLC | HCLO | HCNR | HCO
HCS | HCSL | HCSM | HCTA |
Minister of Record | His Church | His Holy Church

People followed Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist and Jesus. The altars of clay and stone was a way to create the social bonds of free people. The levites led the Israelites. And the early Church followed Christ and His Way, which was The Way, and advocated a Daily ministration that was dependent on Pure Religion through Fervent charity only. This was the Corban of Christ which was not like the system of Corban of the Pharisees nor of Rome or the systems of FDR and LBJ.
The church lost "the way" when it abandoned the practice of "pure Religion" while claiming to be the Church established by Christ. The people developed an appetite for the "wages of unrighteousness" from "public religion" in the days of Constantine. Those new Christians that often failed to fully repent degenerated the moral character of society with the masses of "instant christians".
That new religion of the emperor introduced a new faith with his apostate church replacing the doctrine of Jesus with the "doctrines of men", the Holy Spirit with emotion, the truth with the speaking of "great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage."[1]
They had a form of godliness but denied the power thereof.

Where is your religion

  • Do you only gather for the comfort it gives you, or do you gather to benefit others?
  • Christ came to serve, not be served. Do you desire to be served, or are you coming in His name and according to His character to serve others?

If we desire His Grace but we only love those who love us, then there is no Grace because it is clear we do not really believe in Him.

If we do not Repent of our Covetous Practices and are not diligently gathering together in Free Assemblies of Love for all to provide for one another in Charity according to the Perfect law of liberty then we have nothing according to Paul. According to Luke 6:32 if we only love those who love us there is no "Grace". Christ also said if you do not Forgive neither will the Father forgive you.[2]

It is not enough to hate the deeds of the workers of iniquity, but we must return to Thy first love and thy first work. To break the yoke, we need to return to the ways of righteousness spoken of in Isaiah 58 which are the ways of Christ and the early Church. And His yoke is light for it is carried by our love of one another.

Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist and Christ all created Networks of charity to care for the true needy of society without force which is how they were able to help set people free. Do you gather with His Church to attend to the Weightier matters as Christ said?

  • Are you gathering in a Network of righteousness?
  • Do you come to love others or just be loved?

Early Christians found themselves in conflict with these systems of social welfare because they made the word of God to none effect. Christians had repented of their covetous nature when they received the Baptism of Christ. They heard and became Doers of the word not hearers only.

Remember Proverbs 12:24, "The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the Slothful shall be under Tribute."

We know that liberty under God is not for the covetous who are Biting one another but it is also not for the slothful. If we are not congregating together in free assemblies bound together in a broad network by faith, hope, and charity alone according to the perfect law of liberty then we are not truly seeking the Kingdom of God nor His righteousness.



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Footnotes

  1. 5622 ὠφέλεια opheleia [o-fel’-i-ah] from a derivative of the base of 5624 profitable; n f; AV-profit 1, advantage 1; 2
    1) usefulness, advantage, profit
  2. Matthew 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
    Mark 11:26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.