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[[File:fishnet.jpg|right|thumb|350px|"Christ [[commanded]] that His [[disciples]] make the people gather in ''companies'' of [[Tens]] linked together in ranks of hundreds and thousands so that they may be able to provide a [[daily ministration]] through [[love]] rather than [[lasciviousness]], by [[faith]] rather than [[force]]."]]
== Why we gather ==

People can come up with a million reasons to not gather together like the [[early Church]].

The [[early Church]] did not just [[gather]] to obtain a feeling of [[fellowship]] and [[community]] but to practice a particular kind of [[fellowship]] that comes in a community with a common [[communion]] of [[thanksgiving]] in [[righteousness]].

At the time when [[Jesus]], who was the [[Christ]], came preaching that the people should [[repent]] and seek the [[Kingdom of God]] and His [[righteousness]], people were making excuses about having to do other things first and Jesus called them ''dead''.<Ref>[[Luke 9]]:59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60  Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61  And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62  And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
</Ref>

[[John the Baptist]], as ''a voice in the wilderness'', had been preaching this same Kingdom for years. He was telling the people to ''make straight the way of the Lord''.<Ref>[[Matthew 3]]:3  For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
: [[Mark 1]]:3  The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
: [[Luke 3]]:4  As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.</Ref> [[Repent]]ing meant thinking and acting a different way. It meant caring for one another with [[freewill offerings]], or what the New Testament calls [[love]] and [[charity]], rather than using [[force]] like the rulers of the other governments of the [[world]] who ''call themselves  [[Benefactors]] but [[Exercises authority|exercise authority one over the other]]''. These '''rulers''' were the ''[[Father|fathers of the earth]]'' who [[taxation|forced the offerings]] of the people and often [[Gods|decided what was good and evil]] for the people.

The reason we gather is to [[Sacrifice|serve]] God by serving one another through [[charity]] which is also called [[love]]. This is what it means to "come in the name of the Lord".<Ref>Psalms 118:26  Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
: Matthew 21:9  And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
: Matthew 23:39  For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
: Mark 11:9  And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
: Mark 11:10  Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.
: Luke 13:35  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
: Luke 19:38  Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
: John 12:13  Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.</Ref> It is the voluntary practice of [[pure Religion]] rather than the [[covetous practices]] of the [[world]] which [[snare]] the mind and make the body [[merchandise]] of [[the mire]].

Christ [[commanded]] that His [[disciples]] make the people sit down by groups of [[Tens]] linked together in ranks of hundreds and thousands so that they would be able to provide a [[daily ministration]] through [[love]] rather than [[lasciviousness]]; by [[faith]] rather than [[force]]. The [[righteousness]] of God flowing through the hearts and minds of a [[network]] formed by this pattern of [[Tens]] used by the [[early Church]] provided for [[Christians]] who followed [[The Way]] of Christ in a [[communion]] of [[fellowship]] even as [[Rome]] declined.

This was the [[Gospel of the Kingdom]] in action through [[grace]]. It is this kingdom of God we should all be [[seek]]ing.

This kingdom is for the living<Ref>[[Matthew 22]]:32  I am the God of [[Abraham]], and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
: [[Mark 12]]:27  He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.
: Luke 20:38  For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.
: Romans 14:9  For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
: Colossians 2:20  Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the [[Elements|rudiments]] of the [[world]], why, as though living in the [[world]], are ye subject to ordinances, 
: Hebrews 9:14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? </Ref> and has always required a network of [[minister]]s that strive to conform to the qualifications and criteria of Christ and God.

Why? 

Because Christ came to serve through sacrifice.

A [[Minister]] is a servant of a Kingdom bound by [[charitable practices]].

We should come together so that others might be saved by our sacrifice because that is why Christ came.

To come in the name of Christ is to come in the character of Christ.

Christ did not come to feel good or hear the music or enjoy a good uplifting sermon.

He did not come to build really nice buildings in which to meet, or cathedrals to impress people.

He certainly did not come so that he would find a group of people he could count on to save him in his time of need.

He did not come to saints but to sinners, calling them to change their thinking.

He came telling us to [[repent]] and seek the [[Kingdom of God]] and His [[righteousness]] and appointed His disciples to ''feed His Sheep''. His sheep are those who hear His voice<Ref>[[John 10]]:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
: John 10:3  To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
: John 10:16  And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
: Hebrews 3:7  Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
: Hebrews 3:15  While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
: Hebrews 4:7  Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
: Revelation 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.</Ref> and do the will of the [[Father]].

Part of that mission is to provide a [[Daily ministration|daily ministration]] based on [[love]] according to the [[Perfect law of liberty|perfect law of liberty]].

<blockquote>'' Not forsaking the [[Assembling|assembling]]<Ref>{{1997}}{{1996}}</Ref> of ourselves [[gather|together]],''' as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.''' ([[Hebrews 10]]:25)''</blockquote> 

Jesus and John preached the kingdom for years but there was a very limited network of people that were actually doing what Christ said. It was not until [[Pentecost]] that there was any real surge of repentance.

When the people were [[Baptism|Baptized]] on [[Pentecost]] they had to start caring for each other with [[freewill offerings]]. They had to organize themselves and set up a [[daily ministration]] by charitable means, rather than the system of [[welfare]] offered by [[Herod]] or [[Rome]] with its [[Bread and circuses|free bread]], so that the needy of their [[Church legally defined|community and society]] would not be neglected.

Since the [[minister]]s of Christ are forbidden to [[Exercises authority|exercise authority]] one over the other like the administrators of the [[world]] who call themselves [[Benefactors]], it is up to the people to organize themselves into [[congregations]] of [[Tens]] to form that Living [[Network]] which is the Church.

Forming [[CORE]] groups and linking them together with consistent daily sacrifice in a [[Welfare types|system of social welfare]] based on [[charity]] is what [[seek]]ing the [[Kingdom of God]] and His [[righteousness]] is really all about.

== Where Shall We Eat ==

Israel was in the same [[Bondage|bondage]] we are in today.
 
It was a system of [[Corvee]] which made them [[Merchandise]]. 

This was not because of what [[Governments|governments]] do but what our fathers and our generations chose to do. The parents of those in bondage brought about that bondage generations before they found themselves enslaved.

So what did they do to obtain freedom?

'''What did Moses Say?'''

*They did not cry [[fraud]].
*They did not attempt to rescind their [[bondage]].
*They instead began to bind themselves with love and caring for one another in hard times so they survived and thrived during the plagues of [[Egypt]] which prepared them for the exodus.
 
The same is true for the early Christians who, because of their commitment to loving their neighbor, were better equipped to deal with occupation of foreign troops, economic dearths and depression, geological disasters, eventual destruction and forced migration.
 
We need to gather for the purpose of saving others, ''not saving ourselves''. If we desire the protection of the Holy Spirit we will gather like the early Church seeking the righteousness of God.