For the last three years, we have spent a remarkable time with the Lord contemplating His Church. For a lot of us, our definition (and therefore our perspective) on church is not as complete as it should be. Church, for many of us, is defined by our experiences more than what we gather from scripture. It is what we grew up with or the way we do church now that gives the definition meaning.
This definition, or lack thereof, is a foundation to the workings of our faith. I suggest that we will have a better foundation from which to practice our faith if we refine our definition of the Lord’s body. When discerning the true definition of the church, it may not mean checking to make sure God's Truth from scripture is present. Rather, it may mean taking out our own pre-established views, laws, protocol and dogmas. To have a pure understanding of our Lord’s Bride, we must rely solely on His Word.
When preaching about the church, many pastors look at scripture and see what is essential to the body of Christ. Their focus is on the Biblical standard, worshipping God, treating others as you want to be treated, fellowshipping with one another, fulfilling the great commission, etc. Afterwards, it seems the report card deserves high marks as most items from scripture can be checked off. However, churches often fail to look at all the practices and protocol that are usually meant to support or facilitate the scriptural standard but can not necessarily be found in scripture. These may actually be a burden in the long run, wreaking havoc internally that Jesus never intended for us.
Wrestling with this concept has been one of the most difficult issues He has dealt with me about. My love for God and serving the Church was so great that I did not want even Him to have me readdress longstanding traditions and comfortable practices. Even though I viewed these methods of the church as a natural way to conduct the ministry, He pointed out that many of the conflicts and issues that can be found in so many churches are due to the integration of man’s ways versus God’s ways. These issues of conflict that come about can be explained when the Lord talks about combining old and new wineskins (Matthew 9:16,17). A great book by Frank Viola on the subject is Rethinking the Wineskin. God brought me to the conclusion that the simpler we make the life and practices of our faith and refine much of our ideology according to His Word, the better we will be living the model he intended.
What is exciting to Laurel and I, is seeing many people come to the same conclusion. As we were processing hard things before the Lord we felt very alone but confident in his revelations to us. Even the denomination (Foursquare) I was licensed under is now accepting the fact that there is a major movement happening. Click here for their views on simplifying church life. For a relatively unbiased source with much more information about simplifying church life click here.
As for my ministry, Freedom In Truth Ministries, or FIT Ministries, we will be diving more deeply into subject matters such as these. As this ministry develops, if you have any questions or comments please feel free to write me, I would be happy to dialogue with you. 
christianv@mtnviewresourcing.com