Characteristics of the Proposed

Experimental Prototype Church of Tomorrow (EPChOT)

 

Church gatherings should be an Oasis

where you get filled up and equipped for your journey

out into the world to share the Gospel and bless others.

 

Church gatherings should feed and build up the

 

MIND

GOOD EMOTIONS    (happiness, awe, etc)

HEART  (concern, compassion, etc)

CREATIVITY/SPIRIT

 

 

Mental education is essential to the Christian life, and thus the Church should provide many opportunities throughout the week for this to take place. But the primary purpose of the communal worship service should be … worship. That means an emphasis on God and our gratitude to Him and recognition of our relative position to Him, as Creator and Sustainer of the whole world.

 

The Sabbath is a weekly reminder of the creation. But if we keep that thought in the abstract it is of no use. One way to bring it to life would be the use in church services of multi-media presentations of the glories of God’s creation. For instance, combining the words to “How Great Thou Art” with pictures and videos on a screen up front of beautiful vistas of land, sea, and sky will inspire participants and enhance the ability of the music to touch the mind, emotions, and heart.

 

Famous motivational speaker and writer Zig Ziglar points out in one of his books that many people understand the value of inspirational material to help fight depression and discouragement. Yet, he notes, they often think that the way to use such material is to seek it out after one becomes depressed and discouraged, as an antidote! Instead, he insists, if you would fill your mind all the time with inspirational thoughts, they would serve as a preventative!  This is completely in line with the biblical admonition about what we ought to be thinking about:

 

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

 

It is easy for individuals to get bogged down in daily life and forget to keep this focus. Thus it would be valuable to deliberately and creatively establish an actual “culture” of focus on these things at church gatherings through an inspiring environment and inspirational messages.

 

And it should not be just one person or a small group of “church leaders” who contribute to this culture. If everyone in the congregation is equipped and encouraged to share their natural and spiritual gifts in creative ways, on the Sabbath and whenever gathering, then all will be lifted up. In Deuteronomy 16 God admonishes the Israelites that no one should “appear empty” … empty-handed … when they gather for the annual Feasts. Everyone should “bring a gift.”  As Christians, why not apply this equally to spiritual gifts, and to whenever The Body gathers to honor God?

 

 

An Oasis of Optimism

 

The Walt Disney film business thrived during the dark times of the Depression, and one reason for that was the spirit of optimism and the triumph of good over evil that permeated almost all of the Disney films. Bubbly Hollywood musicals such as those choreographed by Busby Berkley were wildly popular also, particularly because they also brimmed with optimism and a hope of a brighter tomorrow. The same was true of many of the films made during World War II.

 

In that darkest of times, there was an attempt to refresh and uplift and give hope to people through optimism. Our current modern circumstances don’t match that level of darkness yet, but the spirit of optimism is gone. Even in churches, which should be focused on the ultimate victory in Christ that will change the world, there is all too frequently an emphasis on gloom and doom.  The conservative political movement, which highly influences the mood in many churches, traffics almost totally in hand-wringing about the imminent collapse of the American Way of Life that they have envisioned. Add to that the increasing clamor in religious circles insisting that a prophetic Great Tribulation is coming soon, and you have a recipe for leaving church members in perpetual discouragement and depression and fear.

 

Of course we must face the reality of the problems of the world, and address them. But we don’t need to do that 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In particular, we don’t need to focus on that during our weekly day of worship and celebration and refreshment! It should be an Oasis where we put all that out of mind and focus not on the coming Tribulation but the coming Kingdom. And an Oasis where we can be refreshed and inspired to find creative ways to bring a bit of that kingdom into our present world right now by our actions and attitudes.

 

For an overview of what many one-or-two-dimensional

churches of the past and present have been like, see:

 

The Problems

 

 

For a description of some of the details

of what the EPChOT would be like, see:

 

Just what is a “Church of the 3-D Kind”?

 

 

For some ideas of how to get from past and present to future ... Keep reading.

 

 

 

Blueprint for Building the Church of Tomorrow—Today

 

 

Introducing the …

 

Oasis7 Center

 

Observing that we are not aware of any effective,  systematic grass-roots “church building” programs out there at this time, we have decided to create one from scratch. Oasis Ministries is establishing what we call the Oasis7 Center (O7C).

 

The O7C’s beginning mandate will be to offer a systematic educational program to equip individuals and teams with the knowledge and skills necessary to plant new fellowship groups/congregations that incorporate the goals, principles, culture, and ideas of EPChOT, the Experimental Prototype Church of Tomorrow.

 

Those involved in this educational program will, at the same time, assist in the development of a “model” of such a fellowship group, much like a “lab school” at a teacher’s college. This model will be used to test the effectiveness of various theories and programs, and adapt them to the real world.

 

We welcome collaboration and involvement at all levels of planning and implementation of this Center from those who share a similar perspective on the need for a new way of doing things. As the program is refined, we hope that those who come to see its value will want to create similar such Centers around the country, part of a grass-roots movement of church planting. We do not wish to start a church denomination or any centralized organization that would exercise authority in any way over groups that might spring up as a result of our efforts. We envision for O7C merely a mentoring and equipping role, assisting and encouraging independent efforts by others of like mind through example, education, and resources.

 

 

Oasis7 Center Blueprint  

 

The first Oasis7 Center will be a “work in progress,” a laboratory, where we test and refine our plans.

 

What hinders people from “ being all that they can be in the Army of the Lord”? In the regular world, you can’t take a person off the street and send them to battle! They need to be prepared. Yes, God can do this just one on one, but He normally uses other people to do the training. Even Paul hired the lecture hall of Tyrannus and held classes for over a year. Why? Because people needed to be educated and equipped in detail for leadership and service—to be laborers in the Harvest.

 

Yes, basic salvation is very simple, and even a peasant in a small village in Africa can be converted and live out his life applying simple biblical principles to his simple lifestyle, and look forward to the Kingdom.

 

But those who live in complex societies can have many more, and more complex, “problems” to surmount during their lives than that simple peasant. As much as is possible, we need to find ways to help them apply the Bible to all the aspects of their life too.  

 

“To whom much is given, much is expected,” and those who have the ability to make the best use of all of the technology and opportunities afforded by modern society, have an obligation to do so, to harness every possible tool that can be used in spreading the gospel and making and equipping disciples. We need to live out the parable of the talents.

 

We are looking for people starving to be part of a living, dynamic, fruitful move of God … willing to sacrifice time and effort to do so, and to be diligent and willing to work hard at study and participation.  This isn’t an opportunity for dabblers.

 

 

Basic O7C Goals

 

1. Modeling a healthy, creative, vibrant fellowship environment

 

2. Educating and equipping leaders for the body of Christ

Biblical education

• Developing a systematic overview of the major themes and flow of the Bible story from Genesis to Revelation
• Developing the basics of effective personal Bible Study, with an emphasis on life application
• Building a personal collection of the most basic and significant Bible doctrines, and the ability to use sound exegesis and reasoning to establish them.  

 

Equipping

• Understanding and applying the principles of logic and sound reasoning
• Understanding and applying the principles of sound exegesis and scriptural interpretation
• Understanding and applying principles of effective communication
• Applying the concepts of effective communication to the development of evangelistic, educational, and inspirational materials, particularly with the assistance of computers, A-V tools, and the Internet
• Understanding and applying principles of godly leadership

 

    

3. Preparation and provisioning for Evangelism, Discipleship, and Church planting

 

Preparation

• Understanding and applying principles of evangelism: One on one & group, including use of print literature and multi-media
• Understanding and applying principles of discipleship and teaching: one on one & group, including use of print literature and multi-media
• Understanding and applying principles of interpersonal relationships
• Understanding and applying organizational skills, particularly those helpful in development of independent ministries and local fellowship groups
• Developing natural and spiritual gifts and applying them effectively to evangelism and discipleship

 

Provisioning

• Specific training in the use of a collection of AFTC materials
• Each One Teach One Discipleship course
• Training videos
• Doctrinal videos
• Inspirational videos
• Evangelism and discipleship videos
• Doctrinal, inspirational, and Christian living booklets

 

***Everybody at the Oasis7 Center will be going through all the basic courses themselves, so they are prepared to lead the courses with others. We “work out the bugs” by going through them together.

 

 

The Oasis7 Center will host a local weekly worship service for those directly involved, and open to the local public. At other times during the week, it will also offer to the public simple classes in steps to salvation, Christian daily living (such as family relationships or dealing with depression and discouragement,), and Bible Basics.

 

If a need arises from a large enough group attending, then a local congregation/fellowship group can be independently organized, assisted by “church planting” help as requested from Oasis7 Center-related people.  

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

 

Some resist any change in methods of evangelism and discipleship and holding church services because they believe them to be unnecessary … all you should need is just one-on-one talking to people, a Bible, and a few booklets.

 

And yes, in Third World countries if this is all you have, this is what you use. Children can be brought up in totally impersonal, sterile environments with just enough food and clothing and shelter to survive. But in real life we know that the more stimulating their environment, the more warm and loving their relationships, the more physically and emotionally healthy they will be as adults. Why do we expect less of church??

 

God could have sent the Messiah to Israel in the days before wide-spread reading and writing, before the development of paper, before easy transportation. He didn’t. Jesus came into a world where the Roman Roads and the Pax Romana made spread of the Gospel easy and quick. Writing and mail service made the epistles easy to replicate and share and spread. It was a time of innovation!

 

As time went on, the printing press made it so much easier for the average man to read his own Bible. The invention of radio and television added another dimension to public evangelism, multiplying greatly the ability of individuals and small groups to spread the Gospel widely.

 

Why would we not want to continue to take advantage of every innovation that God has allowed people to create, in order to more and more effectively and efficiently share the Gospel at every opportunity?

 

 

Creativity should be at the core of everything done in the church. God didn’t make a sterile environment with a few rocks and plants and then put Adam and Eve in it!  He created the incredible universe in all its beauty and complexity … and built surprises and things to discover in it.  

 

He made man in His own image, with the ability on a much smaller scale to actually create new things also. We admire those who enhance the “real world” with their creativity, such as artists and musicians and inventors.

 

Why is the church the only environment

that so many expect to stay “like it always has been”??

 

 

If that isn’t part of your expectations,

if you are ready to move into a 3-D future,

use the navigation buttons at the top of the page

to explore our vision for change.  

 

 

 

 

The Plan