Whose Church Is It?

As most of my readers know, I grew up in the church.  Most of my life I have gone to church.  There have been a few years here and there that I didn't go to church.   I don't consider myself an expert on the "church" but I have had a lot of experience with church.  When I was growing up, it seemed like people understood that the "church"  was not the building.  Things were never perfect, but some things have changed over the years.
It seems that the church has lost it's reverence for God.  Church should revolve around God, not around a man.   The church does not belong to a man or a group or even a denomination.  The 'church' is God's.
What does God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit say about the "church"?
Matthew 16:13-20:
^"13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
¹⁴ And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
¹⁵ He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
¹⁶ And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
¹⁷ And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
¹⁸ And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
¹⁹ And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
²⁰ Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ."

I have included more than the verse I am highlighting because the context is always important.
Jesus and His disciples are talking and He asks His disciples who people say He is.  Apparently, the people of the day had various ideas of who Jesus was.  Then Jesus asks the question that each of us must also answer:  "Who do you say that I am?"   Peter says that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Savior), the Son of the Living God.  Jesus replies and says that God Himself showed this to Peter.   Now we get to the point I am trying to make.  Upon this rock (upon the revelation that Jesus is the Christ), Jesus will build HIS church and the gates of hell will NOT prevail against it (the church).
The church belongs to God, it does not belong to man.   Jesus said that He will build the church.  If the church would stop doing its own thing and let God build the church, perhaps the gates of hell would not be prevailing against the church as they are doing now.

Let's go to another scripture to further this principle.    Acts 2:37-41 tells us how God built His church:

^"37 Now when they heard, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
³⁸ Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
³⁹ For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
⁴⁰ And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
⁴¹ Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."

We see that 3,000 souls were added to the church in one day.  How did this happen?  Peter was preaching about Jesus and the people were asking what to do because their hearts were stirred by the message.  Peter told them to REPENT!
Repentance is crucial to the building of the "church" of God.  Men have built big churches without repentance, but when God builds a church, repentance is key.
A little further down in the chapter we find this:  

^"6 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
⁴⁷ Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.."

WHO added to the church?  Peter? John?  the disciples?  NO, the LORD added to the church and He added to the church DAILY!
If the church today would go back to the Bible and Biblical principles, perhaps the Lord would do the same in these end times we live in.

Extra, extra

Sometimes when you start out on a journey you don't know what the route looks like.  At times you may go through a place you have never been before.
When I started out on this journey, I didn't realize some of the implications of what I was doing.  One thing I had been doing monthly I will no longer be doing.  This is a ministry I had been involved in for a number of years.  It was very difficult to stop.  However for over a year God was preparing me.
Per prophecies I have received and what I have received from God, I have three main ways God uses me.  These are:  prophecy, prayer and healing.
In my case I believe that God is helping me to unlearn somethings so that I can re-learn kingdom principles.  What makes this hard is that most of my Christian friends probably do not understand.  The fact remains that God works differently with me than others.

Update:  2/3/15
I am happy to report growth and repentance in my life.
I have the release to begin praying again for the ministry mentioned above.
God has done work in my heart.  He has re-ordered priorities, put relationships in correct places in my heart.  It is such a joy to pray for my fellow workers for the gospel.  Also, this means being able to be a helper to a dear friend of mine.  My helping her, I am helping the cause of the gospel of Christ.

Update:  2/7/15
I have yielded to the call of the Holy Spirit, regarding my call to being a watchman.  I know it will be hard, I likely will suffer in many ways.  

Update 11/11/17:
I had no idea how I would suffer.  This journey is hard at times.  My friends and family often do not understand where I am coming from.  They want me to toe the "Christian line".  Change is not easily embraced by "Christianity".  However, the deep, abiding peace of God is worth it all.  When I stand before God, I want to hear him say "Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord."
Unfortunately, I have seen relationships change that I thought would always be there.  I've seen problems where I could not imagine.  BUT it's time for me to rise up and put my faith in the ONE who will not fail me.  That is my everlasting Father, the prince of Peace, and my Lord and Christ Jesus.

Day one: The Tongue

Forgetting this:  thinking that I will always  get into trouble because of my tongue.

So before too long into my day I found that I had done it again.  Opened mouth and I inserted foot.  It seems that many people do this and it doesn't bother them.  

It did bother me.  I want to change.  According to the book of James, taming the tongue is possible.  It's hard but possible. 

Learning:  to tame the tongue.

It seems that in order to succeed, I should be wise in my speech.  I probably would benefit from reading James 3 often.
Another good thought would be to read Proverbs daily.

Future:  reading James has brought up other issues I believe I need to deal with.

Update 11/11/17:
I am still having trouble with the tongue.  I am still hopeful that I will grow closer to God and part of this is taming that tongue.  I do talk a lot less than I did, but it seems like talking gets me into trouble.  I am trying to listen more and talk less.