It's almost impossible for Christians who come from all sorts of backgrounds and meet for the first time to be able to to gather in a corporate way. It will only happen if the following occurs beforehand:

(1) Each has a personal relationship with the Lord, knows the Lord in daily life and walk.

(2) Each walks by the Spirit and bears the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

(3) Each realizes we are in a battle and the enemy hates such gatherings of saints.Much prayer is needed beforehand and during.

(4) Each is flexible, not insisting there is one way to meet or not meet.

(5) Each comes humble, not thinking he/ she is above anyone else, but appreciates the Christ in others.

(6) No one comes w/ an agenda to "help" others see the "light", but simply comes as a member of the Body, full of love for Jesus and so raptured in His presence that sense of self-importance is swallowed up. WE will be Christ-conscious, not self-conscious. If we sense someone is trying to be "somebody" but really they don't have that gifting, be longsuffering and look upon HIm as the Lord does.

(7) Realize there is much diversity in the Body, but one God, one Lord, one Spirit. Don't feel, I have little to offer ( false humility) or I don't need others (spiritual pride). Some tend toward dreams and visions and others tend towards love of the Scripture, but we need all the members' portions.

(8) Be longsuffering toward those we may think are peculiar. The Lord is so longsuffering toward our strangeness, isn't He?

(9) If there is any reaction in us toward something we see (e.g.,I've heard such things from others, "I wanted to puke when I saw the hymnals.") realize that our reaction is probably of the flesh and not the fruit of the Spirit. Then we should, instead of accusing the "offending" members, go to the Lord and ask Him to show us why we have such strong reactions. Maybe there are hurts left over from abuse in the past He wants to heal. And this environement only manifests those things in us.

(10) As we gather each one holds fast the Head and inwardly seeks His guidance. If we function according to the Spirit's leading (calling songs, praying, sharing, reading Scripture, speaking a word from Scripture/ exp w/ Christ, etc), we are operating out from the Head and the whole Body benefits from building itself up in love.

I love fellowship. It is our God-given portion in Christ. I do look forward to every gathering that is larger than my locality in order to meet the Lord's people. I hope to never have to leave such a gathering w/ a bad taste in my mouth. This didn't happen last weekend, I thoroughly enjoyed all the saints. But there were some things I saw and wanted to address.

Thank you my dear brother John DePue for hosting such a gathering. You poured yourself out. You are a treasure to the Lord's people. Stay humble and keep those holy kisses flowing.