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Biblical Church

Rock Tumbler

My friend Vince and I stopped to search for some fire agates around Safford, Arizona. I found a bunch of small pretty rocks that just lent themselves to being polished. I always wanted a rock tumbler and this was a great excuse to purchase one.

When it arrived the instruction booklet said this…”Oceans and rivers take hundreds or thousands of years to polish stones. The Advanced Rock Tumbler will help you get faster results than nature, but you’ll still need to tumble your rough gemstones for about a month for maximum polishing results. Be patient!”

The process is very simple, add your rocks, add water to cover the rocks, insert the grit and start rolling. You have to continue the process four times using finer and finer grit. The biggest complaint about a rock tumbler is the noise it creates while rotating. You can hear the motor but it’s the sound of rock tumbling on rock that causes the most noise.

Fire Agates – after 2nd round of polishing

Paul’s writing in Ephesians 4:12-16, takes us through the process of a Christ follower’s growth that includes maturity, stability and integrity. The believer is expected to grow up, but it is apparent that many believers never seem to achieve this…they seem like rough gemstones out in nature getting slowly tossed by the waves of life.

The rock tumbler, or House church, is the perfect environment for getting polished up. In doing life together we are in close contact and we rub against each other. We use the water of The Word and the grit of life to help in the process. We all have heard Ephesians 4:15…

but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ –

We’ve also all heard truth spoken to us without love, and we can tell the difference.

Speaking the truth in love is key to spiritual growth. As we do life together we will inevitably see rough spots in the people we fellowship with. We can then gently speak into each other’s life, our mutual love and respect allowing us to consider the observations made. It’s in this process that the Lord helps us change becoming a beautifully polished gemstone!

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Biblical Church

True Family

I’ve always loved the exchange that Jesus had with his mother and his disciple John. It is recorded in John 19:26-27. A tender exchange right before Jesus proclaims, “It is finished!”

When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Women, behold your son!” Then He said the the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

In this act Jesus fulfills a beautiful scripture recorded in Psalm 67:5-6.

A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation. God sets the solitary in families…

Photo by Mike Carroll

Throughout scripture Jesus would refer to God as Theos, Kyrios, Great King, Lord of Heaven and Earth, God of the Living, Most High, and Abba. However, I would suggest the most used, most common and most relatable term used by Jesus would be Father. It is worth the time to ponder why the creator and sustainer of all life would want to be known as a father and not by some grandiose cosmic name. What would you call yourself if you had that position?

The Bible says when we decide to follow Christ we become part of His family. We are adopted, God becomes our Father, Jesus becomes our big brother and we are introduced to a multitude of sisters and brothers. The early church ate and met together, shared everything so no one was in need and provided for the widows and orphans. No wonder the early church had such an impact on society.

If we think in context of family, the scriptures become a guide book on how to treat others, how to love each other, how to deal with conflict and how to do life together. We regard others more important than ourselves, we learn how to treat our spouses and we learn how to best reach others outside our family.

I believe doing life together with a spiritual family connects us to God and each other in a more significant way than what a conventional church can offer. Sitting down, sharing a meal, having conversations with one another and praying for each other seems like such a simple thing but it is in this environment that the Lord can speak to us, shape us and mold us to become more like Him.

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Books / Videos

Stick Your Neck Out

This excerpt is from a book by Travis Kolder, Stick Your Neck Out

“But I’m not equipped. I’m not ready.”

You’re right. You’re probably not equipped or ready. But Jesus has this disturbing habit of picking people who aren’t ready. He doesn’t call the equipped; he equips the called.

Stop for a second and think about the guys who were the first fruits of this laborers’ prayer. None of them were equipped. Sure, they left their lives to follow Jesus. But none of them were ideal church planters. They were fishermen, tax collectors, and revolutionaries. None of Jesus’s disciples were trained as Pharisees. None of them had spent their lives studying the Scriptures. But he still called them.

In fact, the only religiously trained follower of Jesus who started churches was a very violent man named Saul. He would later write, “Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you” (1 Corinthians 1:26).

Think about this: Who in the Bible was ready for the call of God when it came? Most of the truly called people were surprised. Some even rejected the call at first. Most were not qualified by the standards of those around them. That is what made them the perfect choice. No one was expecting Saul the Christian killer to become Paul the church planter. No one was expecting Gideon, hiding in the pit, to be the deliverer of the nation. No one was expecting fisherman like Peter and James and John to turn the world upside down.

So you might not be the ideal ministry candidate. That’s what makes you so perfect for working among the lost. That enables you to build bridges with those who know nothing about Christ. You are not the ideal candidate, which makes you ideal. “The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

The harvest is great. The laborers are few. Jesus is asking you to pray for more laborers. As you do, you become the answer to that prayer.

You are called! Don’t say no to the calling because you aren’t equipped. Say yes to a God who is infinitely wiser than you are. Say yes because the power of God is stronger than all your imperfections and reasons for saying no.

I’ve been telling you over the past few chapters that this is a dangerous calling. This calling will bring all your fears, insecurities, and reasons to give up to the surface. Jesus must be more valuable than your fleshly need for safety and security.

You will need to be sure you are called. It’s the only way you will stick your neck out.

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Biblical Church

Listen Up

Learning to hear from the Father is one of the critical skills we need if we are to navigate life successfully. My cousin was exiting Tower Two with a coworker during 9/11. An announcement came on instructing people to remain – or even return – inside. My cousin heard a voice saying “leave”, his coworker returned inside and never made it out. We need to hear!

Unfortunately many in the church have abdicated directly hearing from their Father to hearing from their pastor. It reminds me of the account in Deuteronomy 5:23-27:

23 “So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. 24 And you said: ‘Surely the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man; yet he still lives. 25 Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, then we shall die. 26 For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 You go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say, and tell us all that the Lord our God says to you, and we will hear and do it.“

We all know that God spoke with Moses but I think most Christians aren’t aware that everyone heard the voice of God. It was God’s intent to speak directly to His people. In Numbers 11 it is recorded that God’s anger was aroused because the people were complaining about their hardships. The fire from the Lord came down and a number of people were consumed. I believe the people remembered this and didn’t want to take a chance of it happening again. They were afraid…it was safer and easier to abandon hearing from God directly. Moses became the middle man.

Is it still easier and safer to believe one man can stand in front of a group and speak for God? Pastor, you go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say, and tell us all that the Lord our God says to you, and we will hear and do it and we will pay your salary! Sorry, I changed that up a bit. But seriously, are we repeating the same narrative?

If you understand the importance of hearing from God for yourself and are trying, don’t be discouraged…you will be successful. It takes time but it is well worth the effort. If you are using a middle man to hear from God I would encourage you to ask yourself why. I believe the best way to navigate life is by hearing the Spirit speak directly to you. Listen up-your life as a Christ follower can be filled with passion, excitement and productivity if you do.

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Biblical Church

1700 Years

Battle of Milvian Bridge (A.D. 312) Edict of Milan (A.D. 313)—established freedom of religion within the Empire.

1700 years is a long time. When you think about this length of time, it’s really hard to grasp. In comparison, our country is only 244 years old. It’s been roughly 1700 years since the Roman emperor Constantine in 312 supposedly converted to Christianity. It is reported that the night before a big battle Constantine prayed for success and either in a vision or a dream saw an image with the script “In Hoc Signo Vinces” (“In this sign, conquer”). Others reported he saw the first two letters of ‘Christ’ in Greek. Whatever he saw, he was victorious in battle and credited his victory to the Christian God.

After his victory, Christians/Christianity went from being persecuted to tolerated, then legalized, favored and even funded by the government. Emperor Constantine became the supreme patron of the church, the Head of the church. Christians went from meeting in homes under threat of persecution to gathering in former pagan temples in complete freedom.

To learn more about this transition you can download Biblical Church free.

I firmly believe that Satan tried to wipe out Christians for 300 years, killing and persecuting them, but to no avail. Eventually, Satan changed his tactics to infiltration, impregnation and then ultimately corruption of the faith. Spiritually for 1700 years Christians in the Western world have lived in bondage, not freedom, worshiping under a pagan ordained structure. Religion replaced relationship.

In Genesis 15:13 it says that Abram’s offspring would be afflicted for 400 years. According to scholars, the amount of time they were actually enslaved varies. Whether or not the actually enslavement was 350 or 400 years, it was still multi-generational. The generation that was set free by Moses was born and lived as slaves, as did their parents and grandparents. Although free in body, when trouble came, they wanted to return back to Egypt. We are all familiar with the journey to the promised land and the wandering in the desert.

It’s hard to reverse 1700 years of slavery. It doesn’t even feel like slavery anymore, it’s just the way it is. No need to question or even think there is a different way to do church. But bondage is bondage and religion will always bring bondage. It’s a hard statement, but I believe it to be true with all my heart. I know that I am free now, only because I am aware of how it feels to live in bondage. Spiritual freedom is liberating! Returning to relational worship, what I call house church or organic church, breaks the power over that religious spirit. I long for my brothers and sisters to be freed from religious bondage.

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Books / Videos

Individualism

Article by Andrew Strom

INDIVIDUALISM – ENEMY of THE CHURCH

We live in an utterly individualistic and “self”-oriented age today. I’m sure few would disagree. Every advertisement appeals to ‘self’ in some way. We are taught from childhood to be completely self-contained, reliant on no-one, living in our own little bubble where we decide exactly what will take place. We are often frightened to commit to any particular group or cause, any particular leadership. The modern man is an “individualist” to the core. “Don’t ask me to join or commit! And don’t tell me how to live my life!”

But all of this, of course, is the exact opposite of “Body”. It is the exact opposite of ‘Community’. And thus the exact opposite of the true Church. And yet millions upon millions of Christians today (especially in the West) are just as “individualistic” as the next man. Sometimes even more so.

As noted previously, the very first sentence used to describe the early church says: “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2:42).

That is the very picture of a BODY – not a pile of “individualists”. They have GIVEN themselves to a group and a cause – a group with real LEADERS who are anointed preachers from God. But it is almost anathema for a modern person to give themselves to any group in such a way. We are far too suspicious and individualistic and untrusting to ever do such a thing. And thus the question must be asked: Is it even possible to have true “BODY” in our day? Is “CHURCH” (in the true sense) even a concept that we can understand? Or have the media and our entire culture so “individualized” us that true ‘Body’ is no longer possible?

You know, Christianity is not designed to be lived out by a pack of “individualists”. And half-committed “building-attenders” on Sunday mornings are not it either. Christianity is designed to be lived out CORPORATELY – the “Body of Christ” – an entity that can be seen and observed by people – full of the glory of Jesus. A Body that corporately carries all the words and power and love and miracles of the King.

So how on earth can such a “gathering” take place? How can the scattered remnant of today come together to form such a Body? Well, it all starts with the anointed “word”. You notice in the above verse that these people gathered around a very specific thing – “The apostles’ doctrine and fellowship”. It is an anointed apostolic “word” being preached that is a crucial element in all this. From such a ‘word’ everything else follows and comes into alignment.

But the big question is- Could today’s “individualistic” types bring themselves to form a real ‘Body’ – even if such a word was being preached? Or is individualism so ingrained that even ‘apostolic’ preaching might not bring this about? Individualistic types want to tear down the local body, not build.

These are questions that every one of us should be asking ourselves if we ever hope to be part of a true movement of God in these Last Days.

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Perspective

Aligning Purpose

Image from Achieve Centre for Leadership

I was living in New Jersey when 9/11 happened. Like the majority of people, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing that day. I lived across the Hudson River and in the weeks and months afterward I can recall seeing the makeshift memorials, the smoke, full churches, overly polite people and American flags everywhere.

181,510 Americans enlisted into active-duty service during the year after 9/11. The military hasn’t seen numbers like that since then.

I assume if you ask people why they join the military the number one reason would be to Serve Our Country. There are however other reasons. I found an on-line a list of 25 reasons for joining the military:

Serve Our Country, To Learn New Skills or a Trade, To Find Purpose, To Travel, To Get Physically Fit, To Pay for College, To Save Money, To Have Adventure, To Enjoy Job Stability, To Retire Early, To Gain Experience, To Continue Family Tradition, To Find An Alternate to College, To Earn Respect, To Form Friendships, To Receive Housing Stipend or Loan, To Learn Discipline, To Gain Perspective, To Meet Challenges, To Earn Military Perks, To Get Paid Vacation Days, To Get Help Starting A Business, To Find A Positive Environment, To Showcase Leadership Abilities.

As I am writing this, Russia and Ukraine have been at war for 70 days. Most people thought the war would be over in a week or two. The people of the Ukraine are bravely defending their land as Russian forces invade. You don’t have to convince Ukraianian people to fight, they have purpose.

I remember reading an article stating that Russian military youth were told to get on a plane not knowing where they were going. Imagine finding out you are invading your neighbor, a peaceful country, and then being asked to risk your life for this ignoble cause. Captured Russian soldiers say the same thing…

“They tricked us, they duped us, I think 90% of us would agree to go home”.

The majority of the Russian army would go home if they could.

In our house church we have been discussing what it means to be a Christian and what it means to be obedient. For me, aligning purpose is important in considering both these questions. Tony Hsieh writes in his book Delivering Happiness which focuses on employee/organizational relations.

The combination of physical synchrony with other humans and being part of something bigger than oneself (and thus losing momentarily a sense of self) leads to a greater sense of happiness.

He suggests new hires should understand and agree with the purpose of the organization before they commit to working there. I believe it is true in the church setting also.

Like joining the military or being hired on by a company, we can list multiple reasons why we say yes to Christ. Why did you say yes to Christ? Did you understand the purpose and hardships of following Christ before you said yes?

When struggle and persecution come, will you feel you’ve been duped into becoming a Christian and want to return to the comforts of home? Suffering is coming. If you watch the news you know persecution for Christians in North America has started…are you ready? We need to be sober and ask ourselves what is our purpose for following Christ, what is the purpose of the group we are a part of and what does following Christ really mean.

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Biblical Church

The First Supper

I still remember what my Calculus teacher told me. He said that it was highly unlikely that I would be solving mathematical equations later in life. Learning Calculus was useful because it would train my mind on how to solve problems. He was correct on both accounts. Problem solving and critical thinking are important in life.

The picture above is a digitally altered version of The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. My friend re-posted this on Facebook with quotes from all the disciples about why they couldn’t attend. The last paragraph of the post said, “Following Jesus was never meant to be a solo experience. Pull up a seat at the table. It is a level table and there is room for all of us.” The post encouraged people to attend church.

I added a comment. “Here’s an interesting question. So you attend a church for many years. You go faithfully, give money, get involved, even go to Bible study on Wednesday night. The question…how many times has the senior pastor invited you over to his/her house for a meal? For most people the answer is never! Anyone find that strange?

Look at the picture, Jesus was sharing the Passover meal with His friends. I’m sure He also ate daily with His friends…this is Jesus! If you’ve never shared a meal with your senior pastor maybe you should ask why.”

Jesus set an example for us. It’s not only The Last Supper that matters, it is also The First Supper and all The In-Between Suppers. We never question the fact that there is not “a level table” at a conventional church, not when it comes to senior leadership.

I find it important to think and discuss such matters. It has been my experience, however, that most church leaders don’t see critical thinking and/or problem solving as spiritual gifts. Questioning things in church will usually get you labeled as insubordinate. It is not a sin to think about and question what goes on in a church. It is not a sin to feel that there is something amiss.

I would attest that there is a better way, the road may be more uncomfortable, but stopping and having supper with your friends and Jesus makes it all worth the effort!

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Biblical Church

God in a Salad pt.2

Yes it’s delicious! Every week, no matter what the main course is, Derek makes his salad. You can really tell that Derek delights in making his salad and delights in the reaction he gets from his guests. I imagine him in the kitchen preparing the ingredients and thinking about adding something special, all with a huge smile on his face. This is his gift to the group and we all look forward to receiving it.

I do wonder however, what would happen if Derek missed a week. Perhaps I, or someone else from the group, would try to make Derek’s salad. We would do our best to copy it, but the group would just be reminded how much they miss the real thing.

There’s no reason to try and copy someone’s gift, there’s no joy in that. God is incredibly diverse and the gifts He gives His children are wonderfully diverse. In a small group setting, if you are paying attention, it will become apparent that everyone has gifts that are unique. However, most people don’t feel what they have is anything special. Many have been conditioned to think gifting is ‘preaching’ and ‘teaching’ and they know that they will never be able to orate like a Senior Pastor, Teacher or Evangelist.

Last week someone had a song on their heart, they sang it to the group, no music, no instruments, it was beautiful. Others have had drawings, poems, words of encouragement, dreams, visions, prophetic words, inspiring thoughts. Jesus was, and is, in all of it!

Most of us will never be a Billy Graham. True joy and peace come when we realize who we are, and that what we possess is something special. Trying to fit into someone else’s mold will frustrate us, lead us to believe we ‘just don’t have it’ and eventually convince us that we have little to offer.

I pray each of us will discover our ‘special salad’ and take great joy in preparing it and serving it to others. When we do, our ‘ministry’ becomes effortless, we bless those around us and find our faith renewed.

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Thoughts from Others

There Are Days

From a friend of Francis Kong

Elijah hiding in his cave


-There are days when we feel like Paul
we just want to write letters & strengthen our brothers.
-There are days when we feel like Peter
we just want to deny everything & everyone.
-There are days when we feel like Job
we just want to die and end the pain & suffering.
-There are days when we feel like Solomon
we want godly advice to make good decisions.
-There are days when we feel like Jonah
we just want to escape our responsibilities.
-There are days when we feel like Moses
afraid of not being able to speak.
-There are days when we feel like the Good Samaritan
we want to do good no matter what.
-There are days when we feel strong like Joshua and Caleb
ready for war.
-There are days when we feel like Jeremiah,
the anguish of our heart is too great.
-There are days when we feel like Daniel;
our strength is in prayer & no one can stop us.
-There are days when we feel like Elijah;
we prefer to hide in the cave.
-There are days when like David & Miriam;
we feel like singing & dancing.
-There are days when we feel like Hannah
we don’t really want to eat, we just want to cry.
-There are days when we have faith like Abraham,
to win it all, jump over walls & overcome armies.
-There are days when we look at the hills & wonder,
“Where will my help come from? “


It does not mean that we are strong or weak. It means that we are just human and have limits and therefore we need God’s power to accomplish our daily purpose on earth.


I don’t know what your day is like today.  But remember “Whatever your day is like, our loving Heavenly Father is with you today, tomorrow & forever.”


“My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9a)