Category: Biblical Church

Categories
Biblical Church

Bigger is Better?

NPR recently posted an article entitled “Megachurches are getting even bigger as churches close across the country.” The article highlights Liquid Church located in Parsippany, N.J. which is growing at a rapid pace.

For the last several years, Liquid Church has been one of the fastest-growing churches in the nation, and a big part of its success has come through assimilating smaller, more traditional congregations. Four of its seven campuses – all in New Jersey – have come through these mergers.

NPR article by Scott Neuman

An unfortunate truth mentioned in the article is that the average Christian congregation has about 65 members and a third of them are over 65 years old. With smaller and declining congregation, these churches are ripe to become satellites for the megachurches of the world.

If you facilitate House Church, you sometimes fight against the mindset that bigger is better. Early on, doing House Church, I had a friend that was attending our group and also attending a traditional church. During one of our meetings he began to complain about the traditional church he was attending. He had written a song and wanted to perform it at his church but the music director said no. My friend was very upset at the rejection he received. He was on the worship team and had been attending for years, but the answer was still no.

Naturally, I suggested that he share his worship song with us. He never did. The mindset that there is more worth performing in front of a large gathering than in front of 8 or 9 people is troubling. The lines between performance and ministry get blurred. Does Jesus loves us more if we minister or perform in front of large crowds? Are large crowds a sign of success and health?

In John 6, Jesus talks about eating His body and drinking His blood. This didn’t go over well with many of His disciples.

From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

John 6:66-69

It’s fascinating that Jesus decided to do life with a small group of people; take some time and meditate on that. Why did He chose to do this? What was His motivation? Perhaps there is some merit in His example. For me, I’m content with doing life with a small group of people; maybe you too should give it a try.

Categories
Biblical Church

The Missing Link

The excerpt below is from John Fenn’s book Return of the First Church, Chapter 8 entitled “The Missing Link”. In this chapter John addresses the topic of accountability. This first part of Chapter 8 is subtitled “Character Building Forged in the Midst of Relationships”.

Righteousness in Christ is designed to be worked out in the midst of relationships. It is within this context and understanding the New Testament was written but is outside the thinking of most in the traditional church. Again, the reason for this is because the pyramid does not foster relationships. It’s all about the structure and program and person at the top. But withing the context of the New Testament interpersonal and inter-generational relationships among family and friends in someone’s living room and workplace were the norm, thus strong character was developed within these relationships.

Being a teacher, I like to refer to many scriptures when I am teaching. I am known for telling people to turn to a passage, then backing them up to the previous couple of versus ‘to set the context’.

If you’ve ever been quoted by a newspaper or other publication, you probably know what it is to have your words taken out of context, and the anger and frustration you’ve felt as you try to explain yourself. (Usually only digging yourself in deeper)

If you’ve ever been in an argument and someone says you said something, but you know it’s been twisted because it was taken our of context, you know how important context is.

The whole of the New Testament was written within the context of strong interpersonal relationships developed through the church (the people) that met in homes. This was their culture. Therefore, it is only within this context that we can fully understand the meaning of the New Testament.

Just like someone quoted out of context, what they said was true, but the context in which it was spoken is the only way to gain a full understanding of what was truly meant in the quote. If we today, try to read what the scripture says out of the context of the way it was intended, we introduce error into our understanding.

Therefore, when we try to understand the New Testament through the eyes of a pyramid style church, we are seeing things askew because the context of the NT was not a pyramid, but rather a flat V or square building, with leadership at the bottom, within the culture of close relationships meeting in homes.

Categories
Biblical Church

Are You a Geode?

My friend Vince and I recently traveled to the Desert Gardens Annual International Rock, Gem and Mineral Show in Quartzite, AZ. One of my purchases was the geode pictured above. I love looking inside and seeing the beauty of the crystals, each one so unique. I found the following information about geodes online.

Geodes are formed when there are pockets of air within rocks. This often happens after volcanic eruptions when lava cools around air bubbles. These pockets leave space for groundwater to seep in. But the water itself doesn’t produce geodes–it brings along minerals which stay in the rock even after the water evaporates.

On the outside, geodes just look like plain balls of rock. It’s only after an experienced rockhound spots one and cuts or cracks it open that it’s true inner beauty can be displayed. Some are quite fantastic!

Most of my life I have been involved with media. I was good at it. My talent opened doors for me in church and ministry life but I always felt like I had a deeper purpose that I couldn’t quite find. I had something special inside but there were no spiritual rockhounds to help crack me open.

Do you feel like this sometimes? Are you an usher or greeter? Do you help clean the sanctuary, run the media booth, teach Sunday school? There are countless jobs to do in a conventional church but has anyone seen inside of you? Has anyone wanted to crack you open to reveal your true calling and the beauty Christ has formed in you?

My wife and I had the pleasure of going out to dinner with a great couple. I love meeting new people. I love hearing their testimony and hearing how God has been faithful in their lives. They’ve recently relocated to Phoenix and they’re thinking about getting involved in a House Church.

No matter where they go or what they decide to do, I hope we can keep in contact. I love to see what’s inside when God cracks people open!

Categories
Biblical Church

The Bluegill and the Arrowhead

My good friend Paul and I usually meet on Sundays for coffee and fellowship. I look forward to our time together sipping coffee and chatting about life. One Sunday he suggested going out into the desert to a place where he occasionally goes to spend time alone with the Lord.

After about a 15 minute walk down a dry creek bed, we separated and both of us found a place to spend time communing with the Lord. On our walk back I saw a small pool of water with a bluegill struggling to survive. The small bluegill was fighting hard. I had my empty coffee cup and I decided to scoop it up to see if I could help.

When I got home I immediately went back out and bought a small fish tank. I lined it with some rocks which included some rocks from a paleo site here in Arizona. If you’ve read my other posts you know about my love for fossils and rocks.

For almost three weeks in the fish tank the bluegill never ate. I tried all sorts of food but not one bite in three weeks. However, surprisingly, it seemed like it was getting stronger and when I noticed some blue returning to its gills I decided it was best to release it into a lake.

When I came home I decided to clean out the fish tank. I dumped all the rocks in a plastic strainer and began to rinse them off. I noticed that the paleo rocks had gotten soft and were dissolving and turning into mud. After a good rinsing, to my shock, there was an arrowhead in the strainer. Incredibly, an arrowhead had been inside one of the rocks. I always wanted a real arrowhead. Considering all the variables in this story this was truly something special.

I used to say to myself that I was the rock of Gibraltar. It was just me and God and I didn’t need anyone else. People, especially those who called themselves Christians, would disappoint me and I decided it would be better without them. However we do need each other and God helps refine our lives through other people whether we like it or not. He designed life that way.

The paleo rock with the arrowhead could have sat on my shelf for years without me ever knowing what was inside. God melted my rocky heart to reveal something beautiful – what’s inside you rocky heart that needs to be released? With so many variables I know the Lord had His hand in this fish story. Perhaps you think it silly but I know that Jesus is the master of setting up events in our lives to bring out the beauty in all of us. He uses each of us to do so, this was just an example.

Categories
Biblical Church

Father or Uncle?

I’ve never had children. I am blessed to have had lots of nieces and nephews and it was a joy to have walked one of my nieces down the aisle to get married. When they were younger it was fun spending time with them, playing, hanging out, talking and then saying goodbye as they returned to their parents. Most uncles and aunts will have limited influence on their nieces and nephews. Parents are the ones that will struggle though the hardships of life and experience the joys associated with being a parent and then a grandparent.

Attending a corporate church once a week is kind of fun. Coffee and donuts in the foyer, greeting those around you, singing and worshiping, hearing an inspired speaker, a closing prayer and then home. I would say for most it averages an hour a week, for some there might be a midweek service or other activities. I would suggest going to a corporate church is like visiting your niece or nephew, have some fun but then you leave to go back to your normal life not really engaging in the intimate part of any ones life.

Parenting is not easy and doing life in a House church is not easy. You can’t hide and wearing a mask doesn’t work. People quickly see who you are and what you truly believe. Our culture and life experiences have shaped our personalities and our belief systems, sometimes for the best and sometimes not so much. We all have different ideas, theologies, gifts and struggles but when we decide to do life together we supernaturally become connected as sisters and brothers and commit our lives to Christ and each other. We love each other despite our differences.

Understanding our shortcomings and understanding that Christ still loves us despite those shortcomings allows us to show the same grace to others. As family we are committed to each other and we are committed to experiencing life together, not only one day a week but throughout the week. We bear fruit as we learn to love each other and pray for each other, allowing Christ to do the hard work of conforming us to His image.

Parents may be frustrated with their children at times but I would assume the joy and love they feel as their children grow and mature far outweighs any frustration. I pray the Lord finds joy as He sees us loving and caring intimately with our brothers and sisters.

Categories
Biblical Church

Body Building

My friend Derek, who makes amazing salads, has well developed biceps. Probably not as bulging as the picture below but way above the average males definition. Our House Church group knows that he works out about 4-5 times a week. I’m sure if I went to the gym and worked out like he does I would have well defined muscles also. I choose not to.

Although I don’t look like this in the natural, I sometimes imagine myself looking like this in the spiritual. Have you ever imagined what you look like spiritually? Do you picture yourself as a mighty Warrior pulling down the strongholds of the dark one? If not, the question arises…how do we get there, how do we ‘work out’ spiritually?

Sometimes it’s easier if we all work out together, helping each other grow. 1 Corinthians 14:26 says…

 How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.

Edification or body building occurs when we all participate. Over the years, being a facilitator of House Church, this has been the greatest hurdle to overcome. Most people have been accustomed to going to a conventional church where there is no expectation of giving (except money).

There must be a paradigm shift in thinking. At first it is a struggle to engage and hear from the Lord. We are too busy or we just don’t know how to hear. It could be we don’t know what our gifts are or we don’t know how to minister our gifts in a small group setting. Ephesians 4:7-16 is another great passage…

7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says:

“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”

9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

The last verse above is so important, especially where it says “…every part does its share…”. The mystery is that as we all share we all get built up! As a group we must be committed to going to this gym and putting in the work! It’s difficult at first but it does get easier over time.

Categories
Biblical Church

The Spirit of Cain pt.2

I noticed my friend had a significant spiritual growth spurt. So much so that I asked her what happened, what changed. She told me she joined a house church. I got angry and told her she was in a cult. I told her I was booking a flight to come down and rescue her. I was upset.

When I traveled down to see her I actually stayed at the home of her house church leaders, Teryl and Diane Hebert. Listening to their testimony, learning historically what happened to the church and experiencing house church changed me forever. The Bible came alive, the New Testament made sense and I finally found my missing puzzle piece. I returned home and I was so excited to share my discovery with my family and friends. Of course I was met with some skepticism.

Why did I get so angry; why do people get so angry when you share about house church? In Genesis 3:7 Adam and Eve sinned and they sewed fig leaves together to cover their nakedness. In verse 21 God made tunics of skin…leaves weren’t enough. God had to shed blood to cover sin. It would set up a pattern of sacrifice and worship that would end with Jesus Christ.

The next chapter of Genesis records the story of Cain and Abel. God set in motion the shedding of blood to cover sin but Cain brought crops produced from his land. Abel brought the firstborn of his flock…he had to shed the blood of his innocent lambs. God was not pleased with Cain who wanted to worship God his own way. Instead of admitting his error and changing his ways, Cain got angry and killed his brother. Why did he get so angry?

I saw my friend experience growth and freedom and somehow I thought it was a bad thing. If you are a house church leader not everyone will understand what you are doing and some will be critical. Brick and mortar churches have been around for 1700 years and mentioning to people that there is a better way to worship is incomprehensible to most. Rejoice in the fact that Christ will bring people into your sphere of influence that truly want to worship Him in a more Biblical way.

Categories
Biblical Church

The Spirit of Cain pt1

Imagine you walked into a restaurant and ordered a steak. Twenty minutes later, the waiter comes back and puts a plate of spaghetti in front of you, claiming it’s the best spaghetti you’ll ever try. Would you be happy about it? No, you would send it back because it wasn’t what you ordered. It wasn’t even close!

I feel like this is what we have done with the Church. God gave us His “order” for the Church. He told us precisely what He wanted through His commandments in the Bible. In our arrogance, we created something we think works better. Rather than diligently studying His commands and delivering exactly what He asked for, we have been influenced by so many other things. We think about what we want, what others want, what others are doing. In the spirit of Cain, we bring an offering we think He should accept rather than what He actually asked for.

Francis Chan, Letters to the Church.
Vegetarians this is only an analogy please don’t get upset!

I encourage you to read Francis Chan’s book cited above and on my Resources page. The book is an honest account of his life and his struggles overseeing a large and “successful” conventional church. He eventually walked away and is now serving steak to those who are hungry for it.

For me, I grew up in church and have been a part of church and ministry all my life. As part of leadership we would discuss how we could do things better, attract more people, get the worship team to be tight, which refreshments to serve in the lobby, how to raise funds to build bigger or buy better equipment, invite special guests to speak, develop small groups, etc. etc. etc. It became a never ending amount of small tweaks to make the spaghetti taste and look more like steak. It is never enough, you can never turn spaghetti into steak!

When we bring an offering that is acceptable to God, He rejoices and we rejoice. There is a joy and peace I experience now that I have never experienced while I was trying to do church the conventional way. I have solid relationships with my spiritual family and my relationship with My Father has been really sweet. I challenge you to get involved in a more relational church and if there is not one around please contact me and we can walk you through starting one. You don’t have to be a master chef to serve a good steak!

Categories
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!

Categories
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.