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God’s Spiritual House

This book by T. Austin-Sparks was published in 1942 and is a true inspirational work. Unlike many books on my Resources page, this work focuses on what the Church is spiritually.

What, then, is this spiritual house? What is this Church? Let us not have an objective mentality about this, thinking of it as something somewhere outside of and apart from ourselves. What is it? The answer is a very simple one. The spiritual house of God is Christ Himself. Yes, but not for Christ personally alone, but Christ in you, in me, the hope of glory.

T. Austin-Sparks, God’s Spiritual House

We have lost so much in this day and age. Generally, our thinking and reasoning is shallow, our attention spans are short and we communicate using memes. Reading a book of this caliber is refreshing and is certainly recommended. Below is another excerpt from the book.

You see, corporate life is spiritual and is life. It is a matter of life. Our union, our relationship with Christ, is on the principle of life. “Unto whom coming, a living stone…ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house.” Again I say, God is not dealing with us as bricks: God is dealing with us as with living stones. That means that He is treating us as those who have a common life with the Lord Jesus, and our relationship with the living stone is the relationship of one life. It is a spiritual relationship and it is that life which
brings about the corporate expression. It is all the difference between this corporate expression on the basis of life, and a society, a club, an institution. You can join a club, you can come into a society, and you may agree on many things with regard to conviction and procedure, and yet not be bound together by a corporate life. But the Church is this latter thing. One life in all the members links all the members with the Head, and thus by that life it expresses Christ wherever it is. It does not just proclaim things about Christ. It brings Christ in and says that here, though it be but in two or three or more, here Christ has come in. It is not a claim made. You see, the Roman church will make that claim, that very claim, that where that church is, Christ is. Ah yes, but there is a difference. It is not just a claim, but a fact borne out, that where these spiritual and living stones are, the Lord is there in very truth and people know it, and there comes about that of which the Apostle wrote. When someone comes in from the outside and things are as they should be, when they are after this kind, the outsider comes in and falls down and says, “God is indeed among you.” Ah! that is what we want. Whether people begin to fall literally or not, that is not the question. The point is that inwardly they go down; prejudices, suspicions, fears, reservations go down. One thing rises supreme with them and brings down everything. I cannot get away from it, the Lord is there! If only we would surrender to that and all that means it would be very much better for us. But that is the great matter, namely, bringing in the Lord. The Church exists to bring the Lord into every place, even where represented by but two or three. May this all be true in our case. I am sure our hearts respond to that. Well, let us get to the Lord about it, that so far as we individually are concerned as living stones, it may be true in our case; that we are a ministration of life, a representation of Christ, that we are bringing glory to God, that we are setting forth the exaltation of His Son.

T. Austin-Sparks, God’s Spiritual House
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A Church Building Every 1/2 Mile

This excerpt is from the third section of Jon Zens’ book describing Four Tragic Shifts. This is the introduction to that section. Check out Jon’s website here.

The church portrayed in the New Testament was a dynamic organism, a living body with many parts. The church from around A.D. 180 onwards became an increasingly hardened institution with a fixed and complex hierarchy.

We claim to take Christ’s revelation about the church in the New Testament seriously, yet the reality is that too often we are more attached to the inherited way of doing things – which is based on human traditions. What does it mean to be faithful to the New Testament’s teaching about the church? In what sense are the examples of church life “binding” on us?

For instance, some assert that since the early church met primarily in homes, we are obliged to emulate this example. I think the primary theological point of the New Testament in this regard is that under the New Covenant there are no alleged “holy places.” Contemporary Christianity has almost no grasp of this significant point. Taking their cue from the Old Covenant, people are still led to believe that a church building is “the house of God.” In actuality, believers are free to meet anywhere in which they can foster, cultivate and attain the goals set before them by Christ.

The problem today is that many church structures neither promote nor accomplish Christ’s desire for His body. Homes are a natural place for believers to meet, and the early church flourished well into the first and second centuries without erecting any temple-like edifices. In places around the world where persecution reigns, house-church movements have flourished. Someday in America, if our religious infrastructure falls as a result of economic and political turmoil, true believers will be forced to meet outside of traditional church buildings. But the issue still is not what type of believers gather in, but what form their committed life together takes as they wrestle with the many duties and privileges flowing out of the priesthood of all believers.

I believe that it is far more important to capture the spirit of church life as we see it unfolded in the New Testament than it is to attempt to woodenly replicate certain cultural aspects of first century life. We do not live in the first century, but the concepts and principles in the New Testament endure and will come to expression in any culture. Christians must take their stand and devote their precious energies to building up the body of Christ in ways that return to the original patterns of the New Testament.

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Reimagining Church

This is the second excerpt about counting the cost. Thank you Frank for being honest and encouraging.

Let me be clear. There’s a price to pay in responding to the Lord’s will for His church. You’ll have to reckon with being misunderstood by those who have embraced spectator Christianity. You’ll bear the marks of the cross and die a thousand deaths in the process of being built together with other believers in a close-knit community.

You’ll have to endure the messiness that’s part and parcel of relational Christianity – forever abandoning the artificial neatness afforded by the organized church. You’ll no longer share the comforts of being a passive spectator. Instead, you’ll learn the self-emptying lessons of becoming a responsible, serving member of a functioning body.

In addition, you’ll have to go against the harsh grain of what one writer calls “the seven last words of the church” (we never did it that way before). You’ll incur the disfavor of the religious majority for refusing to be influenced by the tyranny of the status quo. And you’ll incite the severest assaults of the Adversary in his attempt to snuff out that which represents a living testimony of Jesus.

Add to that, living in organic church life is incredible difficult. The experience is fraught with problems. Read the New Testament letters again with an eye to discovering the many hazards the early Christians encountered when living in a close-knit community. When we live in the same kind of community life today, the same problems emerge. Our flesh gets exposed. Our spirituality gets tested. And we quickly find out just how deep the fall goes.

As one person said, “Everybody’s normal until you get to know them.” This is all too true for those who take the plunge of living in organic church life. The problems are endless. It’s much easier to become a “pew potato” two hours on Sunday morning in an instititutionaal church. Anyone can be a perfect Christian then. Organic church life, however, is a wedding of glory and gore. But this is the genius of God. It’s His prescribed way to transform us into His image. For “iron sharpens iron” (Prov. 27:17).

Yet regardless of the suffering that follows those who take the road less traveled, the glorious benefits of living in body life far outweigh the costs. The Lord builds on broken lives; His house is constituted out of conflict (1 Chron. 26:27). This being the case, “Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore” (Heb.13:13). For it is there that we may meet the Savior’s heartbeat.

Frank Viola, Reimagining Church
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Reimagining Church

Masterful work by Frank Viola, here is the first excerpt on rediscovery.

To borrow a term from scientific philosopher Thomas Kuhn, we need a “paradigm shift” regarding the church before we can properly rebuild it. That is, we need a new worldview regarding the meaning of the body of Christ. A new model for understanding the ekklesia. A new framework for thinking about the church.

Of course, the “new paradigm” that I’m speaking of is not new at all. It’s the paradigm that undergirds the entire New Testament.

Our day is not much different from that of Nehemiah’s. In Nehemiah’s time, Israel had just rediscovered the Law of God after being without it for many years. But once it was discovered, it had to be reexplained and reinterpreted. Consider the words of Nehemiah:

They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that people could understand what was being read.

Nehemiah 8:8

In the same way, twenty-first-century Christians must relearn the language of Scripture with respect to the church. The original meaning of countless biblical terms like “church,” “minister,” “pastor,” “house of God,” and “fellowship” have largely been lost.

These words have been invested with institutional power. A power that was foreign to those who originally penned them. Therefore, a pressing need today is the rediscovery of biblical language and ideas. We need to rethink our entire concept of church and discover it afresh through the lens of Jesus and the apostles.

Because of common misteaching, we have many deeply buried assumptions that are in need of excavation and examination. Many of us have been mistaught that “church” means a building, a denomination, or a worship service. And that a “minister” is a special class of Christian.

Since our contemporary notion of the church has been so entrenched in human thinking, it requires a conscious effort to view it in the way that all first-century Christians did. It demands that we rigorously plow through the thick and tangled weeds of religious tradition until we unearth the virgin soil of organic Christianity.

As we rethink the church in its scriptural context, we’ll be better equipped to distinguish between the biblical notion of church and those institutions that pose as churches.

In the eyes of those who see the world through institutional glasses, unless a church meets in the “right” place (a building), has the “proper” leadership (an ordained minister), and bears the “correct” name (one that indicates a “covering”), it’s not an authentic church. Instead, it’s dubbed with innovative terms like “parachurch.”

Hence, among those who haven’t yet grown weary of running on the program-driven treadmill of institutional “churchianity,” that which is abnormal is considered normal and that which is normal is regarded as abnormal. This is the unhappy result of not basing our faith and practice upon Scripture.

In brief, nothing short of a paradigm shift regarding the church, coupled with an impartation of fresh light from the Holy Spirit, will produce enduring change. Readjustments to the old wineskin, no matter how radical, will only go so far.

Consequently, in my personal judgement, the church doesn’t need renewal. It needs a complete overhaul. That is, the only way to fully renew the institutional church to wholly disassemble it and build something far different. The brittle wineskin of church practice and the tattered garment of ecclesiastical forms need to be exchanged, not just modified. Some may disagree. But this is my conviction based on my experience, and I’m not ashamed to state it.

Frank Viola, Reimagining Church
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Pagan Christianity

Incredibly researched and written, Pagan Christianity, authored by Frank Viola and George Barna, is a must read. They explore the roots of our church practices and, unfortunately, confirm that pagan practices have had a huge influence on what we do today.

FYI. Pagan C. is not a stand alone volume. The majority of those who read it without the constructive sequels misinterpret and misapply the message. Check out the video-audio at PaganChristianity.org for an explanition. Thx!

Frank Viola, Facebook post response.

Yes, it’s true, you can use the information in the book to hammer away at people but it is not the intent of this book. If the Holy Spirit hasn’t begun the process of revealing truth to a person, no amount of head bashing will work.

Below is an excerpt about the introduction of the pew. It may seem insignificant but you can get a sense of the research that has gone into this book.

The pew is perhaps the greatest inhibitor of face-to-face fellowship. It is a symbol of lethargy and passivity in the contemporary church and has made corporate worship a spectator sport.

The word pew is derived from the Latin podium. It means a seat raised up above a floor level or a “balcony”. Pews were unknown to the church building for the first thousand years of Christian history. In the early basilicas, the congregation stood throughout the entire service. (This is still the practice among many Eastern Orthodox).

By the thirteenth century, backless benches were gradually introduced into English parish buildings. These benches were made of stone and placed against the walls. They were then moved into the body of the building (the area called the nave). At first, the benches were arranged in a semicircle around the pulpit. Later they were fixed to the floor.

The modern pew was introduced in the forteenth century, though it was not commonly found in churches until the fifteenth century. At that time, wooden benches supplanted the stone seats. By the eighteenth century box pews became popular.

Because box pews often had high sides, the pulpits had to be elevated so as to be seen by the people. Thus the “wineglass” pulpit was born during colonial times. Eighteenth-century family box pews were replaced with slip pews so that all the people faced the newly erected high platform where the pastor conducted the service.

So what is the pew? The meaning of the word tells it all. It is a lowered “balcony” – detached seating from which to watch performances on a stage (the pulpit). It immobilizes the congregation of the saints and renders them mute spectators. It hinders face-to-face fellowship and interaction.

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The Three Myths

An excerpt from a book by Rad Zdero entitled The Global House Church Movement.

My purpose in writing this book is not to tear down anything that God is doing in and through the traditional church. God has always, is currently, and will continue to use it in drawing people to himself. Of this I have no doubt. It is not my intention at all to throw stones at my brothers and sisters in traditional churches.

However, it must be admitted, traditional churches also perpetuate the unbiblical and often ineffective ‘cathedral’ model of church, characterized by three cardinal myths that prevent individual believers and the Church as a whole from functioning as strategically and biblically as possible. In essence, the ‘cathedral’ model of church used by many today is that of a holy man performing a holy ceremony in a holy building. Let’s look at each of these points briefly.

The first myth is that of the ‘holy man’. Many believe that seminary-trained professional clergy are absolutely indispensible. Biblically, in contrast, the vision of the Church is a priesthood of all believers using their talents for building up God’s kingdom (1 Peter 2:4-10, 1 Cor 12:7-12, 27-30). Make no mistake, there is a biblical pattern of appointed leadership (Mark 3:13-15, Ats 13:1-3, Titus 1:5-9), but this never should result in others believers’ talents and skills withering from lack of use, which often happens in conventional churches. In addition, today’s single-pastor model stands in contrast to a team of co-equal volunteer elders that managed networks of house church in the first century (Acts 20:17-21; Titus 1:5).

The second myth is that of the ‘holy service’. The very word ‘church’ for many conjures up images of a few people performing a ritual – however useful or exciting the ‘show’ may be – in which a few designated individuals perform for a rather passive audience. These gatherings are really one-man shows. Biblical house churches, in contrast, afford open, interactive, and participatory meetings (1 Cor 14:26, Eph 5:19, Col 3:16, Heb 10:25), being an ideal breeding ground for leadership development, every – member participation, and relationship building.

The third myth is that of the ‘holy building’. Most people assume that church buildings, or large rented spaces for corporate meetings, are required to be a legitimate church. Whatever church buildings may or may not be useful for, the book of Acts and history bear our that they are not requirements for rapid church planting movements, evangelism, or discipleship; in fact, they are often a hindrance. Church buildings also breed a ‘temple mentality’, which puts church in a box and, thereby, prevents Christians from seeing their very neighborhoods as mission fields. As well, the massive practical release of time, energy, and money from the elimination of building projects and/or rental payments should challenge us rethink current practices.

Today, God is currently ushering in a monumental structural reformation of the global church that addresses these three myths. Cell churches – with their equal emphasis on home cell groups and Sunday morning services in a church building – and house church movements are growing rapidly in non-Western nations and are being used in startling ways to fulfill Christ’s Great Commission in this genertion. House church movements though, are even more effective than cell churches in eliminating the above three myths and are closest to the apostolic model of church. Therefore, what I am suggesting is that traditional churches are good, cell churches are better, and house church movements are best. As such, one purpose of this book is to call the church in the West to rethink its approach in light of New Testament practice and strategic effectiveness.

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Losing Our Focus

This is such a great article by John Fenn of CWOWI. I know it resonates with me; I hope it resonates with you also.

What’s the buzz….

Rome burned in July of the year 64 for 6 days. Nero blamed Christians, which started the first federally sponsored persecution of Christians. 10 Caesars persecuted Christians on a federal level, right up to the time it was legalized by Constantine in June of 313AD. (Nero, Vespasian, Domitian, Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, Maximinus, Decius, Valerian, Diocletian, (Constantine & Galerius, early in Constantine’s reign would be 11)

Up to that point persecution had been localized and sporadic. In Jerusalem Acts 7 records Stephen’s martyrdom less than a year after Pentecost. James, the brother of John, was killed in Acts 12, about 10 years after Pentecost. 

As Christianity began to spread, unbelieving Jews followed Paul and stirred up trouble. In Acts 18: 12-16 in Corinth, Greece, the Jews tried to make their persecution of Christianity a federal case. 

The passage tells us the Roman judge Gallio, who would be like a Supreme Court judge in our day, ruled against the Jews, saying their case against Paul was not a federal case. This gave Christianity about 10 years of relative peace with Rome, though Paul continued to be persecuted by the Jews within their religious system – and when they could spread it to local government, they did so. 

What is amazing is the letters of the New Testament barely mention persecution. Peter’s first letter is about the subject, but without naming specific instances. The letters from Paul, Peter, James, John and Jude are about Christ in us, what He has done for us, what our lives in Him should be. 

Compare that with many Christians today and their focus. Were the authors of the NT informed on current events? Certainly. Was that their focus? Not at all. 

Today, we use the excuse of ‘wanting to know what God is doing’, to surf the web, and honestly, much of it is focused on what the devil is doing. But we don’t see that in the pages of the NT. They were all about what Christ in them meant to their lives, how they could be more Christ-like, and urging us to develop the healthy relationships in Christ so necessary for growth in Him and as people. 

Whatever happens in the world has not caught the Father or Lord by surprise. The Father is still going to provide just like He has always provided to this point – if your gaze is focused on Him and not on the fear of world events. 

The issue with many is not lack of faith, but a high level of unbelief. That comes by looking at circumstances more than looking at the miracles He has already done in your life. When you count up all that He has done to get you to this point, then whatever is ‘out there’ in the world seems rather inconsequential – for He had not change, His arm not shortened to save. 

Focus on what He is doing in you; that’s what He asks of each of us daily. If we seek Him and His righteousness, the rest will be added. 

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House Church

House Church: Embracing Authentic Community by Vanessa Hensel. I really enjoyed reading this short and sweet (like the cover photo) book. Below is an excerpt from this book.

Over time, I realized that my perspective had been not just slightly, but majorly misaligned. My concerns were centered on myself, my perceived failures, and worries, when, in reality, they were inconsequential. In a thriving house church community, Jesus should be the focus. He is the reason we come together, and the logistics and execution are left in His capable hands. Since this revelation, hosting has become a joyful and adventurous endeavor, significantly liberating my walk with Jesus. Whenever I find myself magnifying trivial concerns into insurmountable obstacles, the Holy Spirit promptly reminds me of that transformational week, and His peace reestablishes itself in my heart. His continual presence is a paramount blessing and an absolute necessity.

As mentioned earlier, the weekly gathering isn’t the main objective of the house church community. It serves as a summary or a catch-up session encapsulating the events and interactions of the week. The communal life should permeate all facets of our lives beyond the weekly gathering. Every possible activity that can involve other community members should be an opportunity for engagement. Whether it’s a coffee shop visit during lunch break, taking kids to the dentist, retail therapy, or selecting plants for your garden, these mundane tasks can become communal endeavors. Similarly, shared interests and hobbies present excellent opportunities for connection.

We need to dismantle the American ideal of independence and self-reliance and foster interdependence within our communities. Our daily mindset should be reoriented to see every situation as a potential opportunity to spend time with our community, working in unity as much as possible. There is no task too big, small, mundane, or challenging that can’t be shared with the family. A collective effort makes tasks lighter, struggles less burdensome. We must let go of the notion that we can handle everything independently, even if it’s possible, because it contradicts God’s plan for us. The worldly view encourages self-reliance and individual resilience, but God calls us to rely on each other and live in community.

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Gospel Houses

Here is an excerpt from Gospel Houses written by Art Thomas. The book is a great resource for creating and sustaining House Church. It is packed with practical and real life scenarios of doing life together that will help your House Church grow and become effective. After reading this I found myself refreshed and fired up to go out and make disciples.

A shepherd’s primary responsibility is not to feed the sheep or make them healthy. A shepherd’s primary responsibility is to make sure the sheep are alive. Yes, this involves feeding them, caring for them, and monitoring their health; but these are all activities we do with living sheep. Otherwise, we find ourselves rolling carcasses from one pasture to the next, force-feeding and grooming them in hopes that something will change for the better.

The gospel is God’s power for salvation. It’s the mechanism that makes dead things live. And it’s the one meal that provides eternal life for sheep.

A moment ago, I said that the main problem isn’t the shepherd. But this doesn’t completely absolve shepherds of all responsibility. Yes, the main problem is dead sheep, but shepherds have been entrusted with a life-giving message that must be lived, proclaimed, and applied so that the sheep can live and thrive. When shepherds focus first on feeding and not on resurrecting, the work is hard, and messes ensue. Shepherds must make the gospel the priority in ministry to the sheep. As mentioned in chapter 13, it’s the solution to every problem. All other teaching or advice build on a gospel foundation so the Holy Spirit can express Jesus’s life through each person.

Far too many pastors are tempted to shepherd the old man. They give advice that even a person dead in their sin could follow. They try to manage people’s behavior. And when that behavior can’t be managed, they find ways to cater to unsanctified personalities.

Living sheep are harder to control but far easier to lead and serve. And that’s great because our mission was never to control the sheep anyway. Healthy, living, thriving sheep often take care of themselves. They eat on their own. They multiply without the shepherd forcing the issue. And they raise up the young with natural instincts and minimal help from the shepherd.

Jesus doesn’t expect you to shovel dead sheep from one pasture to the next. That’s not Christian leadership. He expects you to shepherd living sheep–people who have been made alive by the Spirit through the power found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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When the Church Was a Family

What does it really mean to be adopted into the family of Christ? Are we truly brothers and sisters in Christ? How far have we drifted from God’s original intent of His church being a family? Below is an excerpt from the book above.

Around AD 260, a devastating plague afflicted the great city of Alexandria. People were dying right and left, and the church family suffered some devastating losses. The response of the local church to the plague constitutes one of the most powerful examples of Christian brotherhood in the annals of church history.

Here is a section of a letter written by Dionysis, the overseer of the Christian community in the city:

“The most, at all events, of our brethren in their exceeding love and affection for the brotherhood were unsparing of themselves and clave to one another, visiting the sick without a thought as to the danger, assiduously ministering to them, tending them in Christ, and so most gladly departed this life along with them; being infected with the disease from others, drawing upon themselves the sickness from their neighbors, and willingly taking over their pains…In this manner the best at any rate of our brethren departed this life, certain presbyters and deacons and some of the laity…So, too, the bodies of the saints they would take up in their open hands to their bosom, closing their eyes and shutting their mouths, carrying them on their shoulders and laying them out; they would cling to them, embrace them, bathe and adorn them with their burial clothes, and after a little while receive the same services themselves, for those that were left behind were ever following those that went before. But the conduct of the heathen was the exact opposite. Even those who were in the first stages of the disease they thrust away, and fled from their dearest. They would even cast them in the road half-dead, and treat the unburied corpses as vile refuse.”

Dionysius began his description with the use of family words: “brethren,” “the brotherhood.” He closed with a pointed contrast, comparing the behavior of his Alexandrian Christians with behavior among the natural families of pagans in the surrounding community (they “fled from their dearest”).

Dionysius clearly viewed his church community as a well-functioning Mediterranean kinship group, and he was proud that they were living up to their family ideals, even at the cost of their very lives. As Tertullian had said some years earlier:

“The practice of such a special love brands us in the eye of some. “See,” they say, “how they love one another and how ready they are to die for each other.”

Tertullian, Dionysius, and the Alexandrian Christians were only following in the footsteps of their Master: “This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers” (1 John 3:16).