DOING CHURCH RIGHT

Posted on by

If you do church right, some of the unchurched will love you and some will hate you

This article by Michael Brown addresses the traditional church model but it applies to some degree to the House Church model. However, it is unlikely that a hostile pagan will ever want to attend a house church meeting.

Jesus Himself exhorted us, “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Or, in the words of Peter, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:12).

Let us be known for our good works, for our kindness and compassion, for helping the poor and the needy, for standing for righteousness, and for opposing injustice. By all means, let us live this out for the glory and honor of God and for the good of a hurting world.

But let us not deceive ourselves. The same world that hated Jesus will hate us also. The same humanity that chose darkness over the light in Jesus’ day will gravitate to the darkness today. Do not be deceived.

As Jesus said to His disciples, “Students are not greater than their teacher, and slaves are not greater than their master. Students are to be like their teachers, and slaves are to be like their masters. And since I, the master of the household, have been called the prince of demons, the members of my household will be called even worse names!” (Matthew 10:24–25)

And this: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also” (John 15:18–20).

That means that some people will love us because they see our lives, because they are drawn to Jesus, and because they too have opened their hearts to Him. Others will hate us, repelled by our godly lives, turned off by our moral standards, and dead set against receiving Jesus as Lord. No matter how gracious we are, they will brand us as bigots and haters and worse.

On a practical level, that means that the young, drug-addicted, non-believing couple living together out of wedlock should feel welcomed and loved when they walk into one of our services. They should encounter people who have joy, who are thrilled to see new faces, and who treat them as if they were family.

At the same time, if the Gospel is being preached and the Holy Spirit is moving, at some point they will become conscious of their sin and will be called to repent and receive mercy and grace through the cross.

If they can continue to come week in and week out, never feeling uncomfortable, never feeling conviction, never encountering both the holiness of God and the love of God, then something is wrong with those meetings.

As Jesus also said, the Holy Spirit has come to “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). The Holy Spirit will make us uneasy in our sin. The Holy Spirit will invade our hiding places. The Holy Spirit will reveal what is wrong so that we can be made right.

Again, on a practical level, that means that a gay couple attending our meetings should be greeted just like a couple living together out of wedlock — with love and grace and with hospitality. But if they continue to attend our gatherings, if we are preaching the Word, giving place to the Spirit in our worship, and living godly lives ourselves, they will recognize that God is not pleased with their union. They will be confronted with grace and truth and will have to decide how they will respond. Will it be with contrition and confession or with disobedience and defiance?

This reminds me of what an ex-gay Christian said when he was asked if you could be gay and Christian (meaning, practicing and/or affirming homosexuality and following Jesus at the same time). He responded, “Not for long!”

In light of this, I have to question what a pastor is teaching when a wealthy strip club owner could be a long time, tithing member of his church without either coming under church discipline or Holy Spirit conviction. Something very fundamental is wrong with this picture. (For the record, this is a real-life example. The church claimed to be a Bible-believing, evangelical congregation.)

So, let us do our best to have churches and communities that the unchurched will love, but not at the expense of speaking the truth, with both clarity and compassion. And let us remember that if we are true to Jesus, true to the Word, and true to the Spirit, some will love us and others will hate us. It is inevitable and unavoidable.

Article “If you do church right, some of the unchurched will love you and some will hate you” by Michael Bronw in Christian Post Wednesday, Feb. 8th, 2023.

CHURCH AS GOD INTENDED

Posted on by

Church as Jesus intended as described in the Book of Acts.

1) All believers were baptized.
2) All believers were added to the church.
3) All believers did all four church functions.
4) All church meetings were held in homes.

5) All people in the city heard the gospel.

The four church functions as described in Acts 2.

1) God’s Word
2) Fellowship
3) Breaking of Bread
4) Prayer

In N.T. churches everyone participated in all four church functions.

“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:4

Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Romans 14:19

“I (Paul) myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.” Romans 15:14

The leadership of the church is a man just as leadership in the home is a man. Paul made that abundantly clear.

“But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God… For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.” 1 Corinthians 11:3, 8-9

“Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God.” 1 Corinthians 11:11-12

“If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.” 1 Corinthians 11:16

The house church meeting must be orderly:

“What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.” 1 Corinthians 14:26

“If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.” 1 Corinthians 14:27-28

“Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said.” 1 Corinthians 14:28

“If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged.” 1 Corinthians 14:30

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24-25

“See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or do not subtract from it.” Deuteronomy 12:32

“Do not go beyond what is written.” 1 Corinthians 4:6

What do traditional churches add that is not in the N.T.? What do traditional churches subtract that is not in the N.T.?

Do you need to have elders before you can or should function as a church? Remember Paul’s first missionary journey? For almost two years none of those churches had any elders (Acts 14:21-23). At the birth of the church, after “3,000” and then “5,000” were saved and new believers “added daily” to the church in Jerusalem, the vast majority of their house churches would not have had spiritual leaders meeting with them.

“When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.” Acts 14:21-23

There were two categories of leaders in the N.T. church and in fact in the O.T. there were only two categories of leaders: National Leaders = priests, and City Leaders = elders/judges.

Two categories in the N.T. church: National leaders = apostles, and City leaders = elders/overseers. The Apostles ruled over God’s people in cities, and their elders. And elders would rule over God’s people in one city.

Does God have apostles for today? Many traditional Christians do not believe God has apostles for today and were only for the beginning foundation of the church. However, we believe there are many N.T. Scriptures confirming that God has apostles for today. So why is this so important? If God has apostles for today and traditional Christians think and teach otherwise, they would again be “canceling out the Word of God”

The word “apostle” in Greek is “apostolos” – it simply means, “one sent forth”. The Latin word apostle is “missionary”.

1. Jesus the Apostle – “sent forth” by God the Father (John 17:3; Heb. 3:1).

2. The 12 apostles – “sent forth” by God the Son (Luke 6:13; Acts 1:22).

3. Today’s apostles – “sent forth” by God the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:4). Paul & Barnabas (Acts 14:14), Andronicus & Junias (Rom. 16:7), Two unnamed brothers (2Cor. 8:23), Epaphroditus (Phil. 2:25), Paul, Silas & Timothy (1Thes. 2:6), Multitude of apostles (Acts 15:6, 12).

“And he (Jesus) gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,” Ephesians 4:11-13

The N.T. says (Ephesians 4:11-13): “Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God…”

All of this information and more is found in Jim McCottrell’s book Church Revolution Today. You can get it on http://www.jimsbookstore.com

CHURCH AS GOD INTENDED

Posted on by

Warning Against Idleness

“Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.“ 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

Sadly, in many of the institutional churches, there are many who walk in idleness and are busybodies. This is more difficult in the church that Paul and the disciples established as described in the Book of Acts.

They Had Everything in Common

“Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” Acts 4:32-37

A Healthy Fear of the Lord

In those days there was a healthy fear of the Lord within the church as the Holy Spirit judged dishonesty harshly. As the story of Ananias and Sapphira demonstrates.
​”But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.
After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.” Acts 5:1-11

Many Signs and Wonders Done

“Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles.” Acts 5:12. Not just the twelve but all apostles (sent ones). “And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Acts 6:12

House Churches

All New Testament churches only met in believers’ homes. None of the apostles, no church leaders, or Christians ever even mentioned meeting in or constructing any kind of church building. House churches were the only pattern for meeting in the New Testament. The New Testament home church pattern was the only church model for all Christians for over 300 years! Even after that time Christians themselves never started constructing church buildings. Rather, after 325 AD, Roman Emperor Constantine 1st and his mother, Helena, started driving out the mystic pagans from their large pagan temples and started having all the Christians meet in these temples! Constantine and Helena also began building additional large temples and started having believers meet in them all over the known world.

IS THIS THE CHURCH GOD INTENDED?

Posted on by

The catholic church like most institutional churches is not the church God intended, as described in the Book of Acts. It is very different, there were no buildings and no paid clergy. In fact, all members of the church were to be disciples that made disciples.

Look at what is unfolding in the catholic church. It involves the recently deceased Australian Cardinal Pell who incidentally I respected for what he tried to achieve when he was Archbishop of Sydney.

The following post was taken from an article in BBC News entitled “Late Cardinal George Pell called Pope a ‘catastrophe’ in an anonymous memo“

Cardinal George Pell has ripped into Pope Francis from the grave, with an explosive secret memo scathing of his “catastrophic” papacy, detailing that the Vatican is losing as much as 35 million euros a year and that the Pope has used his power to interfere in judicial proceedings.

Cardinal Pell not only penned a column directly challenging Francis’ credibility about the process surrounding the adoption of the Catholic Church’s synod for The Spectator magazine, but he is also now revealed to be the author of a hard-hitting series of blogs to Vatican insiders and a bombshell secret letter that was distributed last March to cardinals.

The previously anonymous cardinals’ letter ridicules Francis’ tenure as being “a disaster”, “a catastrophe” in which “decisions (were) made for political correctness” and claiming the political influence of Pope Francis and the Vatican was“negligible”.

It also alleges a widespread practice of wire-tapping inside the Vatican and claims that the extent of losses on an infamous corrupt investment, the Sloane Avenue building in London, is as much as 217 million euros.

He said this was in addition to the $230 million lost by the Vatican in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal in the 1980s, and because of inefficiency and corruption, he said the Vatican has lost at least another 100 million euros in the last 25-30 years.

As well, he warned the Vatican finances were “serious” with financial deficits almost always every year of at least 20m euros which has escalated in the last three years to 30-35 million euros a year. In addition, the Vatican faces a large pension fund deficit that is projected to be around 800 million euros in 2030.

On the eve of the funeral, it emerged that Cardinal Pell, 81 was a secret contributor to the Vatican blog Settimo Cielo as well as the author of the cardinals’ letter. The Vatican journalist Sandro Magister had regular dialogue with Cardinal Pell, whom he said used the pseudonym “Demos” for the blog and had asked for him to distribute the cardinal’s letter, which he wanted to become public.

The Australian Newspaper has seen the contributions made by Demos, which say the centrality of Christ in teaching is weakened and Christ is removed from the centre. He also details the extent of the Vatican’s financial woes, which are much worse than many believed.

“Commentators from every school, though for different reasons, with the possible exception of one, agree that this pontificate is a disaster in many or more respects, a catastrophe,’’ he wrote.

“Previously the motto was: “Roma locuta. Cause finite est” [Rome has spoken, the cause is over]. Today it is: “Roma loquitur. Confusio augetur” [Rome speaks, confusion grows]’’.

He added that the Christocentric legacy of St. John Paul II in faith and morals is the object of systematic attacks.

In a blow to Francis’ papacy, “Demos” wrote that the political influence of Pope Francis and the Vatican is negligible. “Intellectually, papal writings show a decline from the levels of St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict. Decisions and policies are often “politically correct”, but there have been serious failures to uphold human rights in Venezuela, Hong Kong, mainland China and now the Russian invasion.

The Bible tells us that in the last days, there will be a great falling away as the church compromises with the world. We have seen it with many of the denominational churches approving gay marriage, homosexual pastors, and Jesus is no longer central to Christianity. They no longer believe and teach the following Scripture.

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

Now it is being revealed that the catholic church is going down the same path as these other institutional churches.

“This know also, that in the last days, perilous times shall come” 2 Timothy 3:1

“Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,” 2 Thessalonians 2:3

This Pauline perspective and prophecy of apostasy in the last days is not merely Paul’s, for it had been foretold by the Holy Spirit. 

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith…” 2 Timothy. 4:1-3

TEST ALL THINGS BY GOD’S WORD

Posted on by

For Christians, all of life is the enterprise through which we glorify God and enjoy Him forever. The means by which we do that is simple: we must know who this God is and how we can enjoy Him forever. This is only derived from a robust understanding and application of Scripture and understanding the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Thus, when we are faced with whatever progressive ideals might creep in, the principle is one whereby we test all things according to Scripture empowered by the Holy Spirit.

I am convinced many within the broader church have been pressed into the mold of a system of thought the broader culture adopts (i.e. progressivism), and the foremost institution this has been accomplished through is education. Generations of children have come and gone through this institution, which with the adoption of evolution has rejected any involvement of God in science and now education, as a result, society is largely secular. God’s values have been jettisoned and the progressives now dominate our educational establishments and parliament.

How do we solve this dilemma? The answer is surprisingly simple but unflatteringly naïve to the world, and even many professing Christians. The Word of God must be re-established as the foundation for all of life. Everything else is subservient to it and must align with it. In other words, we live consistently to the message we proclaim, from the seemingly mundane choices we make in entertainment, to how we spend our money, raise and teach our children, and how we do church, which means getting back to church as outlined in the Book of Acts, house churches that make disciples, and more. Only then will we be salt and light in the world. Only then will the Holy Spirit truly lead believers and the fruit of the spirit will be evident in their lives: love, joy, peace patience, faith, gentleness, goodness, kindness, and self-control. The ministry gifts, all nine will be evident including miracles, words of knowledge, and discerning of spirits.

The Gospel will then be unstoppable. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14

END TIMES APOSTATE CHURCH

Posted on by

Foley Beach, Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, provocatively but convincingly calls “neo-pagan Anglicanism”—Anglican in style but not substance.

Speaking with a prophetic mantle, Beach observes that “liberal innovations in theology and sexual ethics” are hidden within an orthodox façade, comparable, I would say, to the Trojan horse: This so-called gift to Anglicans in North America and Great Britain signals ruin. He bemoans:

“Neo-pagan Anglicanism is beautifully packaged in some of the most elegant liturgy, music, and tradition in Christianity. But it has become liturgy for the sake of liturgy, music for the sake of music, and tradition for the sake of tradition. As the apostle Paul wrote, they are “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:5). And as Athanasius argued against Arius’s heresy, the Jesus whom they promote is not the Jesus of which the Bible speaks.“

As a result of this tragic accommodation to culture, Beach eschews the flaccid slogans of Canterbury and New York City about “communion across difference,” “mutual flourishing,” and “walking together” because there can be no truce with heretics and schismatics who advance a counterfeit gospel (Romans 16:17–18). Estranged Anglicans in the Global North, he argues, can address their “ecclesial deficit” by joining forces with Anglican leaders from the Global South, who, beginning in 2008, formed the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), which has continued to serve as a vital reform movement: “As colonial and aging wineskins continue to promote neo-pagan beliefs and practices, the new wine of Christ’s continuing redemptive work will burst out to transform lives and renew our churches among the nations.”

I would like to think that Beach is right that GAFCON “will burst out to transform lives and renew our churches” but I do not believe the institutional church is capable of doing it.

C. S. Lewis envisioned Christianity as a house with “a hall out of which doors open into several rooms.” The rooms are ecclesial traditions that offer disciples a fire for warmth, a chair for rest, and a meal for nourishment and fellowship, whereas the hall is “mere” Christianity, a place where disciples greet and gift each other with riches from their respective rooms.

The Book of Acts describes the early church meeting in homes and the church in various cities, like the church in Antioch or the church in Caesarea were a collection of house churches but one church and the leaders of those house churches would often meet to deal with issues that sought to divide the church in that city. The “end times” persecuted church will be like the church in the Book of Acts and like we are now seeing in places where the church is already under intense persecution like in Africa, China, Middle East. Moreover, we are hearing amazing stories of the tremendous growth of the church in Iran.

JESUS MODEL FOR THE CHURCH

Posted on by

Great teaching on Jesus model for the church by Jim McCotter. Jim has established hundreds directly and thousands indirectly of House Churches around the world. In this video, Jim is teaching a few believers and everything is backed up by Scripture. Many of you will have Ah-Ha moments as I did.

Most of you know I have been supporting the growth of the Kenya House Church Movement (KHC) for about four years now and have seen growth from six to twenty-one house churches over this time period. I now believe that God has brought Jim McCotter into contact with KHC to take it to next level. Two of the KHC leaders are now participating in training with Jim on Zoom. This video is the first in that training series – 5 Reasons for House Churches.

I have recently posted a report on a KHC Mission Trip to Olasi. If you have not seen it please do so. I would like to get the leader of KHC, Charles Otieno Owino mobile again. There is a picture of Charles and his broken vehicle at the bottom of the post.

LAST DAYS PERSECUTED CHURCH

Posted on by

Listen to what this pastor in Iran said: “In the east, hearing God’s voice is absolutely crucial. Being led by the Spirit is the difference between life and death. We can not afford to get away with the sins that so easily entangle. The disciple-making lifestyle accelerates your maturity in God. You must have an active relationship with God. You must pray and remain in prayer. You must be in the Word. This is the only way forward in the days ahead – total absolute reliance on God.

 Loving your enemies is unnatural, but you can only do that if you are seeing with spiritual eyes. Natural eyes tell us to stand and fight against oppression…but what if oppression brings harvest and grows the church? That’s our tension.”

Moves of God happen in the most desperate places, and right now, Iran is one of those places. The political upheaval, economic distress, resource scarcity, social unrest, and religious persecution are creating a perfect storm for the Gospel to spread like wildfire inside Iran.     

Just as these Iranian Christians have discovered, being sold out to God is what will be required to live the Christian life in the prophesied “last days” before Jesus returns. In the west, since Gay Marriage and LGBTQ issues are now law Christians are coming under increasing persecution and this will only intensify.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2

CHURCH AS JESUS INTENDED PART 3

Posted on by

In the early Church not only were there no church buildings but there was also no such thing as any Christian denominations. The denominational or independent churches of today are nowhere to be found in the New Testament except Corinth where they started to crop up and there were strongly condemned by the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 1:10-13).

Even though the multitude of Christians in a city would regularly gather in their respective house churches, all the Christians in every city were viewed as one body, as members of one church in their respective city. And the spiritual leaders were not divided in a city but were a single overseeing body of pastors/leaders. Nowhere does the New Testament use the word “churches” (plural) in a city, but only “the church at Jerusalem” or “the church at Antioch” or “the church at Ephesus” etc. (Acts 11:22; 13:1; 20:17; 21:18; 1Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Colossians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1; Revelation 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 4, 7, 14). And there are no exceptions to this fundamental truth.
In the New Testament the word “church” was used in three different ways:

  1. The universal church: All believers in the world were members of the one single universal world church ꟷ Jesus said, “I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18).
  2. The city church: All believers in every city were members of one city church ꟷ “The church at Jerusalem… the church at Ephesus” (Acts 11:22; 20:17, etc.).
  3. The house church: All believers were a part of one House Church ꟷ “They met in homes for the Lord’s Supper… in their home for church meetings” (Acts 2:46; 1 Corinthians 16:19, etc.).
    There was no other kind of church other than the ones condemned by the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 1:10-13). Every believer was a member of the universal church, a city church, and a house church. In other words, Jesus has His universal group, His city group, and His house group.
    All elders/pastors in a city were a single body of leaders subject to one another and all responsible together for unitedly overseeing all the Believers in their city. This has many extending implications for reaching cities for Christ and literally fulfilling the Great Commission in every nation. And this is one big reason why the early Christians were fulfilling the Great Commission in their generation. We’ll look at this in more detail later.
    The word “church” in the Greek is “ekklesia”. This word has nothing to do with any kind of building. The word means only a “gathering” or “assembly” of any group of people for any reason. It was not a religious or Christian word at the time and had no such connotation. It was a very common word used for any group of people that would gather when Jesus used the word, and He said, “I will build my church.” There were lots of “churches” or “groups” at that time for any number of purposes. Jesus was simply saying, “I will build My group!” In time Jesus’ group became so dominant in the world that the word “ekklesia” began to only refer to Jesus’ “group” or “church”.

In the 4th century when Constantine had Christians take over large pagan temples to worship in, the word “church” then began to take on a very foreign unbiblical meaning. Now instead of the word “church” meaning Jesus’ group or gang of followers, the word “church” began to be identified as a building! Today we say, “Let’s go to church.” But we don’t go to church, we are the church!

Extracts from Jim Cotter’s excellent book Church Revolution Today. http://www.housechurches.org

CHURCH AS JESUS INTENDED PART 3

Posted on by

The only “building program” in the New Testament is the building of men and women up in Jesus Christ. In the New Testament God did not reinstitute a new physical building program as He did in the Old Testament. God sovereignly destroyed the only physical building in the world that had any reflection of Him!

In the New Testament, in every town and city, Christians gathered in house churches. It was through all these small house churches everywhere in cities that Christians so rapidly multiplied and “turned the world upside down” for Christ. Only when we follow God’s model can we expect to do the same.

http://www.housechurches.net

In the New Testament Jesus’ followers came together to “break bread” and “remember the Lord” only in house churches. Why only in houses churches? Jesus may have many more reasons that we don’t think about or understand, “His ways are not our ways.” But I can think of at least 10 pretty good reasons:
1. Identification: God does not want to be identified with a lifeless dead building anymore but rather only with life – the life of Spirit-filled believers.
2. Invitation: No one ever feels defensive when invited to come to a home, but rather gratitude and appreciation.
3. Extension: A house church is like a large family. It is just a large spiritual family. How a family operates is similar to how a house church family functions. Thereby, a good family becomes a good model for a house church and a good house church becomes a good model for a family.
4. Participation: A group as small as a house church allows everyone to participate and enjoy doing so. There is no such thing as “pew warmers”. House churches naturally foster real spiritual growth among everyone. In a traditional church, you are like a “spectator”. You walk in and are ministered to, spoon-fed, and entertained. You sit, you listen, you hear music, you hear a sermon and then you walk out. It’s like a spectator sport where you go, sit, watch and walk out. But believers in the New Testament church were not spectators ꟷ they were participators!
5. House Unity: Believers that meet in small house churches all feel very close to one another and experience true practical unity, quite unlike and impossible to experience in a large church congregation.
6. City Unity: Small house churches feel a greater need and desire to have unity with the larger body of Christ throughout their city, breeding a citywide spirit of love and unity with all believers in their city. The big building church congregations are so large that they often don’t see outside of their own big organization, unlike the small house churches.
7. Multiplying Leaders: The more leaders that develop within any group in society, the greater that group will multiply. Small house churches automatically stimulate spiritual leadership where large church building congregations with their professional clergy intrinsically suppress multiplying leaders.
8. Spreading the Gospel: Preachers are more apt to follow the New Testament example of going out to the public to preach the gospel when they don’t have a big church-building organization for people to come into. They’re more apt to follow the New Testament command to “GO and make disciples…”
9. Money: Billions of dollars are spent on church buildings, while if the same dollars were spent directly on people it would have an explosive impact the world over for the Kingdom of God.
10. Our Heavenly Father knows best: If we are not able to see any good reasons for house churches, we should still defer to house churches for no other reason than it is the only New Testament example that God Himself gave us. Does not our heavenly Father always know what is best? “What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?” (Isaiah 45:9).
The implications of the precedent that God set in the New Testament for meeting in-house churches is staggering once you understand all the benefits and implications of it. Here are 8 more important implications:

  1. Spiritual growth explodes qualitatively and quantitatively because everyone is committed and involved in a house church.
  2. Real accountability with all the believers becoming close, loving one another, and being “subject one to another”, as the Scripture instructs.
  3. Potential leaders have real and practical opportunities to develop and multiply rapidly unlike possible in traditional churches.
  4. All Believers can be more individually encouraged and motivated to share their faith in all their workplaces and marketplaces.
  5. Eliminates the destructive clergy/laity class system so unbiblical and oppressive in traditional church organizations. In house churches, all the Believers are not just “priests” in theory but in practice (1 Peter 2:5, 9).
  6. Stimulates all Christian men to rise up and see their spiritual opportunity and responsibility to become mature men and spiritual leaders within house churches, thus greatly benefiting and affecting their own physical family, their workplace, and their whole community (1 Timothy 3).
  7. Allows for and galvanizes the “apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers” to get out of their “church” buildings and follow Paul’s example to preach in public areas and from house to house (Acts 20:20).
  8. No money is diverted into building programs or church bureaucracy etc. but all funds go to help any faithful believers that are in genuine need and into the growing number of spiritual leaders to “fill all the city with their teaching about Jesus” (Acts 5:28).

Extracted from Jim McCotter’s book Church Revolution Today.