DOING CHURCH RIGHT

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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

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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

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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.

KENYA HOUSE CHURCH MISSION TRIP

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Report by Pastor Charles Otieno Owino on the Kenya House Church (KHC) Mission trip this month to Giribe Lwala in the Homa Bay County near Lake Victoria. It is the County next to Migori County where Pastor Charles is located.

KENYA HOUSE CHURCH MISSION TRIP TO GIRIBE LWALA:

Purpose of visit: Discipleship

Host: Mr Kennedy Onyango.

Arrival Date: Nov 9th/2022, Departure: Nov 15th.

The KHC team are delighted with how God protected them on this Mission Trip, no equipment failures and the response from so many people was positive. God was present the entire time with several healing miracles and other signs. Pictures truly tell the story and Charles has given a brief description of each one. The pictures are not in order the events occured but I hope this is understood from the descriptions given.

1. Pastor Nyarumba ( in the red T-shirt) is baptizing Mr Cleophas Odhiambo( in the white shirt). Mr Cleophas is a new disciple at Olassi house church. He was a former assistant chief of the county who was interdicted for abuse of office (corruption), and also for being deeply involved in alcoholic drinking. This baptism was carried out when the team visited Olassi on their return trip from Giribe Lwala,

2. Pastor Jacob ministered the gospel message of salvation and repentance at an evangelism meeting in one of the homes our team visited- among them was Shem Nyabuto, a former drug addict (with dreadlocks). He accepted the gospel message of salvation and repentance and gave his heart to Jesus, and accepted Him as his personal Saviour.

3. House fellowship meeting at the home of Mr Kennedy Onyango. Mrs Millicent Girago ( with a baby in her hands). She had a strong pain in her back, and the problem persisted for many years even after visiting many doctors and local herbalists. After receiving prayer, she was instantly healed and the pain was completely gone.

4. Pastor Osogo baptized Mrs Jane Odhiambo, the wife of the former assistant chief of the county. During the KHC trip to Olassi last month this woman at first didn’t believe our Gospel message, but on this trip visiting this house church, we taught her the word of God, she believed and was baptized. This baptism was carried out when the team visited Olassi on their return trip from Giribe Lwala,

5. Believers are in a moment of prayer on our arrival at Giribe Lwala. The opening prayers were at the home of Mr Kennedy (in a tie & brown suit).

6. Evangelism Ministry at the home of Mr Paul Ondiek. Pastor Saoke ministers the gospel message to the 10 adult members of this family. They believed the gospel message of healing and salvation and accepted Jesus as their personal saviour.

7. Pastor Charles ( in a white shirt) ministers the gospel message of end time events of Jesus’ soon return at the home of Mr Kennedy Onyango.

8. Pastor Julius Makacha ministers the gospel message of the coming Millennial Kingdom at an evangelism meeting at one of the homes.

9. Pastor Melkio ministers the gospel message on the role of women in the church at Giribe Lwala house Church.

10. Pastor Charles prayed for some women (on their knees) at the home of Mr Kennedy. And among them is Mrs Dorothy Ouma ( in a dotted white & black dress) This woman’s life was ruined by alcoholic drinks to such an extent that she couldn’t provide for her family. After hearing the gospel message she repented and accepted Jesus as her personal saviour.

11. Pastor Charles with hands raised praying at the home Mr David Garrison. His son (wearing a white shirt & kneeling ) was deaf and dumb, after hearing the gospel message his ears were opened, and he was able to hear and speak little but by using signs.

12. Pastor Kennedy addressed the Giribe Lwala house, church believers, at the close of our mission trip at Giribe Lwala.

A new house church of 10 people was newly founded at Giribe Lwala. This new house church will be under the care of elder Kennedy Onyango. 

On the way home, we arrived at the Olassi house church of our host Elder Walter Ogwati in the evening to do baptisms of the new believers the following day. In the evening, we had house fellowship with believers in their home. It was in preparation for the baptism the next day.

Today, at 11:am, we walked down to a new dam to baptize the newly converted believers of this house church, and among them is the wife of the former assistant Chief and her husband (included in the pictures). It was well attended. Later this afternoon, we shall pack our luggage for our trip back home in the evening.

May you kindly put us in your prayers for a successful remaining part of our mission here and also for a safe travelling back home.

As previously reported I have been supporting the KHC movement for four years now even including a trip to Migori to hold a three-day training session with 21 of the KHC leaders in April of this year. The picture shown is me delivering a PowerPoint presentation on Israel’s History and Purpose at this meeting. The image on the screen is of the Israel Feast Days.

As can be seen, the meeting is in a tin shed. We had no power so we had to hire a generator and I purchased the screen. I am hoping that some of my followers will be prompted by God to join me in financially supporting the growth of the Kenya House Church Movement. I have seen it grow from six house churches to twenty-two. If this is something you would like to do email me at ron@bakb.com.au.

END TIMES APOSTATE CHURCH

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

CHURCH AS JESUS INTENDED PART 2

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Jesus Christ started His New Testament church after prophesying the very destruction of His physical temple! Yet today most Christians are busy spending their money and time building more new temples!
In the New Testament Christ made it clear that His only building program was going to be His church, but “church” in Greek, “ekklesia”, was not a building! The Greek word “ekklesia” is defined only as a group of people. Furthermore, God once and for all abandoned His Old Testament physical building program the moment Christ died on the cross… “At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51). At that moment the “Spirit of God… tore” out of the temple! Never to return! Yet 325 years later Constantine and his mother Helena started the unbiblical precedent of building temples again for God’s people! And the Christian clergy/priests have been promoting Constantine and his mother’s unbiblical precedent ever since!

http://www.housechurches.net

“The woman said to Him, Sir, I perceive you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship?’ Jesus replied… ‘The time is coming – indeed it’s here now – when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way” John 4:19-23
In the Old Testament God was to be identified with and in a building, the holy temple in Jerusalem. But Jesus made clear in the New Testament that worship was no longer to be identified with or in a “place of worship”… but rather “true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” And then Jesus made clear, “The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way!”
With the new covenant the Spirit of God left the physical temple and started a new building program, a “spiritual temple” (1 Peter 2:5). No longer would the Spirit of God reside in any temple or church building. No longer does the Spirit of God want to be identified with any religious or church building. Now the Spirit of God resides only with and in His people, Christ’s new “ekklesia”, Christ’s group ꟷ “All of you together are the temple of God!”

“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” 1 Corinthians 3:16

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!

When Christians deserted the house churches and met in large pagan temples, all they could do then was, as they continue to do today, sit in rows and listen to a sermon from some clergy/priest. This was contrary to what all believers did in house churches for over 300 years from the time of Christ and His apostles.

The church dramatically changed from being a participatory gathering to a spectator gathering. The church was now completely transformed into a whole different foreign and unbiblical “church” format and structure. It was nothing like what they had been instructed to do as described in the Book of Acts.

As might be expected, most clergy do not refer to such church history or such Scripture violated by it. However, there are a few unbiased Christian leaders that have written about some of this. Frank Viola and George Barna are two that have documented much of the pagan church tradition in their book Pagan Christianity.

This post is an extract from Jim McCotter’s book. Want more, can I suggest you purchase his ebook.