CHURCH IN THE END TIMES

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The following article is taken from http://www.housechurches.net and is largely by Jim McCotter. Did you know the largest and fastest-growing Christian movement in the United States today is the house church movement? More than one U.S. survey revealed that approximately 20,000,000 people meet in some form of a house church in the United States.

Jim McCotter has some excellent resources available on http://www.jimsbookstore.com.

All apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors (shepherds), and teachers were first Elders (Titus 1:5) and also referred to as Overseers or Bishops (1 Tim. 3:1).

  • “Pastor” and “Shepherd” are the same words in Greek and refer to the same person – a spiritual leader caring for God’s flock of Believers.
  • “Bishop” and “Overseer” are the same words in Greek and refer to the same person.
  • “Elder” and “Bishop/Overseer” refer to the same person (Titus 1:5 & 7; 1 Tim. 3:1-2), but do have different meanings: “Elder” relates to their spiritual maturity and qualifications. “Bishop/Overseer” relates to their authority and responsibility.

Three Categories of Churches

There are three categories of churches in the NT:

  1. Universal Church – Jesus said, “I will build My church” (Mat. 16:18). The universal church is made up of all Jesus’s true Believers in the world.
  2. City Church – The city church was made up of all Jesus’s Believers in a city. No place in the NT does it use the plural word “churches” in any city. There was only one church per city. Thus the city church. There was “the church in Jerusalem… the church in Ephesus… the church in Philippi” etc. The word “church” (singular) was used 169 times in the NT and never plural “churches” in a city. A plurality of Elders were appointed to work together to oversee all the Believers in “the church”, therefore, all the Believers in the city – thus the city church. The only time the plural word “churches” was ever used in the NT was when it referred to a region with many towns, such as the “churches in Galatia… the churches in the province of Asia” etc.
  3. House Church – In each city Christians would regularly meet in homes. For example, in the “church in Jerusalem”, many thousands were saved and all the Believers met in homes – functioning as house churches. In Jerusalem there would have been hundreds of house churches. The Believers gathered for church in homes – sharing together the “Word, fellowship, breaking bread and prayer… and eating their meals together in gladness” (Acts 2:42, 46; 5:42; 8:3; 12:12; 20:7-8). Paul and his fellow apostles spent over three years in the city of Ephesus, and it was one of their greatest works. Historians said there may have been over 1,000 house churches in Ephesus. There were many house churches in Rome, Priscilla and Aquila’s being one (Rom. 16:3-5). In Colossi, some Christians meet in Nympha’s home (Col. 4:15). Paul writes to Philemon and greets the church that met in his home (Phil. 1:1-2). There are a total 22 places mentioned in the NT where just Believers got together and they were only house churches. Apostles spoke daily in public places, such as the 12 apostles speaking daily in Solomon’s court and the Apostle Paul reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus and in the marketplaces. But none of these places were considered as church gatherings. They were evangelizing and teaching to reach out to new people in the cities. But when they met with just Believers, in what we call church, they only met in homes – sharing the Word, having fellowship, breaking bread, and praying together (Acts 2:41-46; 20:7-11).

It was not until the 4th century that Christians stopped having church in homes. Constantine the Great had Christians start meeting in the large buildings previously designed for pagan worship. Then Constantine and his mother Helena started constructing more of the same.

This was NOT Christ and the Apostles NT church plan, design, or model. It was the pagan building model and their worship format. A big stage up front where only the pagan high priest would stand and speak. Big buildings with this model and format were what the Roman Emperor and his mother fostered in all Christians at that time.

And sadly, most spiritual leaders have continued to follow this same unbiblical model and format ever since. It would not be so bad if it was only considered an extracurricular Christian activity today. But the problem is –spiritual leaders today have substituted this pagan model for Christ’s NT church. Sad to say, man’s proud tradition has been to the great detriment of world Christendom.

Church buildings were not the New Testament way or example. That was only the Old Testament model having a large temple building. After church buildings came into effect, the church functions out of necessity became a spectator event instead of a participator event, as was the New Testament house church model, seen in many verses, such as – “When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation…” (1 Cor. 14:26). Participators grow strong. Spectators grow fat.

New Testament Christians were told “not to forsake our assembling together… to encourage one another” (Heb. 10:25) — “teaching and admonishing one another” (Col. 3:16) — “I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another” (Rom. 15:14). Rabbis had a saying, “He who teaches learns twice.”

With the New Testament house church model, spiritual leaders multiply, and then house churches multiply. Small house churches are like small rabbits that multiply 100 times faster than any big elephant church.

As persecution of Christians escalates in the last seven years before Jesus returns, the church will be forced back to the house church model as in the Book of Acts, just as it was in China under Mao and in Muslim countries now.

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.

LOVED MAN VS. WILD AND RUNNING WILD WITH BEAR GRYLLS

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Bear Grylls is the first to admit he’s something of an unconventional Christian. The survivalist and TV host is unabashedly open about his faith and how it serves as his foundation for living an empowered life. But he doesn’t want to sanitize his message to make it inoffensive to a religious audience, and frankly, he doesn’t have much time for Western church culture. 

“I think Jesus would really struggle with 99% of churches nowadays,” the 48-year-old British adventurer told The Christian Post.

“Our job in life is to stay close to Christ and drop the religious, drop the fluff, drop the church if you need to because that means so many different things to different people anyway. Keep the bit of church which is about community and friends and honesty and faith and love. All the masks, performances, music and worship bands and all of that sort of stuff — I don’t think Christ would recognize a lot of that.”

He expressed his distaste for what he called “religious language,” sanitizing messages in such a way where people “can’t be honest, can’t express doubt and can’t fail.” The Church, he said, is “the place to have doubts and questions.”

“Look at the early Church. It was a roomful of people eating and drinking and doubting and struggling and arguing,” he said. 

But the Church today, he said, has gotten away from that. 

“Probably most of the people in the congregation have substance abuse, and probably most of their congregations struggle with porn and all that sort of stuff,” he said. “What a relief it is when a pastor can stand up and go, ‘Welcome to the hospital, folks. Here we go. I’m just standing alongside you on the road, failing our way through, but reaching out of desperation for life and love and redemption. Let’s look outwards, and love other people, and we’re in it together.’”

It’s this kind of honest, zero-fluff approach to life that has made Grylls a worldwide sensation and one of the most recognized faces of survival and outdoor adventure. A former British Special Forces soldier and Everest mountaineer, he starred in Discovery’s “Man vs. Wild” and hosted “Running Wild with Bear Grylls” on the National Geographic Channel Series.

He’s embarked on countless dangerous expeditions, scaled Mount Everest, eaten snakes and spiders, and even survived a free-fall parachuting accident in Africa. His books, which range from survival skills handbooks to fiction, have also sold over 15 million copies worldwide. 

I think Bear Grylls has faith that will stand strong in the face of the prophesied increasing persecution that will come prior to Jesus’ return first to rapture the Saints but also to pour out His wrath upon an unrepentant world.

“Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.” Revelation 16:1-2

Extract of an article in Christian Post Jan. 14th “Bear Grylls says faith is ‘key part of survivor’s toolbox,’ laments ‘fluff’ permeating Western Church”