Let The River Flow

An Introductory House Church Equipping Handbook

The Parousia Network

of House & Cell Churches www.parousianetwork.com

Copyright 2002 Maurice Smith

 Copyright 2002, Maurice Smith All rights reserved.

Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this work in any form except where quotations are accompanied by a full and accurate recitation of the works full title, the publisher, and the publishers address. Additional copies of this publication, along with a list of all other publications and services offered by the publisher, are available from the address given below:

Published and distributed by: The Parousia Network of House & Cell Churches P. O. Box 18793 Spokane, WA 99228

www.parousianetwork.com

All Scripture quotations from The New American Standard Bible (Copyright The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California) unless otherwise indicated. The Four Spiritual Laws courtesy of Campus Crusade For Christ International.

Table of Conten ts
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 What Difference Does It Make? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Prepare to Have Your Paradigm Shaken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Let The River Flow! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Your House Could Change The World! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Our Home & Cell Church Philosophy (or A Tale Of Riding Dead Horses) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 A Tale of Riding Dead Horses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Are You Tired of Trying To Ride A Dead Horse? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Is Your Church A Mule Or A Rabbit? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 What Is a House Church or a Cell Church? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Are House Churches A Threat To The "Local Church?" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 What Is The Parousia Network Of House & Cell Churches? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 What Are The Unique Emphases Of The Parousia Network? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 What About This Notebook? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Worldview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 How Should We Then Live?: The Church In A Post-Christian Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Once Upon A Revival? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Background of A Collapse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Weve Been Overwhelmed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Revival or Anarchy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Schaeffers Five Pressures & The Rise of New Age Globalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 1. Economic Breakdown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 2. War or the serious threat of war. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 3. The chaos of violence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 4. The radical redistribution of the wealth of the world. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 5. A growing shortage of food and other natural resources in the world. . . 26 How Should We Then Live? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 And If Not . . .: A Christian Manifesto For The 21st Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Abandon Ship: How Spiritual Hodge Podge and Minimalist Christianity are Sinking The Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 And If Not . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 What We Need: A New Christian Manifesto For The 21st Century . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Terrorism, Transformation & The River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Ancient Terrorism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 When Worldviews Collide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Transformation Or Judgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Preparing A Channel For The River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Introduction to House Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . House To House: The Underground Church of the New Testament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Counter Cultural Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . First Century Background & Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . House Churches In The New Testament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 40 40 40 41

The Early Underground House Church Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Decline of the House Church and The Rise of the Church Building . . . . . . . Deja vu All Over Again? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Characteristics Of New Testament House Churches (Acts 2:41-47) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Characteristic # 1: Perseverance (vs. 42, 46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Characteristic # 2: Awe/fear (vs. 43) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Characteristic # 3: Uncommon Community (vs. 44, 45) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Characteristic # 4: One-Mindedness (v. 46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Characteristic # 5: House-To-House Ministry (v. 46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Characteristic # 6: Eschatological Joy (vs. 46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Characteristic # 7: Grace (vs. 47). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Characteristic # 8: God-Inspired Evangelistic Growth (vs. 47) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O. K., Lets Do House Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Plinys Problem With A Simple Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Samuel Wesley Had A Problem (Just Ask His Wife!) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . How John Wesley Solved Samuels Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Enter The Nike Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baggage Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . When and Where Should We Meet? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Keeping The Main Thing The Main Thing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Message of The Early Church In The Book of Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tossed Salad Christianity - Mixing It Up Over A Meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leadership: Whos In Charge Here Anyway? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Skin Like A Rhinoceros? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Absolute Truth Vs. Absolute Judgmentalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thats Almost Music! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spectator Christianity vs Mutual Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Here I Stand: Taking Our Place In The Drama (or, Does Doctrine Matter?) . . . . . Who Do I Make My Check Out To? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Role of Teaching In House Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lets Talk About That . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Growing Your House Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . You Cant Get There From Here (Or When Do We Go From Addition To Multiplication?) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . From The Mouths of Babes & Secular Historians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Whats It All About, Alfie? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure, The Great Commission & The Problem of Basic Math . . . . . . . . . . . . . You Cant Get There From Here - Reprise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Strategy # 1: A Place To Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Multiplying Group of Eight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Strategy # 2: Reaching Beyond Your House Church & Into Your Neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . Why Some House Churches Multiply W hile Others Dont . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Those Factors That DO NOT Affect Church Multiplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . Those Factors That DO Affect Church Multiplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Praying & Interceding For Your House Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Praying & Interceding For Your House Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Is Your House A House Of Prayer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Make a Fasting & Prayer Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

42 44 44 46 46 47 48 48 49 50 50 50 51 51 51 52 54 55 55 58 58 60 61 61 62 62 63 64 65 67 69 71 73 74 74 74 75 77 78 79 80 81 82 82 84 85 85 87

The Fasting Covenant of The Reverend James McGready . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 The Parousia Network Friday Fasting Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 The Relationship Between Fasting And Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 God Looks For Intercessors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Three Examples of Intercession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 What Intercessors Believe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Seeking God With A W hole Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Revitalizing Our Prayer Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Principle of Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Prayer of Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Preparing To Fast & Pray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Why Are W e Fasting & Praying? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 What Are W e Fasting & Praying For? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Prayer, Fasting and The Seasons of Our Lives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 A Perspective on Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Times and Seasons In Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Gods Seasons of the Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Who Are You Praying For? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 People & Situations You Are Praying For . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Preparing To Fast Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Eleven Biblical Reasons Why Christians Should Fast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Personal Discipleship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hushed Was The Evening Hymn by James D Burns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Cost of Discipleship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Practicalities of Personal DIscipleship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Directions Given To The Band Societies by John Wesley (1744) . . . . . Start W ith The Three Pillars of Piety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Daily Bible Reading & Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Regular Devotional Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Personal Introspection & Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . During the past week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Personal Devotional Journaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 107 108 109 109 110 111 111 112 112 113 113

Teaching & Study Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Song Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Lets Be Legal About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Parousia Helps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Affiliating Your House Church With The Parousia Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Why You Should Affiliate W ith The Parousia Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Affiliation Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Become A Student Of House Church Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Gospel: The First Step In House Church Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . What Do We Believe? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Lausanne Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. The Purpose of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. The Authority and Power of the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 118 118 119 121 123 125 125 125 125 126

3. The Uniqueness and Universality of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. The Nature of Evangelism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. Christian Social Responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. The Church and Evangelism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. Co-operation in Evangelism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8. Churches in Evangelistic Partnership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9. The Urgency of the Evangelistic Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10. Evangelism and Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11. Education and Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12. Spiritual Conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13. Freedom and Persecution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14. The Power of the Holy Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15. The Return of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

126 126 127 127 127 128 128 128 129 129 129 130 130 130

Introduction
Objective and relevance - these are the crucial issues of our work. Both are interrelated, and the measure by which they are made compatible will largely determine the significance of all our activity. Merely because we are busy, or even skilled, doing something does not necessarily mean that we are getting anything accomplished. The question must always be asked. Is it worth doing? And does it get the job done? Robert Coleman The Master Plan of Evangelism

Introduction : Page 8 Welcome Welcome to The Parousia Network of House & Cell Churches, and to our Introductory House Church Equipping Handbook. The purpose of this Handbook is to encourage, to inform and to equip you to become the Church that meets in your house. This Handbook is not a house church how-to manual. If you want a genuine and authoritative manual on how-to-do house church, then read the New Testament! Nearly every book of the New Testament, with a few possible exceptions, was originally written either to early house churches or to individuals who were either leading or were otherwise involved in house churches. Dr. Tony Dale of House2House magazine has rightly observed that much of the New Testament can only be properly understood within the context of small groups of believers meeting in such house churches. In the House Church movement, we dont do church. We dont go to church. According to the New Testament, we are the church. The purpose of this Handbook is to encourage you and to equip you to be the church that meets in your house. I recently had a conversation with an internationally known Bible teacher who has begun encouraging his ministry audiences to start meeting in house churches. He observed that, in his opinion, the house church movement was facing two challenges. The first is the need for networking among house churches. The second is the need for equipped and trained leaders. I agree. This handbook, combined with the overall ministry of The Parousia Network, is intended to begin addressing these two critical issues. I believe that, ultimately, house churches that are not networked with other house churches and that are not consciously training and equipping their people to be leaders will not survive or prosper long-term, and we must be consciously in this for the long term. I also believe that God is calling out, raising up and equipping a new generation of house church leaders who will, in their turn, train more leaders, who will train more leaders, etc. This was the plan of Jesus; it was the plan of Paul, and it must be our plan as well. It is, I believe, the Masters plan of evangelism. It is my personal conviction that we must become very intentional in these two goals - networking our house churches and training leaders. These are two of the goals and purposes of The Parousia Network. While the information presented in this Handbook is useful and relevant to house church in general, it has been designed and intended for use by those individuals and house churches seeking to affiliate with The Parousia Network for purposes of networking, equipping, encouragement, covering and accountability. You will find information on affiliating with The Parousia Network in Section 8 of this Handbook. What Difference Does It Make? When we look at the current state of the traditional church in America (and Europe) we are forced to ask a very simple yet profound question: What difference does it make? Or in the words of evangelism expert Robert Coleman, when measured by our objective (discipling the nations, Matthew 18:28-29) and by relevance (are our activities relevant to our stated objective) we must painfully conclude that the Church in America (and the West) is floundering badly and is making very little difference. We are a church full of activities (something for every age group. A virtual Wal-Mart of Christian activity!). This is not so much a criticism as an observation of the times. The Church today is better funded, its leadership better educated and its programs better produced than at any time in its history. But answer a simple question: Is America (& the West) more Christian today than it was 100 years ago (or even 50 years ago)? If our stated objective, as given by Christ Himself, is to disciple our nation, then, by all measures of our impact upon our culture and its people, the Church has failed at its primary task. And that means that all of our activities, which contributed to that failure,

Introduction : Page 9 are apparently irrelevant, for they have done little or nothing to achieve our stated objective. Contrary to much popular opinion, the Christian life is not a zero sum game (where everything adds up to zero in the end with no winners or losers). Consider the following passage: Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Therefore knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. . . (2 Corinthians 5:9-11), Here the Apostle Paul acknowledges that life is not a zero sum game where, regardless of what we did as Christians in this life, everything zeros out in the end. Instead, Paul declares that His ambition is to please God. Why? Because, Paul argues, we must (it isnt optional) all (no exceptions) make an appearance before the judgment seat of Christ. For what purpose? That each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, declares Paul. Commentators have labored over the years to explain exactly what this passage means for the believer. The usual conclusion is that it has to do with our rewards, and that some Christians will receive more while others receive less (See also Colossians 3:25). Whether or not this is the correct interpretation we wont know until that Day. But what we do know is this: Pauls understanding of this event struck fear into his heart, because in the next verse Paul declares, Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. . . The Christian life and ministry are not a zero sum game. A day of reckoning is approaching for the Church as a whole and for each of us individually when all of our work and efforts will be tested by fire (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). Now is the time to ask ourselves, while there is still time to please the Lord, whether or not what we are doing is worth the reckoning that will eventually take place. Prepare to Have Your Paradigm Shaken Our English word paradigm comes from the Greek word paradeigma (paradeigma) meaning model or pattern (used in classical Greek to refer to an architects blueprint). The word is curiously absent from the New Testament. Perhaps there is a lesson here. Men create paradigms, models and patterns. It is God who shakes them. If we try to put God into a fixed paradigm, model or pattern (i.e., put God in a box), God will shake or destroy our box. He wants us to be flexible and willing to change and adjust. His Spirit is a river that is ever moving, ever flowing; not a lake or a pond, and not a man made swimming pool where the filling can be trapped and collected in a box. Some 100 years ago a powerful movement of the Spirit of God swept around the world, shaking old paradigms and raising up new ones. This worldwide movement of the Spirit between 1904 to 1907 gave birth to a new paradigm that found expression in the Welsh Revival of 1904 (an "EvangelicalPentecostal" revival without "tongues") and the modern day Pentecostal movement. Then, it was a new paradigm for a new day. But people and movements eventually get trapped in their boxes and become the prisoners of their paradigms. The paradigms become institutionalized, trapping its members inside and fending off outsiders who might bring change. When that happens it isn't long (and 100 years isn't long in God's sight!) before God moves in a fresh way, challenging and shattering "once new/now old" paradigms, whether Evangelical or Pentecostal, and bringing in new paradigms for a new day. What does it mean? It means that God will not allow Himself , His Spirit or His Kingdom to become trapped in anyones box, model, pattern or paradigm. It also means that God isn't done yet. He has more to teach us. And it means that He fully intends to accomplish His original stated goal of empowering and equipping us, His Church, to be His witnesses "even to the remotest part of the earth" irrespective of any humanly crated box. I believe that house churches (and their cousins the cell church) represent one of God's new

Introduction : Page 10 paradigms for this time. And I believe the River of Ezekiel 47, the River of the Water of Life, is another of God's new paradigms for His people. The paradigm itself is not new. Christians have been writing and singing about the River for some time. Pentecostalism was not unknown before Azusa Street (April, 1906). Evan Roberts, one of the instruments of the Welsh Revival of 1904, told his biographer (D.M.Phillips) that, not only had he prayed 11 years for revival, but he had prayed for 13 years for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Roberts experienced his personal baptism on Thursday, September 29th, 1904 at a little after 9:00 AM in the morning (but that's another story!). What do the Welsh Revival of 1904 and the Azusa outpouring of 1906 share in common? Both were manifestations of the River of Ezekiel 47, the River of the Water of Life. Let The River Flow! I believe that God is about to bring these two new paradigms together in these last days, and in a way that is more powerful than we, our fathers or our grand-fathers ever imagined. While there is increasing turmoil in the world around us, and while men's hearts fail them for fear, I believe that the River of Ezekiel 47, the River of the Water of Life is about to flow in unprecedented power through a new paradigm of networking house churches, resulting in renewal, revival, awakening, empowerment and a great harvest. The issues will not be baptism, tongues, healings or any one experience or gifting. The question of the day will be, "Are you standing in the River?" Why? Because everything else the people of God so earnestly seek (revival, cleansing, healing, empowering, gifts, evangelism, etc.) is a by-product of The River. And when this River begins to flow, the safest place to be is to be found standing in the dry river bed awaiting the coming of The River. And when this River of Gods Power and Presence truly begins to flow through our homes, our families and our house churches, our houses will begin to change the world! Your House Could Change The World! These men who have upset the world have come here also. (Acts 17:6) When was the last time anyone accused you, as a Christian, of turning your world upside down? When was the last time they accused your Church of turning your community upside down? Today, many Christians (an estimated 10 million) have dropped out of traditional churches because they feel personally ineffective and powerless to change the world around them, and they feel that the traditional institutional church no longer works like it should. As a result, many Christians today have lost any vision or sense of calling that they can (or should) change the world or have any serious longterm impact on their community. And without such a vision, people perish, and Christians lead silent lives of frustration and disillusionment. But what about those early Christians of Acts 17:6 who were accused of upsetting the whole world (literally, men who have thrown the inhabited earth into an uproar)? What did they do to change their world, while we seem so powerless and ineffective? They met together in one anothers homes. They devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, sharing meals together, and prayer. They rejoiced together and suffered together. They shared their lives with one another and met one anothers needs. They didnt simply believe the truth, they lived the truth authentically in a way that changed the world. Their homes became hotbeds of Gods absolute truth that Gods Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, had lived, died, been raised from the dead and ascended into heaven and that God was now calling all men everywhere to repent and believe. This message had converted a Roman Centurian in Caesarea, won over the Roman Governor of Cyprus, confounded Greek philosophers in Athens, disturbed the religious status quo in

Introduction : Page 11 Thessalonica, caused lawsuits in Corinth and economic riots in Ephesus. It moved quietly from one house to the next in silent triumph. The home of a Roman Centurian. The home of a woman fabric merchant in Philippi. The home of Aquila and his wife Priscilla, Jewish-Christian refugees from Rome. The home of a Gentile God-fearer named Titius Justus and the home of Crispus, the synagogue leader in Corinth. All of these, and more, were now part of a growing list of homes and families conquered by the gospel and now part of the Kingdom of God. For the next 250 years these networks of house churches would serve as Gods vessels and instruments to turn the ancient world upside down and to bring the Roman Empire to its knees. In a day when traditional church attendance is declining and Christians are feeling powerless and frustrated it should come as no surprise that God is again raising up thousands of networking house churches! Isnt it time that you became the church that meets in your house? Isnt it time that your house changed the world?!

Introduction : Page 12

Our Home & Cell Church Philosophy (or A Tale Of Riding Dead Horses)
Introduction Some twenty-five years ago theologian and philosopher Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer wrote a book documenting "The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture." The title of his work was taken from Ezekiel 33:10, How Should We Then Live? Ezekiel 33 is, of course, the great "watchman" passage in which the Prophet Ezekiel is warned of Gods impending judgment if Israel does not repent of its sin. The culmination of the passage comes in verse 10 where Israel declares, "If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?" While this may sound like a lifestyle question, it is not. Rather, it is a survival question. The Israelites were wondering, if everything Ezekiel had said was true, how could they possibly survive the pending judgment of God. In the end, Israel did not survive. She did not repent. The nation was taken into captivity by the Babylonians and Jerusalem was destroyed. Twenty-five years ago Dr. Schaeffer wrote his book in the hopeful prayer that the coming generation (in which we now live) "may get its feet out of the paths of death and may live" (Schaeffer, page 258). Unfortunately, the decline which Dr. Schaeffer so ably analyzed and documented has continued, even accelerated, during the intervening years. And in the ensuing struggle the organized and institutional Church as most Christians have known and experienced it has become caught up in and overwhelmed by this cultural collapse of historic proportions. Now, chances are that you are reading this introduction for one of two reasons, out of either curiosity or frustration. You may simply be curious concerning what home or cell churches are all about. You may even have had some experience (good or bad) with a home or cell church. After all, the concept is not new (as we shall see) and it is growing. But then you may be among the growing number of Christians who sense that something is desperately wrong both in our culture and in the Church, and who are increasingly frustrated (some would say they are "burned out" or "fed up") with the institutional/denominational Church as most of us have known it. In a word, you are tired of "trying to ride a dead horse." A Tale of Riding Dead Horses In an article for Focal Point, a publication of Denver Seminary, Dr. Haddon Robinson gave an illustration regarding organizations and dead horses. One bit of wisdom addressed to organizations is "When the horse you are riding dies, dismount."That sounds like keen insight into the obvious. Unfortunately, many organizations refuse to embrace it. Writer Karen Peterson came up with some alternative strategies that organizations often use to deal with the problem of dead horses (the comments in parenthesis are mine, not hers): Change riders (If you can't do the job of riding this horse we'll find someone who can!). Appoint a committee to study the horse (After all, we mustn't rush to judgment. Perhaps the horse isn't really dead, but sleeping). Attend a seminar to increase riding ability (When in doubt, blame the rider and question his abilities).

Introduction : Page 13 Get a stronger whip (even if this doesn't motivate the horse, it will make the rider feel better!). Enroll in a seminar to learn how others ride dead horses (Perhaps if you improve your technique no one will notice that you lack substance). When there is nothing else to do, remember, the time honored wisdom of desperate organizations: "No horse is too dead to beat!" Dr. Robinson added a couple of ways that churches and other Christian organizations handle dead horses: Preach a series of sermons assuring listeners that "this horse is not dead!" Keep reminding people of how strong the horse looked when it was alive and hope that they won't notice that it has died. Pray that the dead horse will be resurrected. Move the dead horse to a new location. Label anyone who points out that the horse is dead a "heretic" (or a person of "no faith"). Are You Tired of Trying To Ride A Dead Horse? So let me ask you: Are you trying to ride a dead horse? In recent years many committed Christians have become tired, frustrated and disillusioned with the institutional, organizational and denominational structure of the Church as they have traditionally known it. As one ministry friend of mine declared with a note of frustration, "If Moses had relied on a committee hed still be wandering around in the wilderness!" Many of those Christians who are disillusioned with the Church as it exists today are among the 20% who have been doing 80% of the work of the ministry. They are tired of trying to ride a dead horse! The traditional institutional church seems to have lost its Kingdom vision and has replaced it with a committee or a program. The church has lost its power. This powerlessness in the face of a wave of cultural collapse has taken its toll. According to Christian Sociologist and trend-watcher Dr. George Barna, his research has revealed that:

Our evangelism is ineffective. A majority of the people who made a "decision" for Christ in one of our evangelical churches "were no longer to be found in a church context within eight weeks of having made such a decision." Indeed, a study conducted by the Southern Baptists discovered that out of every 10 converts who professed faith in a Southern Baptist Church, only 1 was still active in the church one year later. We have evangelized for decisions rather than conversions. But conviction is not conversion and a decision does not produce a disciple. Our evangelism has degenerated to little more than a slick ad-marketing campaign, so we shouldnt be surprised that the commitment of the average "convert" is about as deep and authentic as a celebrity commercial endorsement. We close more churches each year in America than we open, and some 5,000 pastors leave the ministry every month. I was recently stunned to hear that the evangelical denomination

Introduction : Page 14 from whose seminary I graduated recently declared that it was closing some 50 churches in the Northwestern United States. Across America we are closing down more churches each year than we are starting. In Scotland, the Church of Scotland recently announced that it will close 600 of its 1,400 fellowships. Dead horses litter the landscape.

O O O

A minority of born again adults (only 32%) are certain of the existence of absolute moral truth! In a typical week, 41% of the adults attending Christian churches are not born again! Four out of ten born again Christians do not attend Church, and there are more than 10 million born again Christians who are not attending Church.

As a result of this collapse of our culture and its impact upon the church, many institutional churches are looking (and praying) for revival in the hope that God will somehow revive and breathe new life into their dying institutions and programs; in other words, they are asking God to resurrect their dead horses. But the history of revival demonstrates that God revives and breathes new life into people, not buildings, institutions or programs. With precious few exceptions the institutional church structure is inefficient and inflexible for the times in which we live, and for the difficult times that may soon be coming. The Church seems equally unprepared for either revival or for difficult times. Is Your Church A Mule Or A Rabbit? A mule is a creature that has been bred for extinction. A mule is created when you breed a male donkey with a female horse. The resulting creature is a prized work animal. It will work hard as a beast of burden and will live out its life with no particular ill effects, other than a complete inability to reproduce. A mule will never produce another mule. It is that simple. Rabbits on the other hand are legendary for their ability to reproduce and to produce more rabbits. It comes natural. They just can't help themselves! Most churches today are mules. Whether by design and intent or by accident and inability, they never reproduce. In America today we close more churches than we start, like mules incapable of reproducing themselves. There is an important movement underway today which I believe is a genuine movement of God. Thousands of Christians are moving out of traditional, institutional and denominational churches and are beginning to meet as house churches and cell churches. This phenomenon is widespread and it is growing! In order to meet the challenges of the 21st Century I believe that God is raising up thousands, even tens of thousands of house churches & cell churches, prepared to provide the needed leadership for the times in which we live. I believe He is raising up thousands of house churches & cell churches which will be vehicles for the new wine of the coming revival, and to disciple the tens of thousands of new converts who will be the fruit of that revival. And I believe He is raising up thousands of house churches & cell churches which will be havens of shelter and preparedness during the difficult and turbulent times that I believe may lay just ahead. Yes! God is raising up His end-time church(es), and He is preparing and equipping them for effective ministry during the difficult times that may soon come upon both the Church and the world.

Introduction : Page 15 What Is a House Church or a Cell Church? We need to clarify some basic definitional understandings. There are several types or levels of homegroup meetings, including: Home fellowship groups - these are usually extensions of an on-going institutional ("bricks & mortar") Church ministry which meets in the homes of individual members. It may meet for prayer, for fellowship, for bible study or for any number of other reasons. Generally speaking they are not led by elders and the Lords Supper is not celebrated. They can be very popular and very successful, depending upon the group and the church of which they are a part. A House Church - This is different from a home fellowship in that it is a self-contained Church meeting in the homes of individual believers. It has clearly defined leadership (what we would call "elders" and perhaps even "deacons") and meets regularly for all of the functions normally associated with "Church" including fellowship, prayer, worship, instruction & the Lord's table. The Church will vary in size, and it may or may not be related to any other house Church. This is what I call the "Wolfgang Simson Model," as described in his excellent book Houses That Change The World.1 The house church is based upon the model of the church in the New Testament. The home was a central meeting place for the early church. The gospel was preached in homes (see Acts 5:42 & 20:20) and the Lord's supper was celebrated in homes (Acts 2:46). The creation of these churches-inhouses was of the greatest significance for the spreading of the Gospel. By means of its network of house churches the early church personalized its ministry and placed the gospel at the center of the natural order of life. This became the regular pattern of the early church for the next 200 years. A house church is a body or group of believers (a "church"), consisting of 4-to-6 families (around 15to-20 adults), usually led by an elder (one or more) that meets in the home of one of its members for fellowship, prayer, encouragement, study of the word, and ministry. It is within this group and context that the primary ministry of the church takes place. These individual house churches may meet together with other house churches in their area for corporate worship and celebration of what God is doing. A Cell Church - A Cell Church is much like a house church, the primary difference being that it is usually organized into a hierarchy structure and is related to other cell Churches through a structure of supervision and accountability. This is what I call the "Ralph Neighbor Model." 2 I believe that the house church & cell church movement is the "new wineskin" that God is preparing to receive the new wine of renewal and revival, and to serve as a support and ministry network during the difficult times which may soon come upon the world and the Church. At The Parousia Network we don't take sides on which is better or "more biblical," a cell church or a house church. Our goal

Wolfgang Sims on, Houses That Change The World: Towards a Re-Incarnation of Church. Probably the best sing le book on House Church ministry available to-date. Every House Church library s hou ld hav e a we ll-wor n cop y of this book. Published by Dawn International Network, PF 212, 8212 Neuhausen 2, Switzerland, available thru Amazon.com or from Hou se2House ministries at www.house2hou se.tv. Ralph W. Neighbou r, Jr., Where Do We Go From Here?: A Guidebook for the Cell Group Church (10 th Anniversary Edition). This is the book that effectively launched Cell Churches to an American audience. A must read. ISBN 1880828170. Touch Publications, P.O. Box 19888, Houston, TX 77224-9888; Telephone: (800) 735-5865; FAX (281) 4970904; W ebsite: w ww.tou chusa .org.
2

Introduction : Page 16 and vision is to encourage Christians to network in house churches and/or cell churches, thereby becoming the Church that meets in your house. Are House Churches A Threat To The "Local Church?" No, because the house church is the local church. If the "local church" is defined as a body of believers meeting together for fellowship, prayer, encouragement, study of the word, and ministry, then thehouse church is the local church in its purest and simplest form! Also, any institutional Church could re-orient its ministry around a house church or cell church structure. Their refusal to do so may demonstrate a failure to acknowledge that the horse they are riding on has died! We need to stop defending institutions and invest our time and resources into advancing the Kingdom of God! What Is The Parousia Network Of House & Cell Churches? The Parousia Network is a ministry dedicated to encouraging believers to become the Church that meets in their house.

O O

We are a body of believers committed to prayer & fasting for revival in our generation. We are a ministry committed to building strong families because we believe that families are the basic building block of Gods Church and of His social order and structure, and House Churches are a corporate manifestation of this family structure as it seeks to worship God along with other like-minded families. We are a Church that is committed to the practical manifestation and expression of the priesthood of all believers. In House Church we teach and practice the biblical idea that every person is responsible for approaching God in worship, in mutual ministry to one another in the power of the Holy Spirit and the gifts He bestows, and in practical service both to the body of Christ and to the world. We are a Church that believes in the importance of Christian education, beginning in the home, as the responsibility of parents to model Christ in family worship and to teach Christ in all areas of education. For this reason we see a natural and spiritual relationship between House Church and home schooling and other forms of direct Christian education. We work to provide individual believers and families with the training and equipping they need to accomplish Gods Kingdom purposes for themselves and for the Church that meets in their home. We are laboring and praying towards a goal of building a network of house and cell churches which have chosen to affiliate with us for purposes of spiritual covering, accountability, instruction and networking with other like-minded house and cell Churches.

What Are The Unique Emphases Of The Parousia Network? 1. Networking - We believe that the building of reliable networks of believers by means of networking house churches and cell churches is critical for the ministry of the Church in these last days (We discuss the importance of this in greater detail in Chapter 16 of our book The Parousia Strategy). For this reason we have created an Affiliation procedure whereby you and your house church can affiliate with The Parousia Network to begin this process of building of reliable networks of House

Introduction : Page 17 Churches. You will find an Affiliation Application in Section 8 of this Handbook. 2. A Parousia Strategy of Personal Preparedness - At The Parousia Network we believe that the world (and therefore the Church) is on the verge of some challenging and difficult times. If we are truly living in those days prior to the End of The Age then we must be prepared to live and minister in difficult times. We have prepared a detailed response for living in such times which we call The Parousia Strategy, our 350+ page (81/2X11) book and manual for dynamic living during difficult times. It forms an important part of our over all ministry. 3. Fasting & Intercession For Revival & Renewal - At The Parousia Network we believe in a coming revival when the River of Ezekiel 47, the River of the Spirit of God, is going to flow in unprecedented power through the Church, and overflow into the world, renewing the Church and sweeping millions into the Kingdom of God. We believe that home & cell churches are going to play an important role in channeling that River of God's power and providing a biblical environment where young believers can be nurtured, encouraged and discipled for Kingdom ministry. We also believe that fervent fasting and intercession will play a key role in this revival. We believe that our homes and our house churches need to become houses of prayer where fasting & prayer for Gods Kingdom purposes is a way of life. Section 4 of this Handbook deals specifically with prayer. In addition, we have prepared a 300+ page manual for fasting and prayer entitled Proclaim A Fast! We explain the nature, role and purpose of biblical fasting, and we provide a "Fasting & Prayer Devotional Guide and Journal" to assist individuals and groups in studying every major biblical passage on fasting (broken down into 41 daily devotionals). Also, to encourage you in praying for revival we have posted on our site a complete copy of our book, When The Fire Fell: The Great Welsh Revival of 1904 And Its Meaning For Revival Today. You can read a thoroughly documented history of one of the greatest revivals of the 20th Century! 4. Training & Equipping For House Church & Cell Church Ministry - We believe in training and equipping our house church & cell church groups for effective total Kingdom ministry (as described in Matthew Chapter 10 and Luke Chapter 10) in these last days. That is the purpose of this Equipping Handbook, and we are continually producing additional material to assist believers in effective house church & cell church ministry with a practical goal of "reproducibility." To sum it up in a thought: We want a growing network of home and cell churches that multiply and reproduce themselves like rabbits ! We want to create a pattern for house churches & cell churches that is easily reproduced and duplicated, and we believe that organization is one of the keys to easily and quickly multiplying house & cell churches. What About This Notebook? So, what about this notebook? Is this notebook a House Church How To Manual? No. Successful house church or cell church is not based upon any How To manual. Each house church is unique, and that uniqueness is a reflection of the people in that particular church. The purpose of this notebook is not to tell you how to do house church. Its purpose is to equip you to understand and be a part of Gods plan and purpose for house churches in our day. Our goal is to equip you for contemporary house church ministry in eight specific ways. 1. Weltanschaunng - Worldview: There is a reason why church as usual, that is, church as we, our fathers and our grand-fathers have traditionally known it, no longer works for us as it did for them. Western society has become a Post-Christian culture. And that culture has consciously rejected traditional institutional church structures, along with our message of absolute moral and religious truth. The purpose of this first section is to explain the rise of this Post-Christian/Post-Modern

Introduction : Page 18 weltanschaunng or worldview. A worldview is a way of seeing life & the world. It is how we view reality. We all have a worldview, and todays contemporary worldview is predominantly Post-Christian. The Church (defined as the visible body of professing believers wherever they meet) has now become a counter-cultural witness to a Post-Christian culture in decline. 2. Ekklhsia - Introduction to House Church: In the N.T. the Ekklhsia (ekklesia - usually translated church) is literally the assembly of those who have been called out. The N.T. church consisted of believers who met house-to-house. In this section we equip you to understand the N.T. concept of house church, to identify some of its key characteristics, and then to begin the process of becoming the church that meets in your house by helping you think through some of the basic issues that confront newcomers to the house church movement. 3. Plhqunw - Growing Your House Church: The Greek word plhqunw (plethuno - to increase greatly hence to multiply) is the word used in the book of Acts to describe the exponential growth of the early church. One of the greatest dangers of the house church movement is the danger of developing an inward focus that results in its becoming ingrown and losing sight of its primary calling, which is to fulfill Christs Great Commission to disciple the nations (and just how do you disciple a nation?). In this section we seek to challenge you with a vision for the need to become a network of multiplying house churches. We demonstrate the difference between church addition and church multiplication. We show you a model for transforming your house church into a multiplying house church that grows 8-fold! And we offer you two simple strategies for building your house church by mapping your neighborhood and starting the process of becoming the house church that transforms your extended neighborhood. 4. Entugcanw - Praying & Interceding For Your House Church: The Greek word entugcanw (entugchano) is the N.T. word used for the intercession of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:27) and of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7:25) as they intercede on behalf of believers. Oswald Chambers once observed that Prayer does not prepare us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work. No house church ministry will succeed that is not founded upon and bathed in and covered by consistent and fervent prayer and intercession. The purpose of this section is to encourage and to equip you in the ministry of praying, fasting (yes, thats right, fasting) and interceding with and for your house church. 5. Maqhths - Personal Discipleship: In the New Testament, a maqhths, the Greek word we translate disciple, was a pupil, a learner, the close follower of a teacher. In the House Church personal discipleship is more important than ever, because there are no passive participants in House Church ministry. Everyone must come prepared to participate, which means that each person must be pursuing their individual personal discipleship during the week. 6. Didach - Bible Study Notes: It should not be the purpose of House Church to become another Bible study club (there are enough of those already). Rather, it is our goal to study and know the Word of God in such a way that it equips us to become the Church that meets in our homes, and equips us live godly lives in our Post-Christian culture. 7. Yalmos - Song Sheets: Our goal here is to equip our house churches in practical aspects of worship by providing a legal covering for song sheets that you may want to reproduce and use as part of your worship experience in house church. The song sheets included here are covered under our CCLI License and you are free to use them under the guidelines we provide in this section. 8. Peripatew - Additional Helps: The goal of this section is to provide you with additional house church resources and helps. This includes a presentation of the gospel (The Four Spiritual Laws by

Introduction : Page 19 Campus Crusade for Christ), a bibliography of some important house church & cell church books & materials, a doctrinal statement (The Lusanne Covenant) that we use among our affiliated house churches, and an Affiliation Application for individuals and house churches seeking to affiliate with The Parousia Network.

Worldview
There is a flow to history and culture. This flow is rooted and has its wellspring in the thoughts of people. People are unique in the inner life of the mind - what they are in their thought world determines how they act. This is true of their value systems and it is true of their creativity. It is true of their corporate actions, such as political decisions, and it is true of their personal lives. The results of their thought world flow through their fingers or from their tongues into the external world. This is true of Michaelangelos chisel, and it is true of a dictators sword. Francis A. Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live

Section 1 : Page 21

How Should We Then Live?: The Church In A Post-Christian Age

Once Upon A Revival? In the year 1904 a revival broke out in the tiny nation of Wales on the southwest coast of Great Britain. Within six months of its outbreak some 100,000 persons had professed Christ as Savior and joined the Church for the first time. By the time the revival had run its course roughly 5% of the population of Wales had done the same. When the revival spread to America the effect was profound and widespread. In Denver, the Mayor declared Friday, January 20, 1905 a day of prayer. At 11:30 nearly every business and every school in Denver was closed, and the Colorado Legislature voted to postpone business in order to attend city-wide prayer meetings. Similar scenes were repeated in Atlanta where, on November 2nd factories, stores and offices closed at mid-day for prayer and the Supreme Court of Georgia adjourned in order to attend prayer meetings. In Portland, Oregon some 241 businesses signed an agreement to close for three hours between 11 and 2 p.m. in order to allow their customers and employees to attend prayer meetings. Can anyone imagine similar scenes today? Can anyone seriously imagine Michael Eisner closing down Disneyland so patrons and employees could go to Church? Not likely. Businesses would be afraid to close for such religious reasons for fear of offending non-believing customers and employees. And cries of separation of Church and State would ring in the media if Legislatures and Courts were to close or postpone business because of a revival. Background of A Collapse How did a century that began with such spiritual life and promise end with such spiritual and moral darkness that Christian thinkers now refer to our present day as a post-Christian era and the New Dark Ages. In many ways the Church today is awakening Rip van Winkle-like to find itself in a world it scarcely recognizes. How did we get here? How did this happen? It happened because the Church has never really understood or appreciated the long-term impact of ideas. Ideas are like raindrops. Taken individually they appear insignificant and easy to ignore. But over time these raindrops collect and combine to form streams of thought which in turn combine to form rivers of life and culture. For the past 250 years (although we could go back further to the time of the Italian Renaissance of the 1600s) Christianity and western culture have been subjected to a constant rainfall of anti- Christian ideas. From the ridicule of a Voltaire and the skepticism of a David Hume, to the denial of absolute knowledge by an Immanuel Kant, the evolution of a Charles Darwin, the dialectical materialism of a Karl Marx and the undermining influence of biblical criticism, Christianity has been ceaselessly pummeled by a constant rain of anti-biblical ideas that have combined to form a river of doubt and skepticism. By the opening of the 20th century this river of doubt, skepticism and rebellion filled the wells from which Western Civilization drew its drinking water. According to Dr. Carl F. H. Henry (the founding editor of Christianity Today magazine) the 20th century witnessed the most radical reversal of ideas and ideals in human history. Dr. Henry observed that at the beginning of the 20th century textbooks referred to the God of the Bible, and the 10 commandments. There was an emphasis upon revealed values, upon the need for an internal change within man in order to achieve Utopia. But by W orld War 2 something had happened. References suddenly changed from the God of the Bible to

Section 1 : Page 22 Natures God or God in general. Rather than revealed values, the new emphasis was upon shared values. And rather than a change needed in man, the emphasis was placed upon change through education. Finally, in the last half of the 20th century all theistic aspects and references to God had been eliminated. God now counted for nothing in education or in public life. Instead of shared values, the emphasis of the late 20th century was upon the tolerance of diverse values. Instead of change by education and legislation, the emphasis was upon change through revolution and violence. The shift from a Judeo-Christian understanding of the world to an essentially pagan one was relatively swift. But it did not arrive unannounced. In 1960 Gabriel Vahanian published his book, The Death of God: The Culture of Our Post-Christian Era. It represented an intellectual and theological thunderstorm which served to swell a growing torrent of unbelief. In his Introduction to Vahanians work, Professor Paul Ramsey of Princeton boldly announced, Ours is the first attempt in recorded history to build a culture upon the premise that God is dead. Confirming Dr. Henrys observation regarding the watershed years between World Wars, Dr. Ramsey wrote, The period post mortem Dei divides into two distinct eras, roughly at some point between the World Wars. Until that time, the cultural death of God meant something anti-Christian; after it and until now, the death of God means something entirely post-Christian. With a stroke of the writers pen and a wave of the philosophers wand Vahanian ushered in a PostChristian era, The fundamentals of modern culture are neither non-Christian nor anti-Christian; they are post-Christian. They are derived from Christianity, yet in them Christianity suffers not a torture death but a quiet euthanasia. It may be that our age still is religious. But it is certainly post-Christian. Today, some 40 years after the announcement, the Church is still reeling from the impact of these ideas. The Death of God announced in the previous generation has resulted in the death of moral absolutes in the following generation. Gone is the Judeo-Christian commitment to absolute truth which provided the moral compass for an entire culture. For if God is truly dead, then the heavens are silent and there is no divine voice to tell man what is morally right or morally wrong. Now, because all morals are relative and none are absolute, all arguments and discussions regarding right versus wrong (including such issues as homosexuality, abortion, pornography, pedophilia, human stem cell research, euthanasia, race relations, etc.) are a matter of opinion, and all opinions are equally valid (because the passionate holding and voicing of an opinion on any topic now becomes a selfvalidating act). Because there is no absolute truth by which to demonstrate that one moral opinion is valid over another, the result is the current politically correct philosophy of tolerance. Tolerance is the admission that there are no rights or wrongs, no absolute truth by which arguments can be resolved. The Absolute Truth of Gods moral requirements and expectations has been replaced by the new truth of tolerance. And those dissenting voices who proclaim absolute truth and the need for personal repentance and internal change (such as homosexuals repenting of their sin and experiencing a new birth) are regarded as intolerant. Intolerance has become the new cardinal sin of our politically correct post-Christian age. Weve Been Overwhelmed Certainly the Church was not completely silent or inactive while all of this was occurring, but its responses were often late in coming. In the words of Charles Colson, too many churchmen sport theological bellbottoms. The late 1970s witnessed the formation of the Moral Majority and the rise of the conservative religious right in an attempt to rally the Church both to engage the political process and to stem the tide of moral decay that was now apparent. In other words, it was a declaration that the Church and its allies (i.e., those individuals who were conservative in their morals, even if they were not Christian in their convictions) were prepared to wage a cultural war

Section 1 : Page 23 of attrition against the rising neo-paganism of contemporary American culture. The result was the election of Ronald Reagan in what was hailed as the conservative revolution. But shortly after the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan for his first term as President, Dr. Francis Schaeffer wrote a book entitled A Christian Manifesto. In this much-neglected book Dr. Schaeffer, reflecting on the conservative landslide which ushered Reagan into office, warned that, in reality, the landslide was probably a vote for better economic numbers, not a vote for Christian values or conservative policies. In the event those better economic numbers should fail to materialize, Dr. Schaeffer warned that we could see a dramatic reversal in voter attitudes.3 Dr. Schaeffers prophetic warning was realized in the1992 election of Bill Clinton. The intellectual father of the Moral Majority, and a founding father of the conservative religious right, was a man by the name of Paul Weyrich, now President of the Free Congress Foundation. In February of 1999, shortly after the United States Senate failed to convict and impeach President Bill Clinton, Weyrich sent an open letter to his constituents announcing that, in his opinion, we had lost our cultural war of attrition which he had helped launch some twenty years earlier: In looking at the long history of conservative politics, from the defeat of Robert Taft in 1952, to the nomination of Barry Goldwater, to the takeover of the Republican Party in 1994, I think it is fair to say that conservatives have learned to succeed in politics. That is, we got our people elected. But that did not result in the adoption of our agenda. The reason, I think, is that politics itself has failed. And politics has failed because of the collapse of the culture. The culture we are living in becomes an ever-wider sewer. In truth, I think we are caught up in a cultural collapse of historic proportions, a collapse so great that it simply overwhelms politics.4 Like those Churchmen who sport theological bellbottoms in an age of Italian silk suits, Mr. Weyrich, the Christian right and much of the evangelical Church discovered themselves out of touch with a generation that had drunk deeply at tainted wells, polluted by a river of moral doubt and skepticism born of intellectual rainstorms from decades past. In a Christian version of Rip van Winkle, we had fallen asleep in Church and awoke one day to find ourselves in a post-Christian culture that no longer recognizes the values and principles that we were taught to live by. Let me be perfectly frank about it, Mr Weyrich confessed, If there really were a moral majority out there, Bill Clinton would have been driven out of office months ago. What Americans would have found absolutely intolerable only a few years ago, a majority now not only tolerates but celebrates. Mr. Weyrichs conclusion came as a bitter (but professors Ramsey and Vahanian would have said inevitable) pill to swallow, I no longer believe that there is a moral majority. I believe that we probably have lost the culture war. That doesnt mean the war is not going to continue and that it isnt going to be fought on other fronts. But in terms of society in general, we have lost. This is why, even when we win in politics, our victories fail to translate into the kind of policies we believe are important. As Mr. Weyrich and the Church have belatedly discovered the tainted wells of our Post-Christian culture have had a dramatic effect upon the Church itself. Today only 32% of born again adults (and 9% of born again teenagers) claim to be certain of absolute moral truth. Not surprisingly in the light
3

Fran cis A. Scha effer, A Christian Man ifesto (Westchester, Illino is: Cr oss way B ook s, 19 81). D r. Sch aeff ers treatment of this issue is contained in Chapter 6, pp. 73ff. The September 6, 19 99 is sue of Christianity Today mag azine repr inted Mr. W eyrichs letter, alo ng with responses by six leading evangelicals, including Ralph Reed, Cal Thomas, Jerry Falwell, Don Eb erly (his resp ons e is particularly go od), Jam es Do bson a nd Ch arles Co lson. Th ese are a mu st read.
4

Section 1 : Page 24 of this moral collapse, born again adults are more likely to experience a divorce (27%) than are nonborn again adults (24%). In a nationwide survey of born again adults, none of those interviewed said that the single most important goal in their life is to be a committed follower of Jesus Christ. In year 2000 Presidential Election, 43% of born again voters voted for Al Gore, while 46% voted for George W. Bush. In short, while 4 out of 10 adults(or 41%) in our Post-Christian culture profess to be born-again, and while many of these claim to be conservative, they are not walking it out in any way that meaningfully affects the surrounding society. For example, in a recent story on pop stars and their faith, "The St. Petersburg Times" noted that in their sexually suggestive videos and latest single, "Bootylicious," popular R&B trio Destiny's Child, who declare their Christianity in nearly every interview, contradict all the talk about God. "Christians who happen to be bootylicious," the newspaper observed. "Nope. No matter how you work it, these two words don't sound right together." Besides Destiny's Child, Lauryn Hill, R. Kelly, Britney Spears, DMX and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs are other secular artists who frequently voice their religious convictions in public. But the "Times" observed that "their lyrics and public lifestyles don't always jibe with traditional religious beliefs of right and wrong." Commenting on the apparent inability of contemporary Christians to meaningfully affect their culture, Christian trend watcher George Barna recently observed, believers think of themselves as individuals first, Americans second, and Christians third. Until that prioritization is rearranged, the Church will continue to lose influence, and biblical principles will represent simply one more option among the numerous worldviews that Americans may choose from. Revival or Anarchy? In his book The Second Coming of the Church, Christian sociologist George Barna described the state of the American church in terms of two potential outcomes: In fact, having spent the last two decades studying our culture, the American people and Christian churches across the nation, I believe that within the next few years America will experience one of two outcomes that will dictate the course of events and the tenor of life for at least the next half century. One of these possible outcomes is massive spiritual revival. People are desperately seeking meaning and purpose in life. They have tried materialism, sexual promiscuity, careerism, drugs, pop psychology and hyper-leisure, but none of these pursuits have filled their inner void. Now, millions are exploring spirituality to see if perhaps the faith realm holds the key to satisfying their needs. The other highly possible outcome in our society is moral anarchy. This means that America would devolve into a society in which people refuse to recognize or live in obedience to any laws, rules, regulations, customs, traditions, courtesies or norms unless they feel like doing so As a committed Christian, I am urgently praying for revival. As a rational social scientist confronted with a warehouse of behavioral and attitudinal data, I am expecting moral anarchy. At the risk of sounding like an alarmist, I believe the Church in America has no more than five years -

Section 1 : Page 25 probably less - to turn itself and this culture around.5 But in his most recent book, Boiling Point, Dr. Barna, along with co-author Mark Hatch, flatly states that moral anarchy has arrived and now rules our present culture. He argues that the United States is now in a state of spiritual anarchy. 6 Schaeffers Five Pressures & The Rise of New Age Globalism Reflecting upon the post-Christian landscape of the late 20th century Christian philosopher Francis Schaeffer observed that after the death of God and the resulting loss of absolute truth and moral values, modern society would be left with only the two terrible values of personal peace and personal prosperity. With only 22% (or 2 out of 10) of all adults today acknowledging the existence of absolute moral truth, it appears that the day predicted by Dr. Schaeffer has arrived. This was confirmed in a survey following the year 2000 Presidential elections which showed that for most Christian voters, their votes were influenced more by their economic self interest than by their spiritual and moral values. Even the Christian community of our post-Christian age had voted for personal peace and prosperity, rather than for moral absolutes. In words which today (25 years later) seem prophetic Dr. Schaeffer observed that: Overwhelming pressures are being brought to bear on people who have no absolutes, but only have the impoverished values of personal peace and prosperity. The pressures are progressively preparing modern people to accept a manipulative, authoritarian government. This is the dark side of our post-Christian culture. If there is no God in heaven to establish law and to provide a moral compass for human behavior, then there must eventually be a god on earth to fill those roles left vacant. The moral anarchy described by Dr. Barna, combined with the two terrible values of personal peace and personal prosperity described by Dr. Schaeffer places the government of our post-Christian culture in the god-like position of making wide-ranging moral decisions for our self-absorbed culture, without the direction of any clear moral compass. Dr. Schaeffer stated it succinctly as follows: If there is no absolute (or Law of God) by which to judge the State, then the State has become absolute (God). All that now remains to bring about a draconian shift of power to the government is a crisis of sufficient magnitude that it threatens our peace and prosperity, and demands decisive action by a powerful and authoritarian government for its solution. Dr. Schaeffer went on to list five specific pressures which, individually or collectively, could result in the rise of a manipulative, authoritarian government. Those five specific pressures were: 1. Economic Breakdown. While inflation was the economic concern of the 1970s reflected in Dr. Schaeffers analysis, his point went far beyond inflation. Dr. Schaeffer observed that, from a political perspective, with most people dominated by the concept of an ever-expanding affluence, it is difficult or impossible to face the danger of economic recession. Dr. Schaeffer then drew an historical parallel and lesson from history regarding the social and political dangers of economic upheaval among a people who have exchanged moral courage for comfortable affluence. History indicates that at a certain point of economic breakdown people cease being concerned with individual liberties and are ready to accept regimentation. The danger is obviously even greater when the two main
5

George Barna, The Second Coming of the Church (Wo rd Publishing, 1998). You can visit Dr. Barnas website on the inter net at www.barna.org/. See Press Release of April 16, 2001, Researcher Predicts mounting challenges to Christian Church, posted on the internet at www.barna.org
6

Section 1 : Page 26 values so many people have are personal peace and affluence. If the danger of economic breakdown was significant when Dr. Schaeffer wrote those words, then it is even greater today. The intervening 25 years have seen the accumulation and growth of the greatest debt pyramid in the history of the world, accompanied by the greatest boom in personal prosperity that mankind has ever witnessed. But recent economic events, including but not limited to the collapse of the dot.com market and the precipitous decline of high tech stocks, have raised the specter of a serious economic recession that could trigger a collapse of our debt-supported prosperity. And this possibility raises the question of what individual freedoms and what remaining Judeo-Christian values might our postChristian society be willing to sacrifice in order to maintain the fleeting illusion of personal peace and personal prosperity. 2. War or the serious threat of war. When Dr. Schaeffer wrote in the mid-1970s, the greatest threat of war came from the Soviet Union and its allies in Eastern Europe. The intervening years have witnessed the collapse of the Soviet Union, the tearing down of the Iron Curtain, and the substantial reduction of the threat of war from those nations. But new threats of conflict have arisen in the Persian Gulf, the Middle East, the Balkans, North Korea and from the rising power of Communist China. Regarding the threat of war, regardless of its origin, Dr. Schaeffer observed that the threat of war would cause those who have only the values of personal peace and prosperity to be ready for almost any kind of authoritarian government which would be able to remove the threat of war, particularly if (as Augustus did in ancient Rome) it was brought in while seemingly keeping the outward forms of constitutionality. 3. The chaos of violence. Here Dr. Schaeffer specifically referred to the possibility of indiscriminate terrorism. The specter of terrorism has grown and become a reality in the twenty-five years since Dr. Schaeffer sounded his warning, and we have seen his warning regarding terrorist organizations coordinating their efforts dramatically realized in the terrible events of September 11. We in America have yet to see what sacrifice of personal freedoms (personal privacy, financial privacy, etc.) will be required in order to guarantee a return to our post-Christian lifestyles of personal peace and personal prosperity. 4. The radical redistribution of the wealth of the world. Dr. Schaeffer suggested that a radical redistribution of wealth would be accompanied by a lowering of prosperity and affluence among those individuals and countries which have come to take an ever-increasing level of prosperity for granted. This in turn, he argued, could lead to demands for an authoritarian government to preserve the diminishing affluence. Since Dr. Schaeffer made that observation the face of world socialism has changed from old-style communism to New Age Globalism, but this change has made it no less authoritarian. Nor has it changed the reality that socialism is a Christian heresy that seeks to promote a false man-made millennium or utopia on earth which seeks to benefit the masses by impoverishing the affluent. Socialism in all its forms is an attack, whether direct or indirect, upon the 8th commandment (Thou shalt not steal). 5. A growing shortage of food and other natural resources in the world. The resource shortages described by Dr. Schaeffer could easily be created today by the unholy conjunction of radical environmentalism and changes in global weather patterns (whether due to perceived global warming or due to cyclical changes in global weather). In the light of these dangers facing the Church in the post-Christian age the warning of Paul Weyrich to his constituents is sobering: Dont be misled by politicians who say that everything is great, that we are on the verge of this

Section 1 : Page 27 wonderful new era, thanks to technology or the stock market or whatever. These are lies. We are not in the dawn of a new civilization, but the twilight of an old one. We will be lucky if we escape with any remnants of the great Judeo-Christian civilization that we have known through the ages.

How Should We Then Live? The title of Dr. Schaeffers book on the decline of Christian thought was taken from Ezekiel 33:10, How Should We Then Live? Ezekiel 33 is, of course, the great watchman passage in which the Prophet Ezekiel is warned of Gods impending judgment if Israel does not repent of its sin. The culmination of the passage comes in verse 10 where Israel declares, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? While this may sound like a lifestyle question, it is not. Rather, it is a survival question. The Israelites were wondering, if everything Ezekiel had said was true, how could they possibly survive the impending judgment of God. In the end, Israel did not survive. She did not repent. Judgment fell, the nation was taken into captivity by the Babylonians and Jerusalem was destroyed. Twenty-five years ago Dr. Schaeffer wrote his book in the hopeful prayer that the coming generation (in which we now live) may get its feet out of the paths of death and may live (Schaeffer, page 258). Unfortunately, the decline which Dr. Schaeffer so ably analyzed and documented has continued, even accelerated, during the intervening years. And in the ensuing struggle the traditional organized and institutional Church as most of us have known and experienced it has been overwhelmed by a surging tide of post-Christian paganism. Now the Church of the 21st Century is caught between the horns of a dilemma. On the one hand, if our sins and those of our culture overtake us, like a modern day Lot who never left Sodom, and the judgment of God falls, how shall we escape? On the other hand, what about the possibility of a genuine movement of the Spirit of God in revival that renews the Church and sweeps millions of new souls into the Kingdom of God. How should the Church of Jesus Christ be responding to this dilemma and the challenges before us? How can we shed our theological bellbottoms and respond in a manner that is appropriate to our times, and even anticipatory of what may yet be coming? How can we become a prophetic counter-cultural witness to (and at times against) our post-Christian and increasingly pagan culture? Many Christians today are looking to the possibility of widespread revival as a quick and easy solution to the problem of long-term cultural decay. But neither history nor Scripture offer any guarantee that revival will bring social and cultural transformation and the reversal of long-term decay. While the Evangelical Awakening in England in the 1700s transformed English Society, it was a process that unfolded over a period of 100 years. Are we prepared to take a long-term view of renewal, transformation and the long-term impact of biblical ideals. Are we willing to commit ourselves to lifestyles of personal discipleship, regular fasting and fervent intercession for revival? And as we pray and plan for the possibility of a new movement of the Spirit of God in revival (yes, even in the midst of a collapsing post-Christian culture) are we prepared to radically re-think our failed institutional and organizational structures and to implement new ones. We need new structures which can absorb, encourage and equip the fruit of revival (young believers who need fellowship, encouragement and instruction) and which provides for the meeting of individual needs during difficult times (including persecution). I believe that the next great movement of Gods Spirit in power and revival will manifest itself in and through small groups of believers meeting as home/cell churches or fellowships. While many traditional churches are looking to revival in the hope that God will renew failed programs or dying institutions, history tells us that this seldom happens. God seldom revives institutions or

Section 1 : Page 28 structures. As Jesus warned us, new wine tends to destroy old wineskins (institutions or structures). New wine calls for new wineskins, and I believe that networking home/cell churches will be the new wineskin of the next great outpouring of Gods Spirit in revival and renewal.

Section 1 : Page 29

And If Not . . .: A Christian Manifesto For The 21st Century

Introduction In the first lesson (How Should We Then Live?: The Church In A Post-Christian Age) of this 12 part series we examined the rise of our post-Christian culture and the need for the Church to respond as a counter-cultural witness. Based upon what we saw in that lesson I am convinced that the Church cannot expect to fight and win a war of attrition against our post-Christian culture in such areas as politics, economics, philosophy and the arts. In the words of Paul W eyrich (one of the architects of the culture war and the religious right), That doesnt mean the war is not going to continue and that it isnt going to be fought on other fronts. But in terms of society in general, we have lost. Those who claim that we can win the cultural war are more provocateurs of other agendas than they are agents of genuine spiritual change (which is what we eventually want to see take place). One of the problems with waging a war of worldviews against our culture is that not only has our culture become post-Christian, but many of our Churches and denominations have become postChristian as well. The barbarians are no longer outside the gates of our castle churches. As we will see, they are in the pews and on the boards, and, sometimes, they are even in the pulpit. Our loss of the culture war in the public arena has left many Christians disillusioned, angry and bitter. Then, to see a similar moral and spiritual collapse occur within the Church has only intensified our disillusionment and our anger. But heres the rub. You and I cannot build a new work or movement of God on a foundation of disillusionment, anger or bitterness. God doesnt want a disillusioned and angry people. Thats a formula ripe for the Enemy and his spiritual and human provocateurs to exploit. God wants us to move from disillusionment and anger to brokenness and humility, because in the soil of broken and humble hearts He can plant the seed of a new vision. When we read or hear about the moral and spiritual collapse of our culture, or about the failings of our traditional church structures, our hearts should be broken and we should grieve like those who are reading the obituary of an old and dear friend. Abandon Ship: How Spiritual Hodge Podge and Minimalist Christianity are Sinking The Church The overall percentage of Americans who identify themselves as Protestant (as opposed to Catholic, Jewish, Moslem or something else) has fallen from 61% in 1980 to 55% in 1999. Overall church attendance in America has fallen to its lowest levels since WW2 with only 4 out of 10 American adults attending church on any given Sunday. Surveys show that some 10 million born again believers have simply dropped out of the organized church. I believe that Christians are leaving the traditional institutional church for the same basic reasons they are leaving politics. They feel betrayed and let down. They dont see the church functioning and ministering like they envisioned that it should. They can see the difference between life in the contemporary church and life as it is portrayed in the church of the N.T., and they cant understand why we have settled for a shadow of that reality. Their expectations have been disappointed and their needs are not being met. But the problem does not stop there. The church today appears plagued by an addiction to nominal and minimalist Christianity that demands little and affects even less. It is a faith that seeks the lowest common denominator for commitment by asking, What is the least I must believe to be in; what is

Section 1 : Page 30 the least I must do to be included. It is a faith devoid of any clear theology, where opinion substitutes for doctrine and good intentions pass for divine inspiration. In the absence of either discipline or outward pressure to the contrary (i.e., persecution, national or personal disaster, etc.) the tendency of Christianity is to drift toward nominalism and minimalism. What is the least that I must do? In the generations since WW2 the Church in America (and in the Western nations generally) sensed no immediate outward threat to its existence or freedom; nothing out of the ordinary. We even felt somewhat encouraged by the conservative political landslide of the 1980s. We sensed the possibility of cultural victory and the adoption of a conservative (if not specifically Christian) social agenda that mirrored our conservative moral commitments. But suddenly, more suddenly than anyone expected, it vanished like winter hoar-frost caught by the rays of the sun. We had failed to heed the warnings offered by Francis Schaeffer that the conservative landslide was not so much a vote for Christian moral values as it was a vote for better economic numbers. When the economic numbers turned sour the conservative agenda evaporated to be replaced with paganism in the form of a virulent political correctness. This nominalist or minimalist approach to faith has produced disappointing results in the pews. In recent research done by George Barna and Mark Hatch they discovered that among born-again adults:

O O O O

68% believe the Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves (it doesnt!). 25% believe that Jesus committed sins while on earth (He didnt!). 30% believe Jesus was not physically resurrected (He was, or our faith is in vain!). 30% believe all religions teach the same basic truths (no, they dont).

Based on these research results it should come as no surprise that Hatch and Barna conclude that the church is rotting from the inside out, crippled by a-biblical theology. In a separate study of born again Christians sociologist Wade Clark Roof (see his book, Spiritual Marketplace) confirms that many people who describe themselves as born again Christians actually hold beliefs that are in conflict with historic, biblical Christianity. According to Roof, roughly 25% of his respondents believed in the possibility of communicating with the dead; some 30% believed in reincarnation and astrology; 50% said they believed in psychic powers, and mirroring Barna & Hatchs research, some 50% believed that the various religions of the world are equally good and true. In a culture people (whether Christians or not) live out what they think, and in the church individuals live out what they profess to believe. Culture, whether in the Church or in the outside world, is an expression of the heart and the values of a people. If we want to change the outward product then we must labor to change the inner producer. The crippling effect of such a-biblical (or un-biblical) theology can be readily seen in the lives of those born-again people who attend these churches. If God helps those who help themselves, then hard work on our own behalf will come before prayer for Gods intervention. If Jesus committed sins while on earth, how could he die for my sins or provide forgiveness for my sins or cleansing from my guilt? And if God didnt have the power to raise Jesus from the dead, how could He have the power necessary to answer my prayers or heal the brokeness of my life? And if all religions teach the same basic truths, where is the absolute truth I need to guide me through the maze of moral and spiritual decisions I must make in my life? And if there is no absolute truth, why should I be absolutely committed to Christianity and biblical values if the same basic truths can be found (with less requirements) in other religions. According to Dr. Barnas research these theologically bewildered born again adults are more likely (27%) to experience a divorce than are non-born again adults (24%). Only 8% of them will tithe (give 10% or more of their

Section 1 : Page 31 income) to their church, and 16% will give no money at all to their church during the year. Born again adults spend 7 times as much time on entertainment as they do on spiritual activities. And in a nationwide survey of born again adults, none of those interviewed said that the single, most important goal in their life is to be a committed follower of Jesus Christ. It appears that being born again just doesnt mean what it used to mean. Not only has the current generation of believers abandoned the historic Creeds and Confessions and Doctrinal Statements which have historically set the boundaries of orthodox belief, contemporary Christianity has become a theological bean bag chair that each person adjusts and reshapes until they are comfortable and to fit whatever beliefs they choose to hold, regardless of how un-biblical they may be. The purpose of good theology is not to create a theological box or straight jacket from which there is not escape or variation, but to create a solid and lasting foundation upon which to build a house glorifying to God, Christ Jesus being the Chief Cornerstone. And to have a practical standard by which to judge and discern truth from error. In 1904 during the Welsh Revival Evan Roberts said, Bend the Church, save the world. His meaning was plain and simple. If the Church is bent to the will and purposes of God the result will be that God will use such a renewed and obedient Church to redeem the world. We need to renew his cry by declaring, Renew the Church, transform the world. The Church renewed in both its spirit and its structure is the worlds only hope to avoid the judgment of God in our generation and its only hope for cultural transformation. And If Not . . . I believe we are engaged in one of the greatest spiritual conflicts of this present age. Whether or not this spiritual battle is preparing us for the End of The Age, only God knows. But great spiritual conflicts tend to characterize times of great transition. If God is indeed calling out and raising up His end-time church then we should not be surprised at the intensity of the conflict. And in the midst of this battle we should seek to remember and to learn from great battles of the past. In early 1940 the British and their allies sent a force of some 350,000 men into the low countries of Europe to stem the tide of German advance into France, Belgium and Holland. Caught in a brilliant pincer movement by the invading German forces the beleaguered British Expeditionary Force was pushed back to the beaches of the small Belgian town of Dunkirk. To everyones surprise the Germans halted their advance to regroup. As England and the world waited for what appeared to be the sure and certain annihilation of 350,000 men a three word message was transmitted from the besieged army at Dunkirk. It read simply, And if not. The British people understood the biblical import of the cryptic message. It was a reference to the Old Testament book of Daniel, where Daniel and his friends chose death rather than worship an image of the pagan king, If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up (Daniel 3:17-18). The British Expeditionary Army, surrounded, cutoff and on the brink of destruction was declaring to Britain and to the world that even in apparent defeat they were, in fact, victorious. The message, more eloquent than a sermon delivered in St. Pauls Cathedral, galvanized the British people. In a matter of hours thousands of boats of every description headed across the dangerous waters of the English Channel and, at the risk of their own lives from enemy fire, began the evacuation of the heroic but beleaguered army in what historians now refer to as the miracle of Dunkirk.

Section 1 : Page 32 The situation of the present-day Church in America and the West is not unlike that of the British Army at Dunkirk. The evangelical Church has been surrounded by a post-Christian culture bent on ridding itself of this religious nuisance. It rejects biblical absolute truth and offers in its place an equally absolute and politically correct ideology of tolerance toward all views, except Christian ones. Christian values (such as abstinence and fidelity) are rejected and Christian speech (expressed through public prayer, art, political action, etc.) is censored or deemed unconstitutional. And Christian faith-based initiatives are welcomed only if they come wrapped in generic, non-religious packaging. You can offer a cup of cool water, so long as you dont offer it in the name of Jesus (it is unclear who will be offended, the thirsty man or the government watchdog). Many Christians today are praying and looking for revival, renewal and awakening as the solution to church renewal and cultural transformation as happened in England in the 1700s as a result of the Evangelical Awakening. Perhaps God will send an awakening that will renew the church and transform our post-Christian culture. And if not . . . ? Perhaps God will send an awakening that restores absolute truth to a confused church and to a truthstarved culture? And if not . . . ? Perhaps God will send an awakening that will reverse the theological rot that eats away at the heart of the institutional, organized church. And if not . . . ? Perhaps God will send an awakening that transforms our culture, that puts an end to abortion, homosexuality, racism, violence, materialism, drugs, alcoholism, internet pornography, B-grade movies, radical environmentalism, new age globalism, UFO delusions, human cloning and a host of other ills, and unravels the mountain of debt that threatens to collapse western economies. Perhaps. And if not . . . ? What We Need: A New Christian Manifesto For The 21st Century As Christians now living in the context of a post-Christian culture that is at best tolerant of biblical values, and at worst is openly hostile towards them, it is time for us to recognize and embrace what we are: an underground Church and a counter-cultural witness to a formerly Christian culture, now in the fading twilight of its former greatness. What light remains is not the dawn of a new age, but the light thrown off by fading embers of what once burned brightly. What is needed now is a new and strategic game plan to resist the encroaching paganism, to organize Gods people into networks of house churches & cell churches, to encourage one another in the long-term task of counter-cultural witness and to insightfully critique our culture and its institutions, rather than to be critiqued and marginalized by them. We need to become Gods confessing and underground church. As we become Gods confessing underground Church, a counter-cultural witness to the collapsing culture around us, we may soon find it necessary to adopt the tactics and techniques of classic underground resistance movements. For this reason, it should come as no surprise that, in the Providence of God, the past 20 years has seen the worldwide emergence of the house church and cell church movement. We need to re-assert our absolute dependence upon resurrection power. It was in this power that our Lord Jesus Christ lived and ministered, that was promised by Jesus to the Church, that was

Section 1 : Page 33 demonstrated in the daily life of the New Testament Church and that was the life-long prayer of the Apostle Paul. Much of the visible Church today has lost touch with the power of the Resurrection, caught up instead in fruitless debates regarding Pentecostalism vs. non-Pentecostalism. As a result, were no longer a resurrection power people, having come to rely instead upon methodologies, resources and strategies. What is needed now is thousands of believers committed to fast and to pray for the River of Ezekiel 47, the River of Gods Power and Presence to flow in renewed power to empower and transform His Church! We need to reaffirm our belief in the existence of absolute truth in all of its manifestations as revealed in Scripture and as taught in the historic Creeds & Confessions of the Church, and that such truth is not culturally limited, but is binding upon all men at all times and in all places and is the standard by which the laws of nations and the actions of men are to be judged. We need to recapture a biblical sense of authentic Christian community. We need to network our families in house churches and cell churches to encourage and protect each others families and marriages. We need to affirm that it is more important that we gather in our homes in groups of 10-20 to fast and pray and worship and to share our lives with one another as a witness to unbelievers, than it is to gather 10,000 people together in an arena. We need to recognize that we are the objects of a full-court press. There is a spiritual battle underway in which Satan seeks to blind the minds of our generation with peace & prosperity while bankrupting them morally and spiritually. And where he cannot bankrupt them spiritually he seeks to delude them or dilute their testimony. This full-court press means that the Church corporately, Christians individually, as well as every cultural manifestation of Christianity in the public square (schools, government, etc.) Are all under relentless attack. We need to renew our biblical commitment to fight debt and economic slavery. We have been sold a bill of goods to believe that we could transform Vanity Fair (of Pilgrims Progress fame) into a Christian destination resort. But we awoke one morning deeply in debt and wondering how we got here. We need to realize that the mark of the beast system is here and has been for some time. It is a system that seeks to control our thoughts and our actions. We need to reject Vanity Fair as our operative model for Christian living or ministry. We need to recapture our sense of being eschatological communities. These are communities of believers who live their lives in the shadow of our Lords return. Churches today are increasingly fragmented. We are no longer eschatological communities of like-minded and committed believers, bound together by our commitment to the gospel and our belief in the Lords soon return. We need to recapture the challenge and warning of Jesus to the Church as an eschatological community to work for the Kingdom while it is yet day, because night is coming when no man can work (John 9:4). We need to recognize that the promise of revival, renewal and awakening is the only hope for the renewal of the Church and the transformation of our culture. For this reason we commit ourselves to be a people of fervent intercession and regular fasting, imploring God that the River of the Water of Life of Ezekiel 47 might flow in new depth and fresh power in our generation. And if not?

Section 1 : Page 34

Terrorism, Transformation & The River

Ancient Terrorism In August of the year A.D. 410 the city of Rome was besieged and sacked by Alaric I, King of the Visigoths. A disgruntled slave opened the gate of the ancient city, the Goths poured in, and for the first time in 800 years the great city was taken by an enemy. Romes fall had a devastating effect upon Roman Christians and non-believers alike. Why, they asked, should the city whose beauty and power men had built and admired through the many centuries, and which was now the center of Christendom (i.e., the kingdom of Christ) be ravaged by the barbarians. Many Christians were shaken in their faith. They had come to equate the stability of Christianity with the stability of Rome (or America?). The pagans attributed the disaster to the Christians (hmm, nothing really changes does it?!), claiming that the ancient gods had withdrawn their ancient, thousand-year protection from Rome. When the news of Alarics sack of Rome reached North Africa, Carthage to be precise, followed by thousands of despairing refugees, St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo was moved to respond. Augustine labored for 13 years to produce an explanation, which he titled Civitas Dei, The City of God. Rome had been punished, argued Augustine, not for abandoning her traditional gods in favor of her new religion (Christianity) but for her continued sins. Augustine went on to argue that, rather than looking for and pursuing an earthly city (civitas terrena, for you Latin buffs), Christians should be pursuing the city of God, Mankind is divided into two sorts: such as live according to man, and such as live according to God. These we mystically call the two cities or societies, the one predestined to reign eternally with God, the other condemned to perpetual torment with the Devil. Augustine was not a doom-and-gloomer, but a Christian theologian and philosopher (and a pastor) who understood that nations and economies rise and fall, but Christians are seeking a city unshakeable, whose founder and builder is God. Augustine understood what happens when worldviews collide. When Worldviews Collide On Tuesday, September 11, America experienced more than terrorists colliding airliners into skyscrapers. We experienced a collision of worldviews. On that day our post-Christian worldview of personal peace and personal prosperity (see my article How Should We Then Live: The Church In A Post-Christian Age) was shattered by something completely unanticipated: the reality of a religious worldview that calls for the destruction of everything Christian, even a nominal post-Christian civilization like our own that long ago traded its biblical, Judeo-Christian heritage for a mess of secular, politically-correct and materialistic pottage. B.B. Warfield in his lectures at Princeton Seminary once declared that the last great battle of this age would be fought between the opposing forces of Calvinism and atheism, with all competing philosophies being crushed like rotten ice between these two great colliding icebergs. Warfield understood that ultimate battles are not between armies, but between worldviews, and world views are ultimately religious in nature. In the ancient world, both inside and outside of the Bible, warfare was religious in nature. In ancient Rome, when Rome went to war the doors of the temple of Mars (the Roman god of war) were opened

Section 1 : Page 35 and the sacrificial fires burned continually as long as Roman armies were engaged in the field. When victory was won and peace achieved, the sacrificial fires were extinguished and the doors of the temple were closed. And at all times, the image of the winged goddess of victory stood in the Roman Senate (until banned and removed by Emperor Theodosius I in A.D. 381). In the Old Testament, war was a religious affair. The ten plagues upon Egypt represented Jehovahs attack upon the gods of Egypt, and the delivery of Israel from Egypt represented the victory of Jehovah over those gods. Israels God was greater than the gods of Egypt. Our rationalistic, secular and post-Christian culture tends to dismiss such quaint superstitions. They dont see a spiritual conflict, and they ridicule anyone who suggests that there might be a spiritual significance (i.e., judgment, wake-up-call, etc.) as un-American. Let us be clear. This was a terrible personal tragedy the pain of which will not go away any time soon, and the ripple effects of which will be felt for years to come. But after our grieving, our responses, both personal and national, must be motivated by more than a desire to return to our post-Christian values of undisturbed personal peace and personal prosperity. Even if the threat of Islamic Fundamentalist terrorism is eventually defeated (as everyone assumes it will be), the contest may simply exhaust what little Christian capital is left in our increasingly post-Christian culture. But naked materialism is an insufficient and spiritually bankrupt worldview upon which to build a culture, even when wrapped in patriotism and sung to the tune of God Bless America. Transformation Or Judgment Ours is not the first generation in the history of the Church to be confronted with understanding and responding to the collapse of existing moral, economic and geo-political structures. But we do seem to be the first generation of believers to think that God somehow owes us an awakening and a cultural transformation that will heal all of societys ills and deliver us from the consequences of our nominalistic faith and from the resurgent post-Christian paganism that seems poised to overwhelm us like Alarics hordes poised at the gates of Rome. We have already written previously about ours being a post-Christian culture and some of the ramifications of this, but what does this mean for the future. What is God going to do in our day, to the church and to our society? Will we have revival and cultural transformation, as in England under John Wesley that will reverse our post-Christian decline? Or is God going to send judgment upon us, as He did upon Rome, for the multitude of our accumulated sins. By our collective and individual behavior weve certainly earned Gods judgment, or He owes Sodom & Gomorrah an apology for acting rashly and unfairly. There is much talk in the evangelical Church today about the possibility of cultural transformation, talk that is spurred on by such presentations as the two Transformations videos produced by George Otis, Jr. Such stories of local and regional awakenings from different parts of the world are encouraging as the Christian community in America and around the world fasts and prays for genuine spiritual renewal and awakening in our generation. But a cautionary word is in order. History is not kind to the naive. Contemporary Christians often tend to be naive regarding revival and its effects upon both the Church and the world. Many churches and organizations are looking and praying for revival in the hope that its coming will revive failed programs and resurrect dying structures and institutions. But historically, revival tends to renew people, not buildings, structures or programs. Methodism began as a society within the Anglican Church, but the fires of the Wesleyan renewal eventually forced a split which resulted in the birth of the Methodist Church. In the Second Great Awakening of 1799-1811 similar struggles occurred. The Presbyterian

Section 1 : Page 36 Church attempted to try two of its revival leaders, James McGready and Barton Stone, for heresy stemming from their involvement in the revival. McGready reconciled with the Church, but Stone withdrew to form the Cumberland Presbytery, which continues today as the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The new wine of revival tends to wreak havoc on the old wine skins of the Church, and it is naive to expect otherwise. We also tend to be naive regarding the effects of revival upon the surrounding culture, what today is referred to as transformation. The Wesleyan revival had a profound effect upon the social structure of 18th century England, with ripple effects which lasted for 100 years, leading eventually to the non-violent banishment of slavery from England in the early 1800s. In the Welsh Revival of 1904 the immediate effects were equally profound. Taverns went bankrupt, stocks of bibles sold out and crime nearly vanished in south Wales. County judges were issued white gloves signifying no cases to try, and in one county precinct the policemen, having no crimes to investigate, turned their energies to forming four mens singing quartets to perform in area churches. But there were other aftereffects. The Wesleyan renewal served to prepare England for the upheaval of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars which would follow. In America, the Great Awakening of the 1740s prepared the colonies for the coming trial of the War for Independence and the spiritual decline that it entailed. The 2nd Great Awakening of 1799-1811 was followed and effectively ended by the War of 1812-14. The Manhattan Prayer Revival of 1857-58 was followed three years later by the terrible upheaval of the Civil War. The great Welsh Revival of 1904 swept around the world, giving birth to the modern Pentecostal movement before blazing forth in Korea in 1907. But this worldwide outpouring was followed within seven years by the guns of August, 1914" and the great bloodletting of the First World War. Perhaps the lesson here was best summarized by Ford C. Ottman in his biography of Presbyterian evangelist J. Wilbur Chapman. Writing in the 1920s, and reflecting back over the history of modern revivals Ottman made the following observation: As we look back over these extra-ordinary religious awakenings which . . . so quickened the churches and so effectively pressed the claims of God upon the consciences of multitudes, we cannot escape the conviction that God in gracious providence was reaping a spiritual harvest before he permitted the outburst of revolutionary forces that have overwhelmed the world, impoverished almost every nation, produced economic and social chaos, and stained with dishonor the pride of Christian civilization. In the history of revivals, it has often been noted that such restoral periods are a warning of, and synchronize with, impending judgment. The harvest is gathered before the field is doomed to death. Predicting and prophesying a coming revival (and the hoped for transformation) has become somewhat of a cottage industry in the Church today (probably second only to predicting the endtimes). I, too, genuinely believe that we are on the verge of another great high tide of Gods movement in our generation. I have felt this and prayed for this intensely for the past 5 years (and counting). But I cannot help but ask the question that history and the experience of the Church inevitably presents: What will be left behind this time when the tide of revival recedes? What will be the aftereffects, and the aftermath? I genuinely believe that we cannot adequately or properly prepare for the coming revival without asking these questions. There are voices in the church today which argue that God needs America (her wealth, her international power, etc.) in order to advance the Kingdom of God, so God will not judge America in any significant way, because to do so would jeopardize His cause (the Christians of the 5th century

Section 1 : Page 37 probably felt the same way about Rome). The problem is that God always judges & punishes unrepentant sin. But He reserves the right to withhold and to delay judgment to some future date, even until eternity and The Day of Judgment itself. Judgment delayed in this world is not the same thing as judgment denied, in either this world or in the next. God also reserves the right to be selective, to renew one and not another, to judge one now while postponing the judgement of another, to send renewal to His Church while at the same time sending judgment upon a rebellious and unbelieving world. He even reserves the right, as in Jonahs day, to proclaim judgment, to send revival, to subsequently postpone the promised judgment based upon the response of people to the revival, and then to chastize an obedient-but-sulking prophet who was disappointed that God had lived up to His reputation of being merciful toward people so lost in their sins that they do not know the difference between their right and left hand (Jonah 4:11). God has an unfortunate habit of being immensely more patient with and merciful towards sinners than we are. As Jonah discovered, mercy and compassion towards those (other than ourselves) who dont deserve it can be one of His more irritating attributes. In short, He is not a tame lion, to paraphrase C.S. Lewis. He will have mercy upon whom He will have mercy (Romans 9:18). And so it is with the issues of spiritual renewal and cultural transformation. Whether we will or will not have spiritual awakening and cultural transformation does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy (Romans 9:16). His mercy encourages us to fast and to pray for it, proclaiming with the prophet, Who knows whether He will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him (Joel 2:14). His holiness and His judgment of sin warn us that neither revival nor transformation are ever guaranteed outcomes, and there are times both personally and nationally when we are called upon to reap the bitter harvest of what we have sown. And Augustine would remind us that even on its best day, the earthly city which is this world system is fundamentally opposed to Gods kingdom purposes and is ultimately doomed to judgment. Preparing A Channel For The River God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. My favorite Psalm is Psalm 46, and following the events of September 11 the Lord nudged me to read it again. The first three verses (quoted above) describe trusting God when all the world around us and all those things in which we have trusted suddenly move and our lives are thrown into upheaval. This is an appropriate description of what has happened to many people lately. Like those Romans who felt their world shattered by the collapse of Rome, many people today have had their personal worlds shaken and shattered by recent events. And there is probably more to come. The world and its inhabitants are in turmoil; the mountains are slipping, the seas are roaring, and peoples hearts are filled with fear and foreboding. But in the midst of this turmoil, verses 4 - 7 speak of a river which continues to flow in spite of the surrounding turmoil. It is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling places of the Most High. I believe this is the River of The Spirit of God, the River of the Water of Life. Let me come straight to the point, a point I see reflected here in this passage. The world and our surrounding culture is in great turmoil and consternation, just as the Psalmist describes. It will probably get worse before it gets better. But through all of this turmoil God is preparing and building a new channel for the flow of His River. This channel will consist of the holy dwelling places of the

Section 1 : Page 38 Most High. I believe this channel will be made up of thousands of house churches where families & friends gather together to worship, to seek God, to minister to one another in good times and bad, to be the Church that meets in your house, and to reach out in love and compassion to non-Christian individuals and families around them. The importance and centrality of home and family was touchingly illustrated in recent events as doomed passengers called home on their cell phones in what they knew to be the closing moments of life in order to tell family and loved ones of their love and prayers. How did we ever miss this? And how did we ever think we could build strong, vibrant, culturally-transforming Churches upon any human foundation other than spiritually strong and vibrant families? If we genuinely want to witness and experience the transformation of our culture, then we must be willing to seek and pray for the revival and transformation of ourselves, our families, our homes and the Church that meets in our homes. I believe that God is preparing and raising up His new underground Church for these times, composed of countless house churches where families meet to be the Church. I believe it will occur within the context, as the Psalmist describes, of tremendous upheaval and uncertainty in the world around us. But in the midst of this upheaval and uncertainty God will pour out the River of The Water of Life in renewal and revival, which will make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling places of the Most High. May the River of His Spirit flow through your family, your home and the Church that meets in your house, renewing and giving fresh life to all It touches. Let The River Flow!

Introduction to House Church

The Christian ekklesia was both new and old -- new, because of its relation and witness to Jesus as the Messiah and to the epoch-making events of His death, exaltation, and sending of the Spirit; old, because it was the continuation and successor of the old congregation of Jehovah which had formerly been confined within the limits of one nation but was now to be thrown open to all believers without distinction F.F. Bruce The Acts of The Apostles New International Commentary of the New Testament

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 40

House To House: The Underground Church of the New Testament

A Counter Cultural Witness The Church today, at the opening of the 21st Century is discovering that it has many things in common with the Church of the 1st Century, including the fact that it is increasingly a counter-cultural witness to a secular culture in the late stages of decline. It didnt take long for the early Christian Church to find itself in the position of being a counter-cultural witness on two fronts. For the first 35 years of its existence it was a counter-cultural witness to an institutional Judaism which had rejected Jesus as the Messiah and which actively engaged in sporadic persecutions of the Way until the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple put an end to institutional Judaism itself in A.D. 70. But around A.D. 67 Christianity also found itself forced into the position of being a counter-cultural witness to the dominant Roman culture. Following the fiery conflagration that consumed a good part of the city of Rome, the Emperor Nero blamed the disaster upon the Christians and declared the profession of Christian faith to be a capital offense, punishable by death. For the next 250 years Christianity would exist as an underground network of house churches, and Christians would live their lives as a counter-cultural witness to a secular culture in decline. First Century Background & Overview In the first century, Jews gathered in assemblies known as Synagogues. The Synagogue, which derives from the Greek verb meaning to gather together, referred primarily to the official gathering of 10 adult male Jews. Only secondarily did it come to refer to the place where they gathered. Following Pentecost the early believers, who were mostly Jews, continued to attend synagogue and to worship in the Temple in Jerusalem. But they also added an aspect that had been missing among pious Jews. They began to meet in one anothers houses. Jewish converts to Christianity were soon banned from synagogues and open persecution made attendance at Temple services difficult. As the Church spread into predominantly Gentile (i.e., non-Jewish) areas, neither Synagogue nor Temple attendance were important to Gentile converts. But the Church, consisting of both Jews and Gentiles, continued to meet house to house. The Church began to replace the Synagogue as the focus of Christian activity. But like the original meaning of synagogue, the designation church referred to any assembly of Christians gathering together for worship. The word translated church in the New Testament is the Greek word ekklesia. It comes from the Greek preposition ek meaning from or out of, and the Greek verb kaleo meaning to call. Hence, the ekklesia is the assembly of called-out ones. The word has no reference to a meeting place or building. It is a description of those who meet. They are those who have been called out. The word has both a Gentile and a Jewish background: 1. In classical Greek it denoted the citizen-assembly of a Greek city-state (or polis). 2. In the Greek Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew O.T.) it is one of the words used to denote the nation of Israel in its religious character as the congregation of Jehovah. Jews of Jesus day could not read Hebrew. The Greek Septuagint was the Old Testament with which most Jews were familiar. In Deuteronomy and the following O.T. books, except Jeremiah and Ezekiel, it is the regular Septuagint equivalent for the Hebrew word qahal (assembly). Jews of Jesus day would relate the ekklesia (which we translate church) with the qahal (assembly) of the Old Testament. The Christian ekklesia was both new and old -- new, because of its relation and witness to Jesus as the Messiah and to the epoch-making events of His death, exaltation, and sending of the Spirit;

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 41 old, because it was the continuation and successor of the old congregation of Jehovah which had formerly been confined within the limits of one nation but was now to be thrown open to all believers without distinction (F.F. Bruce, page 116). House Churches In The New Testament There can be little question that the house, household or home played a prominent and unique role in the life of the New Testament Church. Indeed, it is impossible to understand the operation and life of the New Testament Church apart from the context of the house in which it met and in which ministry occurred. In Greek there were 2 primary words for house: 1. oikia - In Classical Greek this word denoted primarily the dwelling place, the house itself, consisting of a building. 2. oikos - This word originally referred to the broader estate of which the house (oikos) was a part, but which also included the premesis, the family property and even the inhabitants of the house. It was this broader or extended sense that led to the concept of household or extended family. By the time of the N.T. the words had lost most of their clear distinctiveness and were used more or less as synonyms, although some distinctives remained. For example, when the New Testament says that salvation comes to a house, the word used is always oikos (not oikia, with the possible exception of John 4:53). Also, the word oikia is not used in the NT to refer to the church in your house (oikos). The distinctive use of oikos rather than oikia in these two situations suggests that Scripture wants to emphasize the extended household (or what we might refer to as the home or family) aspect of the people involved as opposed to the physical house. Acts 2:43-47 provides us with an excellent snap shot of New Testament house churches at work. Within a brief period of 50 days (from the resurrection to Pentecost) the early Church found itself in the midst of a revival in which it quickly grew from 120 people gathered in the upper room to a group of 3,000 new converts (Acts 2:41). And since this number probably represented only the number of men (see Acts 4:4), the addition of women and children probably pushed this total to around 10,000 new converts who were now a part of the young church. If true, then our passage from Acts 2:43-47 is describing a structure of home-churches or networking cell churches that absorbed as many as 10,000 young believers. Within another chapter-and-a-half (encompassing what appears to be only a few days) the ranks of the young church swelled again with another 5,000 men (Acts 4:4) or up to another 15,000 men, women and children (for a total ingathering of as many as 25,000 new converts). And yet this structure of networking home/cell churches absorbed this flood of converts and met their needs for encouragement, instruction and provision. I seriously doubt that our present traditional church-building structure could do this. In the New Testament, houses were frequent centers of ministry activity, both for Jesus and for the early Church. The home was a central meeting place for the early church. The gospel was preached in homes (see Acts 5:42 & 20:20) and the Lords supper was celebrated in homes (Acts 2:46). The creation of these house churches was of the greatest significance for the spreading of the Gospel. By means of its network of house churches the early church placed the gospel at the center of the natural order of life. This became the regular or normative pattern for the next 250 years. The centrality of the home can be seen in the following passages:

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 42 1. The magi (or wise men) followed the star to the house where Jesus, Mary & Joseph were living in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:10). 2. Jesus ministered the gospel in peoples homes a. Jesus entered Peters house to minister to Peters mother-in-law (Matt. 8:14; Luke 4:38); b. Jesus ministered in the house of Matthew the tax collector (Matthew 9:9-10); c. Jesus entered the house of Jairus to heal his daughter (Luke 8:49); d. Jesus ministered in the house of a Pharisee (Luke 7:36ff); e. Jesus ministered in the house of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:5); f. The upper room where Jesus observed the Passover was a room in a private home (Luke 22:7-12). 3. The disciples were instructed by Jesus to use private homes as their base for ministry in a community (Matt. 10:11-14; Luke 10:5-7). 4. The early church is seen meeting in their homes and from house to house (Acts 2:46; Acts 5:52). 5. The Apostle Peter used the home of Simon the tanner as a base for his ministry (Acts 9:43). 6. Peter also ministered the gospel in the home and to the assembled household of Cornelius (Acts 10:22 & 11:12). 7. The Apostle Paul ministered in the home and to the household of Lydia in Philippi (Acts 16:15). 8. Paul described his work in Ephesus as ministering both publicly (in the School of Tyrannus) and house to house (Acts 20:20). 9. The early church met in the homes/houses of various individuals, as seen in the following examples: a. Acts 18:7 - A church in Corinth met in the house of Titius Justus, a God-fearer who lived next to the Synagogue; b. Acts 18:8 - Another Church in Corinth met in the house of Crispus, leader of the Synagogue in Corinth; c. Acts 21:8 - A Church appears to have met in the home of Philip the evangelist in Caesarea; d. 1 Corinthians 1:16 - Another Church in Corinth met in the house of Stephanus; e. Romans 16:5 - Paul greets the Church meeting in the home of Prisca & Aquila; f. Colossians 4:15 - Paul greets Nympha and the Church meeting in her house; g. Philemon 2 - Paul greets the church meeting in the house of Philemon. 10. It is probably safe to say that nearly every New Testament Epistle (or letter), with the exceptions of Hebrews and Revelation, was written to a house church, or to an individual who had a church meeting in his house. The Early Underground House Church Network

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 43 Despite sporadic persecutions by the Jewish religious establishment, the book of Acts portrays the early Church as living in relative peace with the Roman government. Acts ends with the Apostle Paul under house arrest with relative freedom to receive friends and proclaim the gospel while awaiting the outcome of his appeal to Caesar. But that situation would soon change for this new sect as it came to the increasing attention of the Roman authorities. What this new sect was doing was believing in someone or something greater than Rome and the divine emperor. And that was dangerous. All Romans were religious. They had a pantheon of gods and everyone was free to believe in any gods they chose, so long as they were also willing to acknowledge the genius of the divine Emperor by offering a pinch of incense upon altars dedicated to him. Romans would offer their pinch of incense with the usual incantation, Caesar is Lord. By doing this, average Romans acknowledged the supremacy of the state in all practical matters. But this new sect and its followers were different. They worshiped a god named Chrestus7 or Christ, a Jewish rabbi who had been crucified in Palestine, but whom they claimed had been raised from the dead. They rejected idols of all the gods (which had caused no small riot in the city of Ephesus), and refused to make any idol of their own god (which in Roman eyes was highly peculiar). In fact, they claimed that there was only one true God. It was rumored that they practiced cannibalism in their secret meetings (something about eating the body and drinking the blood of someone). But worst of all, they refused to acknowledge the genius of the divine Emperor. They refused to acknowledge the spirit of Rome and the supremacy of the State. And this made them a threat. For this reason, two of their leaders, one a former fisherman named Simon Peter and the other an itinerant Jewish philosopher named Saul (or Paul) of Tarsus, had been arrested, tried for sedition and treason against the Emperor, and had been executed as enemies against the State. This had taken place under Emperor Nero, around A.D. 65. From that time onward, for the next 250 years (until Emperor Constantine) it was a criminal offense against the State, punishable by death, to openly profess Christianity. Although actual persecutions were sporadic and localized (but intense when they occurred), the threat was real and constant. The mere accusation by a neighbor, friend or acquaintance could mean arrest, imprisonment, a challenge to confess or renounce, and death. In order to pursue their faith without drawing attention to themselves these early Christians were forced to take unusual steps. The early Church was forced to become an underground networking church. As the the Book of Acts demonstrates, the early Church had always been a networking church that networked house-to-house (The Book of Acts was written, and this passage occurred, prior to the beginning of official Roman persecutions). Indeed the anonymous author of the New Testament book of Hebrews admonished these believers, let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near (Hebrews 10:2425). This was simple first century networking among Christian believers. They met in homes and ministered to one another privately, while also attending public worship at the Temple and in local synagogues. People associated with the early Church openly and the Church freely accepted all who came. But once the official Roman persecutions began, certain things had to change. Churches began to meet secretly in members homes, or in secret locations (such as in the subterranean catacombs beneath the city of Rome). In order to identify themselves to fellow believers (or to prevent identifying themselves to hostile non-believers) they created secret signs including the sign of the

Seuton ius, Life of Claudius, 25.4. See also his Lives of the Caesars , 26.2.

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 44 fish. In Greek, the word fish (ichthus) represented an acrostic where each letter represented the first letter in the following phrase in Greek: Jesus Christ Gods Son Saviour. By drawing the sign of a fish one believer could identify himself as a Christian to a fellow believer (who would acknowledge the sign), but a non-believer would ignore the cryptic message. In difficult times you need to be able to identify and network with people whom you know you can trust. For most of the first three hundred years of its existence Christianity consisted of groups of believers who met for worship in private homes. Author and New Testament scholar Bradley Blue, writing in Acts And The House Church, summarizes this period as follows: Recent archaeological evidence from such diverse places as Capernaum, Rome and Kent strongly suggests that for the first few hundred years of the Churchs existence, Christian groups gathered, not in large purpose-built church buildings, but in domestic residences which could accomodate their needs. Sometimes these were renovated better to fit the needs of the community, but in at least one case (Dura-Europos) the internal renovations were carefully made invisible externally. The book of Acts mentions such figures as Aquila and Priscilla, Jason of Thessalonica, Simon the Tanner, Lydia and the Philippian Jailor (and their homes and hospitality) not merely out of gratitude for offering Christian leaders a place to sleep, but probably because they opened their homes for meetings of their local Christian communities. (Bradley Blue, Acts And The House Church, in The Book of Acts In Its First Century Setting, vol. 2, David W. J. Gill and Conrad Gempf, eds. (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994), p. 119-222. The Decline of the House Church and The Rise of the Church Building The period of official persecution of Christians, from the reign of Nero in A.D. 67 until the rise of Constantine and the Edict of Nantes in A.D. 313 prevented the building of large formal dedicated buildings for Christian worship. Structures were limited to private residences which were occasionally renovated to accommodate large groups of Christian worshipers. But even this was risky since such residences could be seized and even destroyed. The ascension of Constantine to the Imperial Throne of Rome and the cessation of official persecution resulted in building spree, encouraged by Constantine himself, who ordered Christian property restored and ordered the building of numerous basilicas or dedicated places of Christian worship throughout the Empire. Christians, having endured 50 years of The Great Persecution, began to congregate publicly in churches for the first time in nearly 250 years. This transition from house churches to centralized meeting places culminated under the Imperial rule of Theodosius I (AD 379-395). Following his ascension to the Imperial Throne in the East and his baptism in AD 380 Theodosius endorsed the Nicene Creed (the statement of faith produced by the Council of Nicea in AD 325) against the Arian faction of the church. Theodosius ordered all Christian to profess the faith of the Bishops of Rome & Alexandria (the Nicene Creed) and he forbade heretics to meet within cities. He outlawed all forms of pagan worship, both public and private, throughout the empire. Theodosius is noted for stamping out the remnants of the old pagan Roman gods, but in his zeal to promote orthodoxy his actions also had the net effect of driving all worship out of private homes and into the basilicas where they could be overseen by a Bishop. Deja vu All Over Again? Historians estimate that when Christianity finally triumphed over Rome in the Fourth Century Christians constituted somewhere between 5% and 20% (the high estimate) of the population of the Empire. In other words, the virulence of their faith was such that the effect the Christians had upon

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 45 Roman society was completely out of proportion to their numbers, and their influence upon their society was increasing, not diminishing. Today, 17 centuries later, the situation is reversed. Roughly 40% of all American adults attend Church on any given Sunday and approximately 25% of Americans profess to be born again Christians. Yet, Christianity is quickly becoming a counter cultural movement whose influence is diminishing. Once again, Christians are having an effect that is disproportionate to their numbers, only in reverse. Our influence and effect upon our culture is falling, not rising. Perhaps this is why, in the Providence of God, He is once again calling His people back to basics, back to networking house-to-house, re-establishing a virulent counter-cultural faith and witness, creating an underground channel of people, families and homes for the River of His Spirit to nourish and renew a new underground Church for our generation.

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 46

8 Characteristics Of New Testament House Churches (Acts 2:41-47)

41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. 44 And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; 45 and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 46 And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. As the present-day house church movement seeks to come into its own we can learn a lot by looking at the snapshot of the 1st century church provided us in the New Testament. While many things have changed in 2000 years, there are certain characteristics that span time and custom. I think the above passage from Acts 2:41-47 provides us with 8 timeless characteristics that we would do well to pursue for our house churches today. From even a cursory reading of Scripture we quickly see that the early Church was neither a building nor a congregation in the traditional sense many of us have come to know. Rather it was a network of individuals so flexible that it was able to accommodate the thousands of new converts who were added to the Church during the days following day of Pentecost. This flexible, adaptive and organic people network constituted a unique fellowship marked by eight characteristics that we see described in Acts 2: 41-47. Characteristic # 1: Perseverance (vs. 42, 46). What does it mean to be continually devoted to a thing or an activity? The Greek word translated continually devoting by the NASB in verse 42 is proskartereo. The sense of the verb is to be strong towards something, hence, to be continually steadfast or to be devoted. The adverbial form of this word is commonly translated perseverance which is why I have labeled this particular characteristic perseverance ( By adding the imperfect form of the verb to be the Greek carries the force of saying they were continually persevering). The same word phrase is found in Acts 1:14 where the disciples in the Upper Room were described as continually devoting themselves to prayer (See also Acts 6:4). The sense of this characteristic means that the early house church networks demonstrated perseverance, that is, they demonstrated an on-going (i.e., persistent) commitment with regard four specific activities: 1. They persevered in teaching. What was the role of teaching in the early church? The Greek word for teaching is didache, which suggests formal instruction regarding a body of information. The house churches of the New Testament demonstrated a conscious commitment to formal instruction in the things of God. This verse specifically refers to the Apostles teaching or doctrine, but we also know from Ephesians 4:11-12 that along with Apostles, God has given Teachers to the Church for the purpose of the equipping of the saints for the work of service. The early House Church considered teaching a priority; something which required perseverance and commitment. It is also important for us to note that such formal instruction or teaching was not to the exclusion of everything else. Teaching in the early house churches was important as opposed to optional, but it was not exclusive or dominant either. Our house churches today must demonstrate our on-going commitment to teaching the truths of God. But neither are our house churches to become teaching clubs or study clubs that revolve around a particular gifted teacher or a peculiar doctrine.

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 47 2. They persevered in fellowship. I would dare to say that most traditional churches never achieve or experience genuine fellowship. The English word translated fellowship is the Greek word koinonia which comes from the Greek word koine, meaning common. Fellowship is the holding of certain things in common; it is a mutual sharing. The Classical Greek philosophers, such as Plato and others, had always envisioned a utopian fellowship that they described as koinonia, but all human attempts to achieve it had failed miserably. But now God has been able to accomplish through the death and resurrection of Christ, and our fellowship with Him, what the efforts of men through the ages had never achieved: genuine fellowship. And it was in this fellowship, this genuine koinonia, that the early house church participants shared their lives with one another. They shared meals together in one anothers homes, they prayed together, endured persecution together, worshiped together and, at times, they died together. They preferred one anothers company above all others and gave sacrificially to meet each others needs. To express it in contemporary terms for today, these early house churches were made up of people who loved to hang out together. They shared an affinity that surpasses the natural - it was supernatural. True koinonia or fellowship means that as Christians we share a common life in the Kingdom of God. 3. They persevered in the breaking of bread. Have you ever sung the old spiritual Let Us Break Bread Together On Our Knees? Have you ever wondered what it meant? What is the breaking of bread? This particular Greek phrase is used in the N.T. primarily to describe a religious observance, namely, the observance of the Lords Supper. But it is linked in verse 6 with the taking of a meal together. The general view is that Luke is here describing the sharing of a common meal which included, at some point in the meal, an observance of the Lords Supper. For far too long many institutional churches have attempted to separate the Lords Supper from the greater body, attempting to surround it with a mystique by requiring the attendance of an ordained person to supervise the event and even to administer special words of institution in order to give the sacrament a unique validity. But no where in the New Testament do we see such ritualized observance of the Lords Supper, and todays House Church is rediscovering the importance of sharing meals together on a regular basis, during which the Lords Supper is consciously observed and celebrated. I believe that this is in accordance with the practice and on-going commitment of the early New Testament House Church. 4. They persevered in prayer. Prayer is the life-breath of the soul. As Oswald Chambers observed, Prayer does not prepare us for the greater work. Prayer IS the greater work. The House Church of the New Testament was committed to prayer. Now, heres the rub, if you will. Do you genuinely believe that prayer is as important as teaching? Do you believe that fellowship is as important as prayer, or that sharing a meal together is as important as sharing a teaching? My point is this. The early House Church was equally committed to persevering in each of these four activities, and they appear to have held and practiced these four things in balance with one another. The health of the body of believers requires an equal commitment to all four. Neither the intercessors nor the teachers must be allowed to dominate the life of the House Church. And times of fellowship and meal-sharing must be given priority along with times of formal instruction and intense prayer. Characteristic # 2: Awe/fear (vs. 43). The English word translated awe is the Greek phobos which is the common New Testament word for fear. The New Testament house churches were characterized by a deep sense of awe or fear. What was the source of this fear? It was, I believe, the result of a pervasive sense of the Presence of God in their midst, a presence that was evinced by the manifestation of signs and wonders. This is often a stumbling block for those believers who have grown up in what I call the rationalistic wing of the Church (including yours truly who has a Masters

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 48 degree in systematic theology and Christian apologetics from a major evangelical seminary) and have grown up among cessationists who maintain that the supernatural gifts of the Spirit no longer function. But we must face up to a very real and problematic question. Where is the experience of the Presence of God in our Churches and fellowships today? Many contemporary Christians are content to talk about God without ever experiencing the reality of His Presence. Our churches and seminaries often resemble a convention of bakers who gather together to swap recipes, but who never actually get around to baking and sampling actual bread. It is one thing to talk about God; it is quite another to stand (or lie prostrate) in His Presence. If, at some point, our home churches are not characterized by a sense of the Presence of God, manifested through the operation of the whole range of the spiritual giftings described in 1 Corinthians 12-14 as part of genuine worship experience, then our so-called house churches will eventually devolve into little more than miniature versions of the failed and impotent institutional structures we once left behind. The house churches of the New Testament possessed a genuine sense of awe, believing that they were witnessing the dawn of the new messianic age. Their awe was intensified by the occurrence of miraculous signs and wonders, tangible manifestations of Gods Kingdom Presence, confirming that they were indeed tasting of the powers of the Age to Come. Characteristic # 3: Uncommon Community (vs. 44, 45) In the ancient world there was a Greek proverb regarding friendship which said that friends hold all things in common. The phrase all things in common in the Greek (panta koina) is the same both in the Greek proverb and in Acts 2:44. The uncommon, even supernatural, fellowship or koinonia of Acts 2:42 is now expressed by a sharing of material goods based upon the needs of the body. Take a moment and try to imagine the situation in Jerusalem following the events of Pentecost. Within a brief period of 50 days (from the resurrection to Pentecost) the early Church found itself in the midst of a revival in which it quickly grew from 120 people gathered in the upper room to a group of 3,000 new converts (Acts 2:41). And since this number probably represented only the number of men (see Acts 4:4), the addition of women and children probably pushed this total to around 10,000 new converts who were now a part of the young church. Many of these people were from outlying places outside of Jerusalem. Many of them chose to remain in Jerusalem to explore the meaning of their new found faith. But how were their needs to be met? Answer: The community of believers began to respond, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, by selling property and possessions and sharing the proceeds with others as they had need. What we are witnessing, I believe, is the House Church movement in Jerusalem demonstrating in their ministry what Paul would later teach regarding giving in 2 Corinthians 8: 1-15. While the House Church movement of today may not support such traditional church projects as buildings, facilities, programs, and professional staff, we must rediscover the importance of being a giving community that gives sacrificially to the meeting of needs within our House Church body of believers, and beyond our own body of believers to the needs of believers in the greater body at large. Characteristic # 4: One-Mindedness (v. 46). Have you ever been tempted to ask a fellow believer, Why are you here? The Church of today often resembles an organization in search of a purpose. Why do we meet? Why are we here? What event, experience or purpose do we hold in common that unites us together with one-mind? The New Testament House Church knew why they were together, and it was expressed in Acts 2:46 as continuing with one mind. The Greek word used to express this unity of purpose is homothumadon, from homo meaning one and thumos meaning mind. It comes from the Greek word homothumos meaning with the same emotion or unanimously. In Classical Greek, the word didnt focus on the personal sympathies of the people involved, but focused on a common material interest in a specific action. For example, when Philip of Macedon threatened to invade Greece, the great Greek orator Demosthenes called on the people

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 49 to set aside their personal feelings and work with one accord to resist Philip. This idea of a common concern isnt based on a similarity of inclination or disposition, rather it was based on an event which comes upon a group from without, provoking a common response or reaction. This Greek word appears 11 times in the N.T., 10 of which are in the Book of Acts. 1. Acts 1:14 - The 120 disciples were of one-mind regarding prayer in the upper room, following the Ascension, 2. Acts 4:24 - The disciples prayed with one-mind following persecution, 3. Acts 5:12 - The apostles and the people were of one-mind in the temple, 4. Acts 7:57 - The enemies of the church were of one-mind when they stoned Stephen to death, 5. Acts 8:6 - The crowds listened to Philip with one-mind, 6. Acts 12:20 - The people of Tyre & Sidon approached Herod with one-mind, 7. Acts 15:25 - The Apostolic Council at Jerusalem was of one-mind in their response to the Judaizers, 8. Acts 18:12 - The Jews of Corinth were of one-mind in opposing Paul, 9. Acts 19:29 - The crowd at Ephesus was of one-mind in opposing Paul & the gospel, 10. Romans 15:6 - Paul exhorts the church at Rome to be of one-mind in their service toward one another. The early New Testament House Church possessed a oneness of mind, a singularity of purpose that characterized their life together. They knew why they existed and why they gathered together. They were people of the resurrection and of the Holy Spirit. The resurrection of Jesus and the subsequent outpouring of the Holy Spirit (confirming the arrival of the New Messianic Age) were events which produced onemindedness in the early New Testament House Church. The first reading of Acts 2:46 might suggest that they were in one accord in the Temple, but the meaning appears to be whether in the Temple or moving house-to-house, they were of one mind, suggesting that the one-mindedness was not related to a location or an activity, but rather it described a state of heart and mind within the body of the New Testament House Church. Characteristic # 5: House-To-House Ministry (v. 46). The idea of meeting and ministering houseto-house was not new to the early church. The disciples and those around Jesus during His ministry had seen and experienced this first-hand. The gospel story itself begins in a house. Shortly after the birth of Jesus (within 2 years) the magi (or wise men) followed the star to the house where Jesus, Mary & Joseph were living in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:10). But more importantly, Jesus Himself ministered the gospel in peoples homes: 1. Jesus entered Peters house to minister to Peters mother-in-law (Matt. 8:14; Luke 4:38);

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 50 2. Jesus ministered in the house of Matthew the tax collector (Matthew 9:9-10); 3. Jesus entered the house of Jairus to heal his daughter (Luke 8:49); 4. Jesus ministered in the house of a Pharisee (Luke 7:36ff); 5. Jesus ministered in the house of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:5); 6. The upper room where Jesus observed the Passover was a room in a private home (Luke 22:7-12). 7. The disciples were instructed by Jesus to use private homes as their base for ministry in a community (Matt. 10:11-14; Luke 10:5-7). The Greek phrase kat oikon in verse 46 carries a distributive force rendered house-by-house or house-to-house. The idea being conveyed is that the early House Churches were mobile, not static. Believers moved from one house to another. And what were they doing as they moved from house to house? As we saw earlier (vs. 42), they were breaking bread and sharing meals together. This describes the heart-and-soul of house church ministry, both then and now. It is believers sharing their hearts, their homes and their lives with one another. Characteristic # 6: Eschatological Joy (vs. 46). The word translated gladness in this passage is the Greek word agalliasis which, in its biblical context suggests eschatological joy in the presence of the Lord (see Luke 1:14, 44 & 47; 10:21). The same Greek word appears in the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) in Psalm 9:2; 12:5; 19:5; 20:1; 30:7; 39:16; 44:7; 80:1; 99:2; 117:15. The idea being communicated here is that the New Testament House Church community was a place where believers had partaken of the outpouring of the eschatological Spirit and were experiencing the joy promised to those who partook of the Presence of the Lord. Theirs was the joy of those who were experiencing the fulfillment of what the Messianic prophecies had promised. Along with that eschatological joy they were experiencing a sincerity or simplicity of heart. The Greek word aphelotes (simplicity of heart, found only here in the New Testament) carries with it the idea of a pure and unalloyed motive, like pure unalloyed metal, resulting in a sense of simplicity and generosity devoid of any double-mindedness or grudging envy. Characteristic # 7: Grace (vs. 47). The word commonly translated favor is the Greek word charis or grace. God gave the early Church grace in the sight of the common people. The New Testament House Church was a place that overflowed with the grace of God. These early believers were a gracious people, that is, their lives overflowed with Gods grace. I believe that the Church today needs to ask itself, Are we a gracious people? Does the grace of God overflow in us and through us to those around us. When was the last time you were gracious in meeting the needs of someone (believer or unbeliever) simply because you wanted to demonstrate the unmerited love and grace of God to them? Characteristic # 8: God-Inspired Evangelistic Growth (vs. 47). For the New Testament House Church, evangelism wasnt something they did or an activity they engaged in. Evangelism wasnt a program or a campaign. It is even difficult to point to an example of the early Church setting out to do evangelism. For these believers evangelism appears to have been the result of the presence and power of God moving in their midst and adding to their numbers those whom He touched.

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 51

O. K., Lets Do House Church

Introduction This is not another discussion regarding a philosophy or theology of house church. There are plenty of books, pamphlets and papers available out there that discuss the theory of house churches and why they are better, more biblical, etc. This isnt one of those books. This paper (which may one day end up being a book) is about some of the practical aspects of actually functioning as a house church. If you cant apply your theory, theology or philosophy in a meaningful way that fits the facts and realities of life then you have a very big problem. To put this another way, if Christianity were (or is) really as hard and complicated as we have made it in the traditional church (i.e., you must have a professionally trained pastor and a professionally trained staff, and programs for every age group, etc.), Christianity never would have survived the first two centuries of its existence. Nor would it survive as it does today in closed countries where Christianity is officially (and un-officially) persecuted. In order to survive and grow, Christianity must be simple enough for any average person to understand, to practice (i.e., live out authentically) and to pass along to the next generation. House Church can happen anywhere. Neil Cole of Church Multiplication Associates refers to house church as organic church because the Church is really an organism that can thrive anywhere believers gather; in an office building, a rented meeting room in a local hotel, a Mexican restaurant, even in a house. What we dont want to do is to substitute a new box (like a house) for an old box (a church building). Ultimately, God doesnt dwell in any man-made box. He dwells in people and He is present whenever (and wherever) believers gather in His Name. The purpose of House Church (or whatever we eventually end up calling it) is to empower believers to love, worship and serve God by becoming the Church that meets in their home, and to reach out to unbelievers by offering them a Spirit-empowered model of what Christian faith looks like when it is authentically lived out by real people in their everyday lives. Plinys Problem With A Simple Church How simple can Church be? Consider the following true story from the history of the early Church at the beginning of the 2nd century A.D. (Roughly 80 years after the death & resurrection of Jesus, and about 50 years after the end of the N.T. book of Acts). Pliny the Younger was a member of the Roman Senatorial class, a famous Roman orator and administrator who achieved a reputation as a prosecutor and defense counsel in political cases, including the defense of two former governors of the Province of Bithynia (in what is Turkey or Asia Minor). As an acknowledgment for his services the Emperor Trajan appointed his friend Pliny to be the imperial legate and Governor of Bithynia where he served from 111-113 AD. We have a whole set of exchanges of his letters with the emperor Trajan on a variety of administrative & political matters. Two of these letters, 96 and 97, are the most famous (Pliny, Letters 10.96-97). In Letter 96 Pliny encounters Christianity for the first time and seeks Trajans advice and approval of his actions in dealing with Christians. Plinys letter gives us a snap shot of the early Church and its practices as seen and understood by a prominent unbeliever (i.e., the Roman Governor). Trajans response in letter 97 contains the first surviving statement of imperial policy respecting the treatment of Christians. Here is Paragraph 4 from Plinys Letter To Trajan:

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 52 1 - 4. They (the Christians) asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food--but ordinary and innocent food (Christians had been accused of practicing cannibalism). Even this, they affirmed, they had ceased to do after my edict by which, in accordance with your instructions, I had forbidden political associations. Accordingly, I judged it all the more necessary to find out what the truth was by torturing two female slaves who were called deaconesses. But I discovered nothing else but depraved, excessive superstition. Now, hows that for simple church! Here we see Christians gathering together on a specific day to worship together (by singing a hymn to Christ) and to pledge among themselves to do no harm, and gathering again to share a meal and probably to observe the Lords Supper. Now thats simple Church, 2nd century style! Does that look simple enough that you could do it in your home along with fellow believers? Probably! But how effective was this simplistic brand of 2nd century house church? Apparently it was very effective, because Pliny goes on to complain to Trajan, For the matter seemed to me to warrant consulting you, especially because of the number involved. For many persons of every age, every rank, and also of both sexes are and will be endangered. For the contagion of this superstition has spread not only to the cities but also to the villages and farms. Yes! Isnt that what we want, a genuine and infectious faith that spreads like a contagion through our homes, our families, our friends, our neighbors and our communities? Isnt it time we returned to the Church of the 2nd century? Samuel Wesley Had A Problem (Just Ask His Wife!) The problem of dysfunctional churches that dont meet the needs of those under its care is not a new problem. Just ask Samuel Wesley. Better yet, ask his wife Susanna. If you dont recognize the names of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, then perhaps youll remember two of his sons, John and Charles Wesley. In the early 1700s Samuel Wesley was the Anglican Rector of the small parish of Epworth in England. It was in that Rectory at Epworth that Samuel and his wife, Susanna, raised their family of 9 children and where Samuel served as pastor of the parish church. In the winter of 1711-12 Samuel was called away to London on Church business for several months. In his absence Samuel arranged for a fellow pastor (one Reverend Inman) to preach and minister in his place until he could return. That was a mistake. The man had little or no preaching ability, and he was liked even less than his sermons. When neighbors and members of the congregation learned that Susanna was holding devotions for her children at home on Sunday evening they began asking to attend. There were soon forty people attending Susannas evening devotionals. Susanna would read prayers, one of Samuels sermons and then devotional topics would be discussed. Soon the crowd of 40 had grown to over 200 people crowding into the small rectory on Sunday evening to hear Susanna read Samuels sermons. The Reverend Inman took great offense at such a scandal. People were neglecting the Sunday morning services and attending Susannas evening meeting instead. Inman wrote and complained to Samuel in London. Samuel wrote to his wife, expressing his concern that she should be supporting the interim preacher and encouraging her to discontinue these evening meetings. His objections were

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 53 three-fold. First, that the Sunday evening meetings will look particular (i.e., peculiar); second that she was a woman and therefore should not be leading such meetings; and, third, that he (Samuel) had a public station to protect. But Susanna Wesley was not a woman easily deterred from what she believed to be Gods will. She wrote back to Samuel and addressed his concerns. She reminded him that in our corrupt age the genuine work of God always looks peculiar. As to her being a woman she reminded Samuel that in addition to being a woman she was also the mistress of a large family which he, in his absence, had entrusted to her care and that the evening family devotions were part of her attempt to see to their spiritual condition. The fact that the children had told their friends who had told their parents and that those parents now asked permission to attend the meetings was not a matter of blame upon her. Consider the words of this godly woman. But I never did positively presume to hope that God would make use of me as an instrument in doing good; the farthest I ever did go was, It may be: who can tell? With God all things are possible. I will resign myself to him; or as Herbert better expresses it, Only, since God doth often make Of lowly matter, for high uses meet, I throw me at His feet; There will I lie until my Maker seek For some mean stuff whereon to show His skill; Then is my time. When Samuel raised new objections in a subsequent letter and expressed his desire that she discontinue the meetings Susanna wrote back and told him that she would reluctantly stop the meetings if he specifically instructed her to do so. If you do after all think fit to dissolve this assembly, do not tell me any more that you desire me to do it, for that will not satisfy my conscience; but send me your positive command in such full and express terms as may absolve me from all guilt and punishment for neglecting this opportunity of doing good to souls, when you and I shall appear before the great and awful tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ. No letter containing such instructions ever arrived, and Samuels return home soon brought an end to this extra-ordinary house church meeting. Upon his return to Epworth Samuel discontinued the special evening meetings at the Rectory. The crowds dissipated (without returning to the parish church) and Church life returned to normal. Samuel Wesley, and the Church under his care, was a prisoner of a traditional church box that had taken his mind prisoner long before it had captured his congregation. But cracks in the facade had now appeared. The pressure to meet the underlying spiritual needs of people was quietly building, and the pressures being brought to bear on this structure would reach a crescendo during the ministry of Samuels son, John. I have included this story of Susanna and Samuel Wesley because it illustrates many of the phenomena that we are seeing today in the house church movement. You might say that house church is a concept that has been struggling to be re-born into the life of Gods people for nearly 300 years! So many of the questions and concerns of todays house church movement are not new. They are at least 300 years old! What do you do when traditional institutional churches no longer meet the needs of those under their care? What about women in leadership? Dont house churches look peculiar when compared with traditional church ministry? What about traditional pastors who feel threatened and scandalized by the rise of house churches in their midst? All of these issues (and others) would re-surface and present fresh challenges to the Church thirty years later during the great Evangelical Awakening and under the ministry of Samuel & Susannas son, John.

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 54 How John Wesley Solved Samuels Problem John Wesley was nine years old during the evening prayers controversy. We dont really know how much he understood of what occurred, but in his later evangelistic career Wesley demonstrated that he was keenly aware of the shortcomings of the institutional church of which he remained a part until the day of his death. John Wesley regarded evangelism (and therefore the salvation of an individual) as more of a process than an event (he had long and spirited discussions with his Moravian friends over the issue of instantaneous regeneration and salvation), unlike most evangelism today where the focus is upon an event that results in a decision which is assumed to coincide with regeneration. This process of salvation had been Wesley's own experience. Wesley regarded all of his searchings and efforts prior to his Aldersgate experience in 1738 (his education at Oxford, ordination to Anglican ministry in 1728, leadership of the Holy Club, missionary activity to Georgia in 1735) as the time of his "awakening" to the things of God during which the Spirit of God was working on his conscience. This "awakening" finally culminated at "about quarter before nine" in the evening of May 24, 1738 when he felt his heart strangely warmed and realized that he trusted "in Christ, Christ alone for salvation." In his subsequent preaching ministry throughout the chapels, by-ways and fields of England Wesley regarded those who responded as people whom the Spirit had "awakened." Whether or not they were "regenerate" could only be determined over a period of time during which the individual must be given pastoral care and close examination. All of these "awakened" respondents were invited to attend Wesley's Society meetings. "There is only one condition previously required of those who desire admission into these societies," Wesley wrote; "a desire 'to flee from the wrath to come, and to be saved from their sins.'" A problem soon arose. Wesley's preaching ministry was so successful that in the year 1743 alone one thousand new members were added to his London Society. This kind of rapid growth presented a problem for personal pastoral care and supervision. How were so many "awakened" seekers to be supervised and encouraged, and false professors weeded out? Wesley was adamant regarding the necessity of constant, personal pastoral care. "How grievously are they mistaken who imagine that as soon as the children are born they need take no more care of them," he wrote. But how could he personally minister to so many? The answer began in Bristol where Wesley's Society had grown to 1,100 people. A society member by the name of Foy suggested that one person call on eleven others during the week to inquire of their status. The Bristol Society was quickly transformed, "In a while, some [class leaders] informed me that they found such and such a one did not live as he ought. It struck me immediately, 'This is one thing, the very thing we have wanted so long.'" These weekly visitations soon became weekly class meetings, "This was the origin of our classes at London," he wrote, "for which I can never sufficiently praise God, the unspeakable usefulness of the institution having ever since been more and more manifest." Soon, every Methodist Society was broken into smaller Classes of 12 persons who met weekly with a Class Leader for pastoral care, examination, encouragement and exhortation. According to Wesley, "Many now happily experienced that Christian fellowship of which they had not so much as an idea before. They began to 'bear one another's burdens,' and naturally to 'care for each other.' As they had daily a more intimate acquaintance with, so they had a more endeared affection for, each other." The Weslyan "Class," consisting of 12 people meeting together to pursue the discipline of Christian godliness, became the centerpiece of Methodism for the next 100 years, until the mid-1800s. It was

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 55 in the Class that the "awakened" were discipled, examined and instructed, and where they shared mutual fellowship and learned to bear one another's burdens. It was in the Class that the "Rules" (those standards of behavior expected of every Methodist) were read and where individuals were examined to see if they were sincere in their desire to live according to Methodist discipline. Like his mother thirty years earlier, John Wesley had sought to solve the problem of a dysfunctional institutional church while meeting the spiritual needs of new believers who were being swept into the Kingdom of God through the on-going revival. It was a church within a church, a house church structure within the larger structure of the Anglican Church (of which Wesley insisted that Methodism remain a part throughout his lifetime). By so doing Wesley created a structure that could and did accomplish two important tasks. First, he created a structure that could handle the increasing fruit of widespread revival and could offer a secure fellowship in which new converts and young believers could be nurtured and discipled. Second, he created a persecution resistant structure that withstood the sporadic and sometimes intense persecution that Methodists experienced at the hands of the institutional church. New times and new challenges combine with old dysfunctionalities to demand new wineskins. That is what happened to Susanna Wesley, and to John Wesley, and it is happening again today. And I believe that, in His sovereign Providence, God is raising up the house church movement as todays new wineskin. And now it is time to Just do it! Enter The Nike Church Perhaps youve heard of the seven Churches of Asia Minor, found in the first 3 Chapters of the book of Revelation. Well, the Church of Nike wasnt one of them, but it probably should have been. Nike, of course, is the sports apparel company that specializes in cheap labor and expensive footwear. They also have a marketing slogan that we could learn a lot from: Just Do It! When it comes to becoming the Church that meets in your house you and I simple need to just do it! When it comes to becoming the church that meets in our house there are many reasons why we dont just do it. Theres always the fear of failure that springs from not knowing exactly what to do and being afraid that we wont do it right. The bottom line is that we have been spoiled by an institutional model where we have been trained to sit passively in a pew while the professional staff perform on Sunday morning. After watching this well orchestrated and complicated performance we tell ourselves, I cant do that. And, of course, were right! We cant do that. But then the good news is that God doesnt want you or me to do that! It is NOT the purpose or goal of house church to become small copies of the larger failed institutional models we left behind. God simply desires that we gather together and worship Him in spirit and in truth. Everything else is flexible and negotiable! And to do that, you dont need any professional training or a pre-printed bulletin. All you & I really need is to just do it! Baggage Check When I was in seminary in the early 1980s in Denver, plans were announced to replace the existing Stapleton Airport with a new regional airport outside of the City. It took twenty years of planning and building for the new Denver International Airport (DIA) to become a reality. As the day approached for the grand opening of the new airport there was a glitch. The airport authority had spent literally hundreds of millions of dollars on a new computerized and automated system to handle passenger baggage. The trouble was that it didnt work. The opening of the new multi-billion airport facility had to be delayed because it couldnt handle peoples baggage. Welcome to the Church.

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 56 One of my favorite Christian thinkers during my college days was Os Guinness. His book, The Dust of Death, a critique on the collapse of western thought, was "required reading" among Christian college students during the 1970s (It is still an excellent read). Guinness studied under Dr. Francis Schaeffer at LAbri and Schaeffers thought resonates through much of Guinness' writings even today. In one of his most recent books, entitled The Long Journey Home, Dr. Guinness discusses the three impediments to Christianity most often cited by unbelievers. The first impediment to faith among unbelievers is the problem of pain, evil and suffering in the world. The second impediment cited is the problem of the historical Jesus in light of such things as The Jesus Project (which questions the historical veracity of the biblical accounts of Jesus life). The third impediment to Christian faith cited by unbelievers is . . . . "Christians." Thats right. When it comes to evangelism and the gospel, we are often our own worst enemy. At least, thats how unbelievers often see us. Ouch! In light of this observation by an evangelical Christian scholar who has devoted most of his professional Christian career to the issue of Christian apologetics, it should come as no great surprise that at a recent house church conference one of the speakers remarked, "We dont start house churches with believers. They bring too much baggage." I was somewhat taken aback, but his point was an honest one (and one shared, apparently, by many unbelievers). At the present time much of the house church movement consists of a cast of people who have left the institutional church for one reason or another, and in the process they have brought with them all of their left over bad habits. The resulting hodge-podge is an amalgamation of house fellowships who are still in the process of unpacking their church baggage. When you listen to them they sound something like the following: "Were the Church of those who . . . (pick your favorite from the following or fill in one of your own): 1. Dont let women speak in church (yeah, sure), 2. Think the institutional church is mystery Babylon (so did Martin Luther, so whats new?), 3. Are faithfully studying prophecy & waiting for the rebuilt temple & the Rapture (although were not really sure which comes first, or why, or when, but were waiting . . . and studying . . . endlessly studying), 4. Dont believe in paid ministers (yep, and youll get exactly what you paid for), 5. Will start actually doing house church once we get a proper theology of house church nailed down (right, like thatll ever happen!). Comon, lets be real for just a moment. How many unbelievers today do you know who are searching high and low, looking for that house church with the best theology (not to mention that at least half of the unbelieving population certainly isnt searching for a house church where women dont get to participate)! If we teach them that house church is all about theology, or at least about our particular theological shibboleth (youll find the story in Judges Chapter 12 ), we do them a grave disservice by saddling them with our left-over baggage. And lest we forget, that is precisely how the current denominational church structures (which we claim to reject) originally got started! As we try to come to terms with believers-and-their-baggage, what we are really doing is asking the question: "Are existing believers redeemable for Gods purposes in building His Kingdom through house churches?" On the human level I believe that the answer to that question will depend upon at least three things:

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 57 First, we must realize that religious baggage appears to be a timeless phenomenon. This is not the first time in its history that the church has been forced to confront its own baggage during a time of great transition. Religious baggage created a crisis in the first-century church during the transition period leading up to Acts 15 (the Jerusalem Council). In the transition from institutional Jewish-based Christianity to the Gentile missions-oriented Church of Antioch (this "transition" began in earnest in Acts 10 with Cornelius and culminated in the crisis of Acts 15) the early church was forced to deal with (and shed) a great deal of religious baggage left over from its Jewish roots. That included shedding the 5,000 (or so) quasi-laws (or "traditions of the elders") which had been created by the religious establishment as a hedge around the 613 Mosaic laws of the Old Testament. The net result was a great deal of "religious baggage" that the early church was forced to confront and to shed, in addition to confronting Judaizers who taught that Christians had to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. The expansion of the church to the Gentiles (who neither understood nor cared about the religious baggage of Judaism) forced the early believers to re-think their understanding of faith and church in order to avoid "placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear"(Acts 15:10). Later, during his missionary journeys, the Apostle Paul found it necessary to confront more baggage that was being brought into the house churches that he had planted. Paul wrote to the house churches of Colossae (see Colossians 2:16-18) not to allow baggage regarding food (probably Jewish dietary laws), a festival or a new moon (possibly the observance of O.T. Jewish feasts), or a Sabbath day (Christianity no longer observed the Jewish Sabbath as required under the O. T. Law), or angels or visions. Baggage comes in many forms. To the house churches of Galatia Paul wrote in strong terms about the need to reject the baggage of Jewish legalism that many believers there were attempting to impose upon the Christian community. And to his spiritual son, Timothy, Paul gave pastoral instructions on dealing with baggage brought by false teachers including myths, genealogies, mere speculations and fruitless discussions. Second, whether or not we will be able to successfully build House Churches with existing believers (and prevent those house churches from becoming in-grown "us-four-and-no-more" clubs) will depend upon whether or not we learn that House Church isnt about you, or me or our "precious" baggage. It isnt about our view of women in ministry, the end-times, Pentecostal manifestations, or anything else. House Church isnt even about evangelism (whoa, thatll goad somebodys ox). House Church is about Jesus. He is "the main thing." Period. Exclamation Point! Supposedly, house church is about experiencing the living Jesus in His resurrection power and presence. House Church, I believe, is Gods basic corporate expression of the Kingdom of God. As a miniature expression of the greater Kingdom, it is to be a place where the River of His Spirit flows, where His Presence dwells and where both believers and seekers can touch and taste the Powers of the Age and can "taste and see that the Lord is Good." Ask yourself a question. What do you want people who visit your house church to remember when they leave? Do you want them to leave saying to themselves "Ive tasted and seen Gods power and goodness" or "Gee, what did you think about his idea that Prince Charles could be the anti-Christ"? Our house churches are to be about helping both believers and unbeliever to discover that "there is a River, the streams whereof make glad the city of God." Third, whether or not we will be able to build successful house churches with existing believers will depend upon our willingness to become fully and personally involved in the work of the Kingdom in a manner that requires a profound and biblical "death to self." There is no anonymity in house church. There is no cover, no place to hide. It is personal, up-front and "hands on." We get to watch each other live our lives, and in the process to see each other either "die to self" or "live for self," and thats tough on our pride. Several years ago I was training home fellowship leaders for the church my wife and I were involved with. In one of our leaders meetings I was encouraging them to spend extended

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 58 time in prayer together in order to become intimate with God as a group. One of the men, a physician with a wiry sense of humor and a gleam in his eye, commented, "You know, Maurice, praying intimately together as a group is sort of like skinny dipping together as a group. It takes some getting used to." Yes it does. Welcome to house church (without the skinny dipping part!). Are you prepared and willing to die to self in a manner that everyone can see? Is your pride and personal religious baggage worth stumbling over? Is it worth causing others to stumble? Would you be willing to allow God to "set fire" to your baggage and humble your pride in order to build His Kingdom? Are you willing to die to self that others might live? Are you (and am I) a Christian who can be redeemed for Gods Kingdom purposes concerning house church? Yes, I believe we can, but it comes at a price; the price of dying to self. Like I said, baggage can come in many forms and nearly everybody has some. It isnt anything new. But in our house churches today, as in the house churches of the 1st century, we need to be selfaware of what baggage we are carrying around, and we need to be able to lovingly help others see their baggage too. So, take some time for healthy reflection. Do a personal baggage check. What Christian baggage are you carrying around, and are you willing to leave it at the door as you enter house church. If not, your house church experience will probably not be a pleasant one and will probably not last very long, because, as airport officials in Denver discovered, baggage that cannot be handled and properly disposed of will cause the whole operation to eventually shut down. When and Where Should We Meet? I recently (March of 2002) read an article about Christians in China. The article described how, at the end of a busy workday, a group of 30 believers met on one of the highest floors of a Beijing office tower. The location of the meeting was a secret until that very day with the time and place being confirmed with brief cell phone calls and exchanged passwords to protect privacy. As rush traffic filled the streets below this group of 30 working professionals began to pray and worship God clandestinely. Welcome to the underground house church, Chinese style. Here are believers who are simply thankful to be able to meet. They dont spend a lot of time quibbling about the time, place and day. I grew up in the American South where, throughout my youth, there were Blue Laws. A Blue Law meant that on Sundays all commercial establishments, from grocery stores to gas stations, were closed and most people went to Church (and the ones who didnt go always knew that they should have gone!). My how things have changed. When it comes to the times and places of our house church meetings today you and I have the luxury of freedom of choice. House church can take place literally any where on any day and at any time. We actually see this occurring in the Book of Acts in the early church. There we learn that the early church met day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house . . . (See Acts 2:46). Gone is the notion that we must go to a holy place on a holy day to hear a holy person lecture on holy things. When and where your house church meets is up to you and those in your group. It could meet during the week, or, yes, even on Sunday. It may meet in one fixed location or you may choose to move around from house to house as the early Church did. So choose a time and a place, make certain that everyone in your group knows about it, and then Just Do It! Keeping The Main Thing The Main Thing We have a saying that I try to emphasize with everyone involved in our house church circle. It goes like this. Remember that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Read that again. Do you get it? If not, dont go forward until you do. This is really critical, because we Christians are

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 59 easily distracted. So, let me ask you. When the Church assembles together for worship and ministry, what is the main thing? In other words, What are we doing here? We can begin to answer this question by asking another question. When we look at the early Church in the Book of Acts, and elsewhere in the New Testament, what did they regard to be the main thing? Answer: In the early New Testament Church the main thing was Jesus, particularly in His resurrection power and glory. The chart on the following page shows 17 sermons from the book of Acts, and the main thing is quickly apparent. When the 11 Apostles chose a replacement for Judas the specific mandate was that this person should become a witness with us of His resurrection. The resurrected Jesus was the main thing. The power promised to the waiting Church in Acts 1:8 was power to be His witnesses. And that witness was specifically a witness to the resurrected, living Jesus. On six different occasions we are told that the early church was a witness to the events surrounding the resurrected Christ (See Acts 1:22; 2:32; 3:15; 5:32; 10:39-41, 13:30-31). And the resurrection of Jesus is mentioned some 19 times in the preaching and ministry of the early church. Without the resurrected, living & exalted Jesus everything else falls apart, and our faith is in vain (see 1 Corinthians 15). For this reason, it should come as no surprise that Jesus Himself placed His death and resurrection at the heart of every gathering of believers by commanding a specific act to be observed when we gather. Remember? We refer to it as the Lords Supper. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:26 that, For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lords death until He comes. Jesus death and resurrection is the main thing; it is the center of all we do. Everything else (i.e., power for ministry, spiritual gifts, evangelism, etc.) flows from the resurrection power of our Lord Jesus Christ as it is poured out upon His worshiping church. House Church is not about patriarchy, prophecy, eschatology, Calvinistic or Arminian theology, social or political action. We meet to worship the resurrected Jesus, to minister mutually to His body, to empower and equip one another to worship and serve Him more effectively, and to bear personal witness to His death and resurrection. He is the main thing.

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 60

The Message of The Early Church In The Book of Acts

Occasion
Peter at Pentecost

How The Early Church Kept The Main Thing The Main Thing
Holy Spirit as Fulfillment of Joel 2/ The Resurrection Prophesied/ W e are Witnesses/ Jes us A sce nde d & E xalte d/ Re pen t/ Pro mis ed G ift of H oly Sp irit Healing Glorifies J esus/ God Raised Him Up/ We Are Witnesses/ Faith in His Nam e/ Th e Pro phe ts Fo retold / Bles s you b y turnin g you f rom wick ed w ays The power & the Na me/ T he Na me o f Jesus Heals/ God Raised Him Up/ Stone Builders Rejected/ Salvation in no other Name Obey God n ot Men / God Raised up Jesus/ Jesus Exalted to God s Right H and/ A Savior to Grant Repentance & Forgiveness/ We & Holy Spirit Are Witnesses Review of Jewis h History/ Yo u Are Ju st like You r Father W ho Killed th e Prophets/ You Betrayed & Murdered the Righteous One God Does nt Show Partiality/ The M inistry of Jesu s/ God Raised Him Up/ We are Witnesses/ Jesus Appointed by God as Judge of the Living and the Dead / Prophe ts Bear Witness That All Who Believe In His Name Receive Forgiveness of Sins W hat G od H as C leans ed, n o long er co nsid er un holy

Reference
Acts 2:14-40

Peter In The Tem ple Pete r to Sa nhe drin

Acts 3:12-26

Acts 4:5-12

Pete r to C oun cil

Acts 5:29-32

Stephe n to San hed rin Peter to Cornelius

Acts 7

Acts 10:3443

Pete r to C hurc h in Jerusalem Paul in Synagogue at Pisidian Antioch

Acts 11:4-17

From the Offs pring of D avid, acc ording to Promise, Go d has raised up a Savior/ God raised Him up according to the Scriptures/ Th roug h Him Forg ivene ss o f sins is proclaimed/ Through Him everyone is freed-justified from the Law. W e believe th at we are saved th rough th e grace of the Lor d Jesu s.

Acts 13:1641

Peter to Jerusalem Cou ncil James To Jerusalem Cou ncil Pau l on M ars H ill in Athens

Acts 15:6-11

Gentile Converts are free from the requirements of the Law, including circumcision.

Acts15:13-21

The God W ho Made Heaven & earth has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having given proo f to all m en by raising Him from the dead. Testifying to both Jews & Greeks of repentance toward G od and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ/ Testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God Pauls testimony of his conversion and calling to the Gentiles

Acts 17:2231

Paul to Ephesian Elders Pau l to Je ws in Jerusalem Pau l to Sa nhe drin

Acts 20:1735 Acts 22:1-21

I am on trial for the hope of the resurrection of the dead!

Acts 23:1-6

Pau l Befo re Fe lix

Having a hope in God . . . . that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteo us and the wick ed. Pauls testimony/ I stand to this day testifying both to small and great . . . . that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He should b e the first to p roclaim light both to the Jewish people a nd to the G entiles. He was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God, and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prop hets.

Acts 24:1021 Acts 26:1-23

Paul Before King Agrippa

Paul to Jewish Leaders at Rome

Acts 28:2329

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 61 Tossed Salad Christianity - Mixing It Up Over A Meal In case you missed it, Christianity began over a meal. It was a Passover meal that Jesus earnestly longed to share with His disciples. We have romanticized it by painting it on frescoes and by labeling it The Last Supper, but make no mistake, it was a meal shared between Jesus and His disciples. And rather than being the last supper, it was the first of many meals that the early church would share together with one another. The early church loved taking meals together in one anothers houses. I think it was because it reminded many of them of the many meals they had shared with Jesus while He was on earth. These meals became common in the early Church and came to be known as the Agape or Love feast. By the time Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth (a network of between halfdozen and a dozen house churches that met in Corinth) problems had arisen with these love feasts and Paul wrote to correct those problems (see 1 Corinthians 11:17ff), but the feasts themselves were an integral part of house church life for the first several centuries of the Church. And it was during such a meal that the Lords Supper was normally celebrated, just as it was that first time between Jesus and His disciples. Meals can be great social occasions where people can let down their guard and get to know others. It can help to put new people at ease. During the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther would entertain his students over dinner and engage in significant theological discussion over the meal. I encourage all of our house churches to begin a practice of sharing a meal together as part of their meeting (what Wolfgang Simson calls a meating). This can be a potluck where everyone brings something, thereby not placing the burden for preparing the meal on one person, or your group may agree to host meals at various homes. Then, at some point in the meal the Lords Supper can be observed. I usually have bread and juice prepared and I like to read Pauls words from 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. We then dip our bread in a common cup of juice and partake together. Sometimes we end the Lords Supper by singing the doxology or another appropriate song or hymn. There is no right or wrong way to do this, although Christians coming out of more liturgical backgrounds (remember our discussion of baggage) may take a while to adjust to this freedom of worship. Leadership: Whos In Charge Here Anyway? The answer here is simple: The Holy Spirit should be in charge, or there is something wrong! But on a human level we always want to know who is leading the meeting. When we look at the Book of Acts, many New Testament Churches got started and initially functioned without designated or appointed leadership. That came later. And even when leaders were appointed by Paul (see Acts 14:23) all of those leaders were converts from either paganism or Judaism with little or no training or experience in what it takes to lead a church. In short, they learned by doing and corrected their mistakes along the way. There were no books on pastoral care and biblical leadership. There were no Bible college or seminary graduates, no ordained or credentialed clergy, no professional staff. But God called out and raised up leaders. It was all on the job training among believers who probably had far less Biblical knowledge and experience than you or I have today. If God could use them, He can use you! If they could do it, so can you! Over time, as your group matures and grows God will probably raise up elders and deacons, the two biblical offices of leadership and service in the house church (remember Pliny and the simple church, and how Pliny tortured two deaconesses to get information. So we know that deacons were functioning into the second century A. D.). The New Testament pattern suggests that it was primarily men who served as elders, while both men and women served as deacons. But his pattern was not absolute or exclusive, as Paul acknowledged Aquilla and his wife Priscilla as his co-workers or

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 62 fellow-laborers in the Lord (see Romans 16:3). I believe it is biblical to say that if you are qualified to lead a family, then you are probably qualified to lead a house church. I believe that the New Testament provides broad parameters for leadership that are inclusive, unless there is a specific disqualification. In other words, God desires that you be a leader in the Church that meets in your house unless there is a specific reason why you should not (i.e., a specific violation of the leadership qualities found in 1 Timothy 3:1-13). How leadership expresses itself in your house church will vary, within the guidelines provided by Scripture. I know of house churches where each meeting is facilitated by a different person or family, and others where there are recognized elders. But remember, generally speaking, the New Testament pattern is that house churches get started and then produce leaders, not the other way around. There is much more that we could say (and eventually will, but not now) regarding the details of house church leadership. What about the role of women in leadership? What about the 5-fold ministry teams of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers found in Ephesians Chapter 4? All of those questions are valid and should be addressed in time, but they are not necessary in order to get your house church functioning. For now, be the Church of Nike: Just Do It! And allow God to begin His work in your midst. Skin Like A Rhinoceros? We need more rhinoceroses in our house churches. What do I mean? I once heard George Otis, Jr., producer and host of the popular Transformation videos say that if we are going to have genuine revival in the Church, then Christians need to become offense-proof. We need to grow thicker skins, he opined. I believe he is right. When it comes to being offended by the habits and quirks of our brothers and sisters around us, we need to cultivate the skin of a rhinoceros. Nowhere is this more important than in the intimate fellowship of our house churches. But I want to take it a little further by saying immature Christians are easily offended. I believe that genuine personal and spiritual maturity can be measured by the thickness of our skins, that is, how easily we are offended by people around us. Absolute Truth Vs. Absolute Judgmentalism It was said of Christian author C. S. Lewis that he had the ability to make righteousness attractive. If only the same could be said of most Christians today. I believe that God wants our house churches (and our families that worship in those house churches) to become spiritual incubators of His absolute truth as revealed in Scripture. It is in our families, our homes and our house churches where Gods absolute truth is to be taught, modeled and learned. But I fear that all too often in the church our proclamation of absolute truth is accompanied with an equal measure of absolute judgmentalism towards those who are struggling with the application of Gods truth to their daily lives. How messy is your life? I have a saying that I try to teach among our house churches, and it goes like this: Life is messy (hows that for being spiritually profound?!). And more often than not, the mess of our lives is the result of sin, either our own sin or the sin of others. This is true of both believers as well as unbelievers. The issue is not whether or not there will be sin and mess in our lives (although our intent as believers should always be to avoid sin and to pursue righteousness), but rather the issue becomes how we deal with our sins and messes, as well as how we respond to and deal with the sins and messes in the lives of others. Our commitment to absolute truth, as revealed in Gods W ord, the Scriptures, not only enables us to identify sin, but also to confess it, to be forgiven, cleansed and released from it, and to pursue

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 63 afresh a life of godly obedience to Gods revealed will. But how many times have we stopped at simply identifying and condemning sin, rather than encouraging ourselves and others on to complete forgiveness and godly obedience. This is what I mean by absolute judgmentalism. It is the use and abuse of Gods absolute truth by turning it into a hammer that destroys those whom God desires to reconcile and redeem. What we need in our house churches is what Dr. Francis Schaeffer described twenty years ago as practicing both the holiness of God, where we confront sin when it occurs in our midst in order to maintain the outward purity of the Church, and personally demonstrating the love of God towards those who are struggling with issues of sin in their lives. One without the other leads to an unhealthy condition within the Church. Our house churches need to become safe places where believers and un-believers alike can unpack lifes baggage and clean up lifes messes in a non-condemnatory environment, find healing for lifes wounds while discovering Gods Kingdom power and Kingdom purposes for their lives. Thats Almost Music! My wife and I were privileged to attend one of the last conferences conducted by John Wimber, founder of the Association of Vineyard Churches. Before his conversion to Christ John had been a professional musician and the manager of The Righteous Brothers. John never lost his passion for music and the Vineyard movement became a pioneer in the area of contemporary Christian worship music. At this particular conference the session began with a time of singing and worship led by a worship band that, well, still needed some work. At the end, as the band was putting away its instruments and John was taking his place behind the podium, preparing to speak, he turned to the band members and said, Thanks fellows, that was almost music. I laughed so hard I thought I would split a seam! John had summed up the essence of the moment, and had unknowingly highlighted a problem in the contemporary Church. We are no longer satisfied with almost music. In many ways the contemporary church has become spoiled with regards to music. I came to Christ at the tail-end of the Jesus Movement in the early 1970s. I remember when your choice of Christian music consisted of traditional hymns, gospel music (usually with a Nashville-country flair) or that new radical music coming out of Christian hippies like Maranatha Music or strange characters like Larry Norman (remember, Just Visiting This Planet and I Wish W ed All Been Ready?). A lot has changed. One of the things that has changed is that Christians today are much more accustomed to professionally orchestrated praise & worship music that leaves the average believer intimidated about any attempt to simply Make a joyful noise unto the Lord. The people of God have always been a singing people. The Psalms of David were originally sung, and on occasion it was the worship choir that led the way into battle (see 2 Chronicles 20:21ff). Jesus sang hymns with his disciples at the last supper (see Matt. 26:30 & Mark 14:26), and, as Governor Pliny described to the Emperor Trajan, when the early church gathered together they would sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god. During the dark times of the Middle Ages as Europe reeled under barbarian invasions the Church developed the Gregorian Chant as the disciplined music for difficult times. During the Reformation, reformers like Martin Luther wrote new songs to celebrate a new found faith, and the Gregorian Chant of the Medieval Church gave way to the strains of the Psalter and a rediscovery of the Psalms set to music. Times of revival have always produced new hymns and songs. During the Evangelical Awakening of the 1700s Charles Wesley, one of the most prolific of hymn writers with some 4,000 hymns to his credit, wrote new hymns for specific Methodist congregations to encourage them during dark times of persecution. During the Great Manhattan

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 64 Prayer Revival of 1857-58, two prominent leaders of the revival at Jaynes Hall (in Philadelphia) were the Reverend Dudley Tyng, an Episcopal, and the Reverend George Duffield, a Presbyterian. In May of 1858 Dudley Tyng was mortally wounded in an accident. On his death-bed Tyng told his father to tell the men in Jaynes Hall to stand up for Jesus. When Tyngs father related this story at his sons memorial service, George Duffield was so moved by the dying words of his friend that he went home and wrote the hymn we sing today, Stand up, Stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross. The Welsh Revival of 1904 came to be known as the singing revival because of the prominent place given to corporate worship through the singing of great old Welsh hymns. W hether in times of crisis, times of revival, or times of regular worship, the people of God have always been a singing people. Music in the Church can be a blessing, or it can be baggage. It depends on what we do with it. I have seen Christians argue and Churches split over the color of a new hymnal, or over which hymnal to use, or whether or not to use a hymnal versus song sheets. Some Christians dislike contemporary worship music (I dont like the rhythm and they are theologically shallow) and prefer traditional hymns (Good theology and the music doesnt drown out the words), while other people will only sing from the Psalter Hymnal (the Psalms set to music, after all they were good enough for David! usually in minor keys just to assure that you dont enjoy them too much!). Well, you get the picture. O.K., lets shed our music baggage and start over. God is pleased with the music of our hearts. Pagans can sing hymns, but only believers can worship God in Spirit and in Truth with music that proceeds from a heart that loves God and wants to worship at His feet. Your house church will discover what style of music meets the worship needs of those in your fellowship. You may find a favorite hymnal and purchase copies, or you may decide to make up song sheets with the words to your favorite worship songs. Is there a musically inclined person who can play the piano or guitar to facilitate the music? If not, then you can do it acapella (without instruments) or you can purchase music tapes or CDs containing your favorites hymns or songs and learn to sing along. Be flexible. Learn to appreciate the diversity of music and worship in the body of Christ (because not everyone is like you . . . or me!). Remember the biblical standard for music and worship: Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! And you will never hear the Lord complain, that was almost music! Spectator Christianity vs Mutual Ministry Someone once described professional football as 22 men in desperate need of rest being watched by 50,000 spectators in desperate need of exercise. Sound familiar? It is estimated that in the traditional church 20% of the people do 80% of the work (with such a lopsided work load, the miracle is that anything gets done!). In many respects contemporary traditional churches have adopted this passive entertainment model for worship. A few professional people perform on Sunday morning and everyone else enters in vicariously and cheers them on, but they never really participate. It is passive, spectator-oriented Christianity, and it is destroying the church. The model of the early New Testament Church is quite different. In the New Testament house church everyone participated, When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation (1Corinthians 14:26). In this setting each person has the opportunity to share what God has laid upon their heart, to share a Scripture, to share a word of encouragement. Pauls entire argument in 1 Corinthians 12-14 is that 1) God gives spiritual gifts to every person in the body of Christ (Chapter 12:1-11), 2) no gift is unnecessary and all are important

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 65 to the proper functioning of the body (12:12-31), 3) Love is the required element that enables the body to exercise those gifts in a way that builds the body up and does not tear it down (Chapter 13), and 4) each of us is to exercise our unique gift clearly and in an orderly manner so that the entire body is edified (that is, built up, like a house being built piece by piece, each of us contributing our unique piece to the overall building). This is what we call mutual ministry. It is not one active person ministering to many passive people. It is every person contributing the unique thing God has given him or her. Eventually, gifted teachers will be recognized for their unique ability to teach the things of God with clarity (but even in the N.T. house church, teaching did not dominate everything else. See our paper Eight Characteristics of New Testament House Church). But others will also be recognized for their unique gifts of intercession, or prophecy, or encouragement, etc.). We see this concept of active mutual ministry reflected in Hebrews 10:23-25, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near. The word "consider" comes from the Greek katanoeo (noeo = to think + kata = an intensifier) which means To think deeply about, consider, contemplate, observe. Jesus used the same word when he said, "Consider the ravens...consider the lillies." (Lk. 12:24-27). The idea here is that active mutual ministry means we must prepare with prayer before we meet. The Greek sentence really says "Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works." Part of our preparation for house church is that we are to be observing and thinking deeply about the others in our fellowship in order to be able to effectively stimulate one another to love and good deeds Each person in your fellowship is unique. What stimulates one person to greater Christlikeness may not work for another. Each of us is called upon to "think deeply" about one another. The word stimulate comes from a root word that means "to make sharp" as with a sword. It means "to stir up, incite, provoke, motivate." Again, as every parent and every coach knows, what motivates one person will not motivate another. It requires thoughtful preparation on our part. The challenge of mutual ministry is that each believer must be spending individual time alone with God during the week, reading the Scriptures, praying (for ourselves and for each other) and listening to hear Gods voice, so that when the house church assembles he (or she) has something to bring that is the result of their on-going walk with God. Then, as your house church assembles ad begins to worship take time to seek the face of God in prayer, waiting to see if He has something to say to the waiting Church. Dont fear the silence of Gods Presence (by trying to fill it with prayer verbiage), but use it as an opportunity to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. Then, step out in faith to pray for one another, to prophesy over one another, to share words of encouragement with one another, to share a psalm, a hymn or a spiritual song. Be willing to take a risk that God is actually moving among His Church. Here I Stand: Taking Our Place In The Drama (or, Does Doctrine Matter?) In the final analysis, it really does matter what we believe. Groups that casually (but fervently) declare, We have no creed but Christ do, in reality, beg the question of Which Christ? Which Jesus do they worship: the cosmic christ of the New Age movement, the gnostic Jesus of the Aquarian gospel, the Jesus of Mormonism or the Jehovahs Witnesses? Eventually, doctrinal issues will arise and questions will need to be clearly answered in order to avoid what I call spiritual hodge-podge (commonly expressed today with one word: whatever!). So, what do you believe?

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 66 In the first three decades of the 20th Century a heated debate erupted between what was then described as the Fundamentalists and the Modernists or Liberals. The debate was between those who held to what they regarded as the fundamentals of the Christian faith (They even published twelve paperback volumes between 1910 and 1915 called The Fundamentals) and those who held to a liberal higher critical view of Scripture that called into question many basic historic items of Christian faith. The Fundamentalists as they came to be called (because they maintained the necessity of certain fundamental doctrines) argued that there were at least five essentail (or fundamental) truths that distinguished genuine Christianity from its liberal counterpart. Those five essential truths were: 1) the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible; 2) the deity of Christ and His virgin birth; 3) the substitutionary atonement of Christs death; 4) the literal resurrection of Christ from the dead; and 5) the literal return of Christ. Some sixty years ago, in the wake of the Fundamentalist-Modernist debate, British author and apologist Dorothy Sayers wrote an excellent little book entitled, Creed or Chaos? Why Christians Must Choose Either Dogma or Disaster (Or, Why It Really Does Matter What You Believe). Here is Ms. Sayers opening salvo against those who, both then and now, maintain that doctrine and dogma are unimportant. Official Christianity, of late years, has been having what is known as a bad press. We are constantly assured that the churches are empty because preachers insist too much upon doctrine - dull dogma, as people call it. The fact is the precise opposite. It is the neglect of dogma that makes for dullness. The Christian faith is the most exciting drama that ever staggered the imagination of man - and the dogma is the drama. That drama is summarized quite clearly in the Creeds of the Church, and if we think it dull, it is because we either have never really read those amazing documents, or have recited them so often and so mechanically as to have lost all sense of their meaning. The plot pivots upon a single character, and the whole action is the answer to a single central problem: What think ye of Christ? Ms. Sayers point was simple and clear. What we as Christians have historically believed, and continue to believe to this day, has been clearly stated and defined in the historic Creeds and Confessions of the Church. It is these Creeds and Confessions which provide the boundaries of historic Christian and biblical orthodoxy. To use the imagery developed by Ms. Sayers, they detail both the dogma (from the Greek, dokeo, meaning to think or believe, hence, that which we believe, doctrine) and the drama of what God has done in Christ on our behalf, and what we are called upon to do in response. The image of a drama is a biblical image. In 1 Corinthians 4:9 Paul tells the Corinthians that we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. The word translated spectacle is the Greek word theatron from which we get our English word theater. Paul is declaring that our lives as Christians are a divine and cosmic drama, a theatrical performance, that is being watched by the whole created order, including both men and angels. What are we acting out in our daily lives? We are acting out what we believe to be true regarding God, His Word and the truths of Scripture as we understand them. In short, we are acting out the drama of the creeds and confessions of His Church. Consider the following statement regarding the dogma of The Providence of God contained in questions 27 & 28 of the Heidelberg Catechism, one of the great declarations of Reformed Christianity:

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 67 QUESTION: What is the Providence of God? ANSWER: Providence is the almighty and ever present power of God by which He upholds, as with His hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty ~ all things, in fact, ~ come to us not by chance but by His fatherly hand. We can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things go well, and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing will separate us from His love. All creatures are so completely in His hand that without His will they can neither move nor be moved. This is high Christian drama at its finest. Do our lives demonstrate the truth of the Creed? Do our responses to the unfolding challenges and circumstances of our lives demonstrate that we genuinely believe that al things, in fact, come to us not by chance, but by His fatherly hand? Men and angels are watching to see how we perform our part in this great cosmic drama of the Providence of God. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, that great Prince of Preachers of the 19th century once observed, If its new, its probably heresy. As you and I grow beyond the initial novelty of house church ministry and begin to face the more challenging questions regarding what it means to take our place in this unfolding drama of the ages, we will do well for ourselves and for those who follow us to avoid the temptation of new and novel theologies and to return to the great historic creeds and confessions of the Church. You will find links to several of these historic Creeds & Confessions on The Parousia Network website (www.parousianetwork.com) on our House & Cell Church Page under What Is It We Believe. Who Do I Make My Check Out To? The last two lines of Isaac Watts glorious hymn, When I Survey The Wondrous Cross declare, Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all. Once, after this hymn had been sung in the Church of Saint Edmund, London, Father Ignatius repeated the last two lines of the hymn with

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 68 great emphasis. Then he added, Well, I am surprised to hear you sing that. Do you know that altogether you put only fifteen shillings in the collection bag this morning? Not much has changed over the years. Christians today still sing better than they give! At a recent house church conference in Denver, Wolfgang Simson (author of Houses That Change The World) observed that there are 3 issues or questions in the house church movement today: 1) Restoring what is church, 2) Defining how Christians are to work or network together, and 3) How Christians handle money. I agree, and I believe that how the house church movement handles the issue of giving among its members will determine much of its future effectiveness. I observed earlier that in the typical traditional church 20% of the people do 80% of the work. When it comes to financial giving, 20% of the people still give 80% of the money. The next 30% of the congregation gives the remaining 20% of all money, and 50% of the people in the church GIVE NOTHING AT ALL (and we wonder why ministries are always asking for money)! In the Old Testament the giving standard or rule was the tithe, which meant to give 10% of ones income. In the New Testament the standard is different, and higher! In the N.T. God owns it all (not just the tithe) and He loves a generous and cheerful giver (using that standard I would conclude that there isnt much cheer in most churches!). Whereas the O.T. expected conformity to an outward standard (i.e., giving 10%), the New Testament seeks the outward expression of an inward transformation. So, how transformed are you inwardly, and how does it express itself in your outward giving? Issues involving Christians, their money and their giving are not new. So, perhaps a little historical example will help us to put these issues into better perspective. During the great Evangelical Awakening in England during the 1700s John Wesley worked diligently to lay down principles for how members of his Methodist Societies should conduct themselves with respect to their lifestyles, including their business and finances. But Wesley did more than merely offer principles and rules. He offered himself as a living example of a lifestyle that was free from the love of money. Each year Wesley calculated what he needed in order to live. Once that figure was calculated he consciously and intentionally gave away everything in excess of that modest amount. In one particular year Wesley lived on approximately 30 (in todays currency, approximately $2,400). In that same year he earned and gave away an additional 1,400, which means that he gave away nearly 98% of his earnings for that year. Early in his long ministry, in 1743, Wesley wrote, If I leave behind me 10 . . . you and all mankind bear witness against me that I lived and died a thief and a robber. Wesley regarded his life and wealth as a stewardship, entrusted to him by God for the benefit of those around him. Wesley believed in industry and hard work, helping many fellow Methodists to start successful businesses. His financial motto was simple. Gain all you can, save all you can, give all you can (Not bad Christian financial planning advice). The sale of his pamphlets could have made W esley a wealthy man, had he not chosen to be a conduit for the less fortunate instead. In the year 1776 Wesley received a note from the Commissioner of Excise (the local IRS). At that time the government imposed a luxury excise tax upon all silver plate (dinnerware, etc.). The Commissioner of Excise claimed that Wesley owned more silver plate than he had declared and paid tax on. Wesley responded curtly but profoundly, I have two silver spoons at London and two at Bristol. This is all the plate I have at present, and I shall not buy any more while so many round me want bread. But Wesley took additional steps beyond his own personal lifestyle. He formed what today would be called credit unions. The Benevolent Loan Fund made short-term loans to Methodists in financial

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 69 need. Wesley personally solicited capital donations for the fund, and loaned money on more than one occasion to assist a Methodist to start a business. In addition, Wesley founded the Strangers Society which, according to Wesley, was instituted wholly for the relief not of our Society, but of poor, sick, friendless strangers. These early credit unions were intended to assist individuals in need who might have no other alternative. On the eve of his death with his strength failing, John Wesley closed his personal financial Account Book with these words: For upwards of 86 years I have kept my accounts exactly, I will not attempt it any longer, being satisfied with the continual conviction that I save all I can, and give all I can - that is all I have. When the day comes when it is time for you and for me to settle and close our accounts here on earth in preparation for the reckoning of heaven, may we be able to say the same. Good stewardship involves more than simply giving money. It involves a lifestyle that glorifies God by how we utilize the resources He has entrusted to us. This must be true of our house churches. Those of us in the house church movement have already chosen to do church differently. Perhaps it is also time for us to consider giving differently too. In a traditional church of say 300 people on a Sunday morning you could go through the entire service, probably for weeks on end, without ever knowing that four pews away from where you are singing and worshiping God sits an individual or a family in deep financial distress with pressing needs that go unmet. Why? Because, if the truth be told, we are out of touch with all but a handful of people in the church. Out of a congregation of 300, we might be personally involved in the lives of how many? Probably less than a dozen (individuals or families). Or about the number of people in an average house church. Using this as a spring-board, allow me to give some thoughts on giving. First, set aside your monthly giving amount in a separate place. Perhaps look at opening a separate checking account where you accumulate your offering to the Lord. Second, look for people in your house church fellowship, or people outside of your fellowship but who are known by the fellowship, and give to the needs of those people. Your fellowship might even look at doing joint giving to people known by the fellowship to be in need. Perhaps there is an unbeliever to whom you are seeking to minister who has a need. Compassionate, practical evangelism might be to help meet that need. Third, look for people involved in ministry (such as house church ministry) and give to help further their ministry. Look first to meeting the needs of people, and then to supporting those who are involved in ministry, particularly house church ministry. The Role of Teaching In House Church Let me begin this section with a story from the Great Welsh Revival of 1904. This revival came to be called the singing revival because of the tremendous amount of worshipful singing that occurred at many of the meetings (nearly every church in Wales was filled to capacity 7 nights a week for 18 months, and over 5% of the population of the nation professed Christ for the first time and joined a Church!). As a result, the revival was frequently criticized for a lack of Bible teaching & preaching. A well respected London Journalist (and Christian) named W. T. Stead travelled to Wales to personally witness the revival. His articles, which appeared in several Christian publications, popularized the revival in London. He was asked specifically about the lack of teaching & preaching in many of the services. Here is Mr. Steads observation as it appeared in The Methodist Times for December 15, 1904: Do you think that teaching is what people want in a revival? These people, all the people in a land

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 70 like ours, are taught to death, preached to insensibility. They all know the essential truths. They know that they are not living as they ought to live, and no amount of teaching will add anything to that conviction. To hear some people talk you would imagine that the best way to get a sluggard out of bed is to send a tract on astronomy showing him that according to the fixed and eternal law the sun will rise at a certain hour in the morning. The sluggard does not deny it. He is entirely convinced of it. But what he knows is that it is precious cold at sunrise on a winter's morning, and it is very snug and warm between the blankets. What the sluggard needs is to be well shaken, and in case of need to be pulled out of bed. 'Roused,' the Revival calls it. And the Revival is a rouser rather than a teacher. And that is why I think those Churches which want to go on dozing in the ancient ways had better hold a special series of prayer meetings that the Revival may be prevented coming their way. I share this story for several reasons, but not the least is that house church, like revival (and like the revival which I believe will soon be coming to the house church movement in America), is a rouser as well as a teacher. Dr. Ralph Neighbor, one of the American pioneers of the modern cell church movement distinguishes between cognitive learning and affective learning in the church. Cognitive learning has to do with imparting information and facts. Affective learning has to do with engaging our emotions in a way that leads to changed behavior. It is the difference between the head and the heart. This, I believe, was W. T. Steads point as well. A sluggard needs to be roused from bed, in addition to being educated regarding the nature of time and its proper management. The sluggard knows all about the time and seasons, but that knowledge in-and-of itself is not sufficient to motivate him to change his behavior. He needs to be roused. And so do we. We see this idea at work in the early house churches of the book of Acts: And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe (Acts 2:42-43). The early church devoted itself to the apostles teaching. The word for teaching here (didache) refers to formal instruction regarding a body of doctrine. That was the cognitive side. But they also devoted themselves to fellowship, taking meals together and praying together (what I would call affective learning activities). The result was a sense of awe which led them to change their behavior (read the rest of Acts 2:43ff to see all the ways that the behavior of these early converts changed). In our house churches we need both formal teaching that leads to cognitive learning and experiential teaching that leads to affective learning and changed lives. Cognitive learning and head knowledge alone will lead to pride (1 Corinthians 8:1) and sterility devoid of genuine practical application (i.e., changed lives). Experiential learning alone will eventually devolve into mysticism, sentimentality, error and an experience contrary to truth. Leaders/elders in your house church should be people who are able to teach so that teaching can take place regularly as needed. Others can also bring a teaching as they demonstrate scriptural knowledge and maturity. You can also use guided studies of proven soundness (Such as the Experiencing God workbooks & other helps), or listen to tapes of known and respected teachers. So, once again, what is the role and place of teaching in house church? Remember that formal cognitive teaching alone (the kind of teaching most of us Christians are familiar with) is not the secret ingredient to a successful house church. God wants us to experience the entire body in all its various parts/gifts functioning together as we share meals together & worship together; through one person bringing a teaching, another person bringing a song, another praying for healing for others in the group, another exercising a gift of intercession to pray over those in need, and another bringing a prophetic word. All of these things working together will result in both cognitive and affective learning with the result that lives will be changed and the saints will be equipped and encouraged for

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 71 greater service! Lets Talk About That I was in my Freshman year of Seminary when it happened. It was my first introduction to the annual Seniors preaching and Bible reading competition. In a nutshell, every year graduating Senior seminary students competed before a student and faculty panel. There were two categories: preaching and Bible reading (with money as the reward, of course). When I mentioned the upcoming competition to my Hebrew teacher, himself a graduating senior, he rolled his eyes and quipped, Yea, I think they should have more categories. We should have a healing competition, a tongues speaking competition, and a raising the dead competition. His tongue was firmly in his cheek by this point in the conversation. Christians love to preach. We always have. We encourage it. We teach people how to do it in our bible schools and seminaries. We even have competitions to see who is the best at it. And we build our church buildings and facilities to provide a platform for this particular style of communication. In the New Testament there are two primary words that are often translated as preach. The first is the Greek word euaggelizw - euangelidzo. It occurs 61 times in the New Testament in 52 verses. It is used almost exclusively of proclaiming the good news of the gospel. From this Greek word we get our English word evangelize. The emphasis is upon proclaiming a message of good news. The second New Testament word for preach is the Greek word khrussw - kerusso, which means to be a herald. It often described an official herald and literally meant to perform the actions and to make the proclamation of a herald by making an official proclamation. This word appears some 63 times in 60 verses in the N.T. The basic concept here is to proclaim. These two words occur together three times in the N.T., twice in the ministry of Jesus (Luke 4:18 & 8:1) and once in Pauls letter to the church at Rome (Romans 10:15). These two words form the basis for our concept of preaching and there is no question that such preaching held a prominent place in the life of the early church (and in churches ever since). But there is a third word that is also important in the life of the Church, but which seems to receive little attention in most churches today. It is the word dialegomai - dialegomai, from which we derive our English word dialogue. The word dialegomai comes from two Greek words, dia - dia (a preposition meaning through) and legw - lego (a verb meaning to talk, hence, to talk through). In Classical and Hellenistic Greek (the Greek of the 1st Century world) this word was mostly used for converse or discussion. Later it came to mean to negotiate. It was used of a philosophical dialogue, debate or disputation. In Jewish writers of the 1st Century such as Philo and Josephus over half of all occurrences had to do with conversation. W.E. Vine suggests that dialegomai primarily means to think different things with oneself, hence, to ponder or to resolve in ones mind, then, to converse; most frequently to reason or dispute with, not by way of a sermon, but by a discourse of a more conversational character. In other words, it was a conversation, a dialogue, with an intent to persuade. For this reason it is often translated reasoned. When we look at the Book of Acts (the missions book of the New Testament) we discover that the Apostle Paul preferred the concept of dialegomai. The word euangelidzo appears 7 times in Pauls ministry in Acts (13:23; 14:7, 15, 21; 15:35; 16:10 & 17:18) and the word kerusso appears 2 times in Pauls Acts ministry(Acts 20:25 & 28:31). But it was dialegomai that Paul preferred. In fact, it

Introduction To House Church - Section 2 : Page 72 appears that a change of emphasis took place during Pauls missionary journeys. From the time of Pauls first missionary journey (see Acts 13:32) until his ministry in Athens during the second missionary journey the predominant word used to describe Pauls message was euangelidzo. But the word never occurs after Acts 17:18 and Pauls time in Athens. Instead, the word dialegomai becomes the predominant word throughout the remainder of Pauls ministry (the last occurrence of dialegomai in Acts is with Felix in Caesarea in Acts 24:15). The word dialegomai is used 10 times in the book of Acts to describe Pauls ministry: 1. Acts 17:2 - Paul reasoned in the Synagogue at Thessalonica. 2. Acts 17: 17 - Paul reasoned in the Synagogue and in the market place in Athens. 3. Acts 18:4 - Paul reasoned in the Synagogue at Corinth. 4. Acts 18:19 & 19:8 - Paul reasoned in the Synagogue in Ephesus. 5. Acts 19:9 - Paul reasoned in the School of Tyrannus in Ephesus. 6. Acts 20:7 & 9 - Paul reasoned with believers in a home. 7. Acts 24:12 - Paul refrained from reasoning in Jerusalem. 8. Acts 24:25 - Paul reasoned with Felix in Caesarea. In his missionary activities Paul understood the importance of carrying on a reasoned conversation, a dialogue. He knew how to carry on such a conversation both with unbelievers he was seeking to lead to Christian faith, and with believers in house churches whom he was seeking to instruct and encourage in their faith (see Acts 20:7 & 9). I fear that many Christians today have lost (or at least have failed to cultivate) the ability to carry on a genuine conversational dialogue, either with an unbeliever whom they want to lead to faith, or with a believer whom they are seeking to instruct or encourage (or whose views they are seeking to explore or to change). There are reasons why this has happened. If you dont really know or understand what you believe or why you believe it, it is difficult to carry on a prolonged or in-depth conversation with someone whose questions are anything more than superficial. In addition, eloquent (or at least passionate) preaching tends to exalt the messenger, sometimes at the expense of the message. House Churches are not particularly conducive to eloquent preaching, and not everyone can preach eloquently. But House Churches can be a safe place where people with questions and problems can enter into a dialogue, a reasoned discussion, regarding the questions and issues confronting them in their search for Christ, or in their search for a more fulfilling and informed walk with Him. We need to learn how to say, Lets talk about that.

Growing Your House Church

And the word of the God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem. . . (Acts 6:7)

Growing Your House Church - Section 3 : Page 74

You Cant Get There From Here (Or When Do We Go From Addition To Multiplication?)
From The Mouths of Babes & Secular Historians If you havent read Samuel Huntingtons book, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (Touchstone Books, 1997), and if you dont mind slogging through some in-depth geopolitical-sociological-historical analysis, then you really should put this book on your reading list. Huntingtons thesis (simplified) is that with the collapse of the ideological orientation of nations (i.e., communist versus capitalist), the nations of the world are returning to what he regards as a more basic and fundamental orientation, namely, they are re-orienting themselves along the lines of the great Civilizations of which they have historically been a part. As I indicated, reading this book involves some serious slogging. But if you are persistent then you will be rewarded when you reach page 65. Actually, rewarded probably isnt the best description. Challenged is probably a better description. It will challenge your understanding of where we are in relation to the Great Commission. And since a quote is always better than a description, allow me to quote Huntington at length: In rapidly modernizing societies, if the traditional religion is unable to adapt to the requirements of modernization, the potential exists for the spread of Western Christianity and Islam. In these societies the most successful protagonists of Western culture are not neo-classical economists or crusading democrats or multinational corporation executives. They are ad most likely will continue to be Christian missionaries. Neither Adam Smith nor Thomas Jefferson will meet the psychological, emotional, moral, and social needs of urban migrants and first-generation secondary school graduates. Jesus Christ may not meet them either, but He is likely to have a better chance. In the long run, however, Mohammed wins out. Christianity spreads primarily by conversion, Islam by conversion and reproduction. The percentage of Christians in the world peaked at about 30 percent in the 1980s, leveled off, is now declining, and will probably approximate about 25 percent of the worlds population by 2025. As a result of their extremely high rates of population growth, the proportion of Muslims in the world will continue to increase dramatically, amounting to 20 percent of the worlds population about the turn of the century, surpassing the number of Christians some years later, and probably accounting for about 30 percent of the worlds population by 2025. Did you get his point? If current trends continue Islam will surpass Christianity in its percentage of the global population by the year 2025. Whos fulfilling the Great Commission? It would be easy to dismiss Huntingtons analysis if it were merely his alone, but it is not. His statistics came from the World Christian Encyclopedia, which is published by Evangelicals! Although their most recent batch of statistics (available on our website at www.parousianetwork.com on our House & Cell Church Page) has revised Christianitys numbers up and those of Islam down, they still report the following disturbing fact. Between now and the year 2025, global population is projected to increase by 26%; the number of Christians (of all stripes) is projected to grow by 27% (a statistical dead heat with population growth), while the number of Muslims is projected to grow by 44%! Whats It All About, Alfie? Huntingtons analysis has severe ramifications for our Culture, for the Church, for our traditional

Growing Your House Church - Section 3 : Page 75 paradigms and for our understanding of revival and evangelism. 1. Culture - Freed from the alliances of necessity brought about by the Cold W ar, Islamic Civilization, and the Muslim nations that comprise it, are experiencing a re-birth of self-awareness, including their self-awareness of the historic animosities between themselves and the Christian West (use this to put September 11 into an Islamic perspective). But the Christian West has its own problems. In the wake of the collapse of ideological communism, the Christian West has emerged from the conflict as a Post-Christian civilization that genuinely believes that it was capitalistic economics that caused them to triumph over ideological communism. It was not. It was the underground Christian Church in both Communist Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union that facilitated the collapse of ideological communism (which is why Communist China is desperately attempting to gain control over the underground church in China, because the Chinese Communists understand this historical reality). In short, the Christian West is now merely the West without the Christian soul that gave it its spiritual strength and vitality in the past. 2. Revival - The greatest revival of the 20th Century (which touched every continent of the world except Antarctica) was the Great Welsh Revival of 1904, the fires of which blazed around the world until the outbreak of World War 1. In the course of that revival approximately 5% of the population of the nation of Wales professed Christ for the first time and united with a Church. Five years later, according to a critical study of the Revival, some 70% of those who professed Christ during the revival were continuing on in the Church. My point in recounting these events is this: Even the greatest revival of the 20th Century was no quick fix to the challenge of cultural decline, or of achieving the goal of the Great Commission (i.e., discipling the nations). If the next coming revival should equal the effect that the Great W elsh Revival of 1904 had in its home country of Wales, the result would be that 5% of the worlds population would profess Christ and be added to His Church. That would bring the overall % of Christians up to what, 35% of the worlds population? Is that the fulfilling of the Great Commission? What about the remaining two-thirds of mankind? Revival, as glorious as it may (and I pray it will) be, it is not the quick fix for the Churchs dilemma. Structure, The Great Commission & The Problem of Basic Math The Church today has two problems that are in reality one-and-the-same. It is structural and it is mathematical. Here it is: The traditional Church as most of us have known it all of our Christian lives is built upon a structure that makes it physically and mathematically impossible to ever accomplish and fulfill Christs command to disciple the nations, because it is a structure that regards evangelism and church growth as a matter of simple addition. This problem first occurred in the Book of Acts in the ministry of the early Church. So it is there that we will find our solution to this problem. The early Church began its ministry be experiencing phenomenal growth-by-addition. Three times in the Book of Acts (Acts 2:41; 2:47; and 4:4) we are told that God added souls to the Church. The Greek word used is the Greek word prostithemi which means to add one thing to another. It is a description of simple addition. By the time we reach Acts 4:4 (the word added is not used, but the concept of addition is clear) God had added some 25,000 souls to the Church. Thats not bad addition, and I certainly dont know of any pastor today who would turn down 25,000 converts in less than a months time! But when we reach Acts 6:1 something changes. The word used to describe the growth of the Church changes from prostithemi (add) to a new word: plethuno. This is the Greek word meaning to cause to increase hence to multiply and it appears in Acts 6:7; 9:31 & 12:24 in the same context of multiplication. At this point the growth of the early Church went from SIMPLE ADDITION to

Growing Your House Church - Section 3 : Page 76 MULTIPLICATION (the word for add is never again used to describe the growth of the early church)! We will never disciple the nations (the goal of the Great Commission) by utilizing simple addition (seeing how many converts we can add to our existing Church structures). Let me demonstrate why. Let me introduce you to two Churches: Church #1 is The First Church of Great Addition. Each year of its existence it adds 25,000 new converts. Here is what its growth looks like: End of Year 1: 25,000 people End of Year 2: 50,000 people End of Year 3: 75,000 people End of Year 4: 100,000 people End of Year 5: 125,000 people End of Year 6: 150,000 people End of Year 7: 175,000 people End of Year 8: 200,000 people End of Year 9: 225,000 people End of Year 10: 250,000 people End of Year 11: 275,000 people Church #2 is The House Church of Simple Multiplication. It ends its first year with 8 disciples, but each of those 8 disciples will now disciple eight more, so The House Church of Simple Multiplication grows 8-fold every year. Here is what its growth looks like. End of Year 1: 8 people End of Year 2: 64 people End of Year 3: 512 people End of Year 4: 4,096 people End of Year 5: 32,768 people End of Year 6: 262,144 people End of Year 7: 2,097,152 people End of Year 8: 16,777,216 people End of Year 9: 134,217,728 people End of Year 10: 1,073,741,824 people End of Year 11: 8,589,934,592 people O.K., Here is the quiz: In what year will The House Church of Simple Multiplication catch and pass The First Church of Great Addition? (Answer: In Year 6). In What year will The House Church of Simple Multiplication fulfill the Great Commission? (Answer: Between years 10 and 11). In what year will The First Church of Great Addition fulfill the Great Commission? (Answer: NEVER! Well, technically, it will take 343,597 years for it to reach the worlds population by adding 25,000 per year).

Growing Your House Church - Section 3 : Page 77 Simply put, our current church structure combined with our current view of evangelism, resulting in a paradigm of adding converts to existing boxes, guarantees our inability to accomplish the Churchs primary calling - to disciple the nations. Then, when we consider that the sum total of all Christian workers and missionaries divided into the worlds non-Christian population means that each worker/missionary must disciple 9,335 people, well, you get the picture (I hope!). Now, tell me, which sounds more feasible to you: discipling 9,335 people, or discipling 8 people. You Cant Get There From Here - Reprise And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20) When was the last time you baptized a nation? There is much talk today among missions minded Christians about discipling the nations. But I have yet to see anyone baptize a nation (and if you are trying to think of ways it could be done, you are missing the point!). The word translated nations in Matthew 28:19 is the Greek word ethnos, from which we get our English word ethnic. It has the basic meaning of people. A little background is needed at this point. In the Hebrew Old Testament there were two primary words for people. The first word was the word am and was used primarily with reference to the covenant people of God. The second word was gy and referred to any non-Israelite, anyone outside of the covenant people. When the Hebrew O.T. was translated into Greek (a version called the Septuagint - abbreviated LXX - which was the common Bible of the 1st century since Jews of that time could read Greek but not Hebrew) the word am was consistently rendered as the Greek word laos (from which we get our English word laity) and the Hebrew word gy was rendered as ethnos. As a result (and the reason we went through this exercise), the words ethnos and laos acquire a terminological character in the sense of Gentiles on the one side (thats ethnos) and the chose people on the other (laos). In the view of the Old Testament, you were either one of the chosen people of God (laos) or you were a Gentile (ethnos). This is the background of these two words when we come to the New Testament. The word ethnos appears some 160 times in the N.T. By N.T. times it was the most general and weakest N.T. term for people, denoting the natural cohesion of people in general (hence the idea of nations which represent people in their natural cohesions based upon such things as racial origins or shared, common languages & customs). Of the 160 occurrences of ethnos in the N.T., there are at least 100 occurrences where ethnos seems to refer specifically to Gentiles, that is, people outside of Gods covenant people. With this as background, lets re-examine the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19. W ho exactly are we to disciple, baptize and teach? Answer: People. The command of Christ to His church is to disciple, baptize and teach everyone who is presently an outsider to Gods New Covenant in Christ the Messiah. Gods saving activity is no longer restricted to the laos, to Gods chosen people (to the Jews of Jesus day this was a radical issue, see Acts 15), but is now open to the Gentiles, the ethnos. To come back to our original point, we dont disciple, baptize or teach nations. We disciple, baptize and teach people. So, the question becomes, how do we go about discipling the 4 billion (plus) unbelieving people of our planet? Answer: By discipling, baptizing and teaching eight (8) units at a time. By becoming the multiplying house church that meets in our homes and that has as its goal

Growing Your House Church - Section 3 : Page 78 to multiply 8-fold in each successive generation. Want to conquer your neighborhood, your community, your nation for Christ? You only need 8 units/families! Now we are back to where we started. When it comes to discipling the nations and fulfilling the Great Commission, the traditional institutional Church, relying upon an evangelism based upon the simple addition of people to boxes, cannot get there from here! To state it differently, WE MUST CHANGE OR WE WILL FAIL. Now do you understand why God is shaking existing structures and paradigms and is raising up networking, multiplying house churches as His new paradigm for discipling the nations, including the ones in your neighborhood? Strategy # 1: A Place To Begin So, where do we start? How do we become consciously intentional and actually begin the process (or should I say, the adventure) of building a multiplying house church? What if we could begin by graphically illustrating or visualizing what our Multiplying Group of 8" might look like. It might look something like the diagram on the following page. The concept is really quite simple.

Step 1- Place yourself in the center circle. Thats right, write your name in the center circle, thereby symbolically declaring that you intend by prayer and Gods working, to become the Church that meets in your house! Step 2 - Next, in the box at the bottom of the page begin writing in the names of people, either believers or unbelievers, for whom you want to begin praying that God would bring them into your house church. These could include the names of co-workers, neighbors, unsaved friends or acquaintances, etc. These names could come from an evangelistic Bible Study, from an Alpha evangelism course, from an evangelistic block party, from canvassing your neighborhood to establish a Lighthouse of Prayer. Think creatively. List everyone you know who is unsaved, unchurched, or looking for a deeper and more meaningful walk with Christ. These people will now become the subjects of your prayers that God would convert them and/or soften their hearts towards house church. Step 3 - After a time of prayer and fasting for these people, begin inviting them over for a house church meeting, or for a potluck, or for an evangelistic dessert, or simply asking them if they would like to attend your house church fellowship. As they respond positively, place their names in a circle (one family or unmarried person per circle). Soon your house church network will be filled. Step 4 - As God blesses and your house church begins to function & grow, teach the same model to each participant so that they, too, will become consciously intentional about what it means to become a multiplying house church with the result that they, too, will one day become the church that meets in their house. So that the Adventure Will Continue . . . .

Growing Your House Church - Section 3 : Page 79

A Multiplying Group of Eight

Building Your Multiplying House Church

Use This space to begin making a list of people for whom you intend to pray and whom you inte nd to even tually challenge to become part of the church that meets in your house. After a period of fasting & prayer, begin inviting them to attend an introductory meeting. As they respond positively, move their name from the list here to one of the circles above, u ntil your netwo rk is full. __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ ____________________________________________

Growing Your House Church - Section 3 : Page 80 Strategy # 2: Reaching Beyond Your House Church & Into Your Neighborhood In his book Fearless Faith: Living Beyond the Walls of "Safe" Christianity John Fischer tells about a pastor who served as a short-term missionary in France. Part of his job was to knock on 4,000 doors and to leave a card that the person could fill out and mail in for a free Bible and study guide. Out of 4,000 homes, there was not one response. Reflecting on his experience, the pastor said that if he had the opportunity to do it all over again: "I would move into that neighborhood and love my neighbors." Of course, it sounds so simple when we say it, but it's so fundamental and basic we sometimes overlook it. The good news for us is we're already in the neighborhoods. We don't need to go to France. We don't need to go anywhere. All we need to do is open our front doors and our eyes and notice the people who live around us. God's plan for reaching the world is quite simple when you come right down to it. It's you and me making friends with people who don't know Him yet, and then inviting them into the Church that meets in our homes. What would happen to our neighborhoods if there was a house church on every block? Here are some ideas on how this could be accomplished. Step 1 - Make A Map of Your Neighborhood: Begin by making a map of your immediate neighborhood. At the end of this section you will find the beginnings of a grid map that you can use to get started (many new residential neighborhoods are not laid out in a grid format, so you will have to adjust or create a hand-drawn map of your own). Step 2 - Begin Filling In Your Map: On your map begin filling in the names, addresses & phone numbers of everyone in your neighborhood. Find out more about them. W ho are they? What do they do for a living? What about their children? Do they have special needs or circumstances (the effective communication of the gospel often begins at the point of someones need or crisis). What is their religious background (if any!)? Do they go to church somewhere? Step 3 - Begin Meeting Those In Your Neighborhood: Since you probably dont already know everyone in your neighborhood, now you get to meet them. How? Plan a series of walking visits through your neighborhood. Spend some time going door-to-door, introducing yourself. Visit # 1 - Introduce yourself & where you live (youre a neighbor and a friend, not a Mormon or a Jehovahs Witness who is just passing through seeking to rack up spiritual brownie points). Give them a copy of the Are You A Person Of Peace? tract. Explain that you are looking for people in your extended neighborhood who might be interested in opening their home for a neighborhood Bible Study. Take time to learn their names and something about them for your neighborhood map. Let them know that they dont need to decide today about the Bible Study, but you would like to talk with them about it again soon. This sets the stage for your next visit. Visit # 2 - The pastor of a Christian church in Phoenix, Arizona, recently asked the members of his church to randomly choose 80 people from the telephone book. He then asked them to pray for each of the 80 names every day for 90 days. At the same time, he asked them to choose another 80 names from the telephone book - but this second list was simply laid aside, and nobody prayed for the people on the list. After 90 days, church members called all 160 people on the lists, asking them whether they would allow Christians to visit them to pray for them. "The amazing result," says Alvin

Growing Your House Church - Section 3 : Page 81 VanderGriend, speaker of the American Lighthouse movement, "was this: only one person on the list of people who did not receive prayer was prepared to allow Christians to visit, whereas 69 of the 80 people for whom the church members prayed were prepared to allow Christians to visit, and 45 even invited them into their house, offered coffee and named special prayer requests. Prayer was clearly the decisive factor causing these people to open their houses for personal prayer." Today it is popular to do prayer walking through neighborhoods. While this can be good (prayer is always a good thing!) I find that many Christians like to do symbolic abstract things rather than practical and concrete ones! Practical prayer for specific people is always better than abstract prayer for concepts (like the neighborhood). Go through your neighborhood and meet real people who need real prayer for specific things! Use the Could We Pray For You? tract to explain that you are having a regular neighborhood prayer meeting at your house. Explain that they are invited to come & pray, but if not that you would like to know how you could pray for them and their family. Additional Steps You Can Take - Dont make this a one time blitz. Plan several such door-to-door visits. a. On each one check up on how people are doing, what they may need prayer for, and leave a different piece of information, such as one of the tracts included in this starter pack. b. Always use the opportunity to invite them over for your weekly house church or neighborhood prayer meeting. c. Invite them over to your house for a special neighborhood coffee, dessert & fellowship time. d. If you have some Christian neighbors, try jointly sponsoring a neighborhood block party. Make it a potluck where everybody brings something. Make it a low-key & non-threatening time for everyone to get to know each other. Use it to let everyone know they are invited to the next house church/bible study/prayer meeting. e. Sponsor a neighborhood yard sale to encourage you neighbors to work together and to give you an opportunity to meet them. f. Find out if there is a neighborhood Block Watch program in your area. They may be listed in the phone book, or you could contact your local community affairs officer with the local police department. They often have resources for mapping neighborhoods, and it could give you another opportunity & reason to contact your neighbors. Why Some House Churches Multiply While Others Dont Joel Comiskey is a well known leader in the Cell Church movement (the more organized cousin of the House Church movement). For his doctoral dissertation at Fuller Theological Seminary Joel studied 8 of the largest and fastest growing cell churches in the world and surveyed more than 700 cell group leaders. His goal was to discover why some cell leaders succeed while others fail at the task of evangelizing the lost and giving birth to new cell groups. His conclusions have subsequently been validated by other independent studies. Joel has published his results in a book entitled Home

Growing Your House Church - Section 3 : Page 82 Cell Group Explosion, which we highly recommend that you purchase and read.8 As we think and pray about how to create a growing & multiplying house church, I believe that Joels conclusions are as applicable to House Church ministry as they are to cell church ministry. Here are two sets of Joels conclusions (his book is an expansion upon and an explanation of these conclusions). The first set of conclusions deals with those factors in the lives of leaders which DO NOT affect whether or not their churches multiply. The second set of conclusions deals with those factors in the lives of leaders which DO affect whether or not their churches multiply.

Those Factors That DO NOT Affect Church Multiplication:

O O O

The leaders gender, social class, age, marital (civil) status or education. The leaders personality type. Both introverted and extroverted leaders multiply their cells. The leaders spiritual gifting. Those with the gift of teaching, pastoring, mercy, leadership and evangelism equally multiply their cell group.

Those Factors That DO Affect Church Multiplication:

O O O O O O O

The cell leaders devotional time. Those who spent 90 minutes or more in devotions per day multiplied their groups twice as much as those who spent less than 30 minutes! The cell leaders intercession for the cell members. Those who pray daily for cell members are most likely to multiply their groups. The leader spending time with God to prepare for a cell meeting. Spending time with God preparing the heart for a cell meeting is more important than preparing a lesson. Setting Goals. The leader who fails to set goals that the members remember has about a 50% chance of multiplying his or her cell. Setting goals increases that chance to 75%. Knowing your cell multiplication date. Cell leaders who set specific goals for giving birth consistently multiply their groups more often than goal-less leaders. Training. Cell leaders who feel better trained multiply their cells more rapidly. How often the cell leader contacts new people. Leaders who contacted five to seven new people per month had an 80% chance of multiplying their cell group.

Joel Com iskey, Hom e Cell G roup Explo sion: H ow Y our Sm all Grou p Can Grow And Multiply Touch Publications, P.O. Box 19888, Houston, TX 77224-9888; Telephone: (800) 735-5865; FAX (281) 497-0904; W ebsite : www.touchusa.org. 1998. ISBN1880828065.

Growing Your House Church - Section 3 : Page 83 Your Neighborhood Map

House/Family Alley/Fence House/Family Street House/Family Alley Hou se/Fam ily

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church

A man is no bigger than his prayer life, or as Murray MCheyne is reputed to have said, What a man is on his knees before God, that he is - and nothing more. Arthur Wallis Pray In The Spirit

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 85

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church

A . . . more weighty reason for fasting is that it is an help to prayer; particularly when we set apart large portions of time for private prayer. Then especially it is that God is often pleased to lift up the souls of his servants above all the things of earth, and sometimes to rapt them up, as it were, into the third heaven. 9 A man is no bigger than his prayer life, or as Murray MCheyne is reputed to have said, What a man is on his knees before God, that he is - and nothing more. 10 Prayer does not prepare us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work. Oswald Chambers While others slept, he rose to pray. It was not the first time he had risen in the early morning hours to pray, nor would it be his last. The birth of a Church and the future of a nation demanded nothing less. So with only the stars and the angels as his witnesses, he wrestled with God over the future of his beloved but troubled nation. One of the sources of his nations problems, Mary Queen of Scotland, had once remarked that she feared the prayers of this man more than she feared all the armies of Europe. If she could have witnessed his intercessions this night, her worst fears would have been confirmed, for here, alone beneath the stars, was a man who knew how to wrestle with God . . . and prevail. Great God, cried John Knox, Give me Scotland, or I shall die. The mantle of intercession that rested upon John Knox would one day be picked up and carried by his associate and son-in-law, John Welch, who would marry his daughter, Elizabeth. Welch became widely known for his personal commitment to fasting and prayer, and for the significant amount of time he spent in personal prayer, often as much as eight hours a day. He also became known for tremendous spiritual power which seemed the outward result of his fervent intercessions. On more than one occasion his wife, Elizabeth, would awaken to an empty bed and find her husband praying alone in the cold night air of their garden, praying with great force & fervency, mixed and accompanied with floods of tears,11 crying out, Lord, wilt Thou not grant me Scotland? She would remember the times she had heard her father, John Knox, pray with a similar burden on his heart, Great God, give me Scotland, or I shall die. And how many times had she heard her husband wonder aloud how a Christian could lie in bed all night never rising to watch and pray. Such are the wrestlings and intercessions of those whom God has used, and continues to use today, to bring revival and to change the course of nations and of history. Is Your House A House Of Prayer? There is much talk today about prayer. There is talk about turning our homes into lighthouses of prayer. But prayer must be more than talk, and it must be more than a program. Prayer (along with

Wesley, Sermon 27, page 600. Arthur Wallis, Pray In T he Sp irit (Fort Washington: Christian Literature Crusade, 1993) page 9. Flem ing, Fulfilling Of The Scripture, p. 423.

10

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Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 86 fasting) must become a priority and a discipline in our personal lives, in our homes and in our house churches. Reliable studies that have been conducted regarding the devotional habits of pastors indicate that the average traditional church pastor spends an average of five minutes per day in prayer. I went through four years of Seminary training, even serving on the adjunct faculty of the Seminary, without ever taking a single course, workshop or seminar on the importance of fasting and prayer for successful ministry. So, it should therefore come as no surprise that most contemporary church ministry looks and acts like little more than the sum total of its human parts. If our house church ministries are to prosper and to grow long-term, then they must represent more than the sum of mens best efforts. We must learn to fast and to pray and to intercede, or we will fail. To put this issue differently, let me re-phrase it as a question: What is it that you want God to do in your life, in your family, in your house church ministry; and what price are you willing to pay to see Him do that? There is a price to be paid for Gods moving in great power. And that price is greater than spending five minutes per day in prayer. John Knox understood that price as he labored to give birth to the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. John Wesley understood the price of spiritual power. He fasted two days every week, and in his Rules for the United Societies he encouraged every Methodist to set aside every Friday for fasting and prayer. The Presbyterian Church of 1857 understood this price. On the eve of the Great Manhattan Prayer Revival of 1857 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church noted the price required for a great movement of Gods Spirit: Another and the last evidence, that we cite, of an increasing vigor and efficiency in our denomination is, the intense longing, breathed through all the Narratives for a general, glorious outpouring of the Spirit. The past year has not been one which may be characterized as a year of revivals, although many churches in many Presbyteries have been greatly quickened, and some have been favored with spiritual influences of extraordinary power. . . .This longing for revivals we cannot but consider a cheering indication of the noblest life. Next to a state of actual revival is the sense of its need, and the struggle to attain it ant any sacrifice of treasure, toil, or time. We trust that the period is not distant, when this state of actual, general, glorious revival shall be ours; when the Church, seeking the Lord God by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes, shall find the annual record of her progress a blessed realization . . . . 12 If we want our house churches to be vessels and channels for the River of Gods Spirit as it begins to flow in our day; if we want our house churches to be places where the Kingdom Presence and Power of God dwell, and where all of the gifts of His Spirit operate with the result that believers are built up in their faith, unbelievers are redeemed, and the Kingdom of God grows in peace, righteousness and power, then we must become a people who devote themselves to prayer, fasting and intercession. I believe that the greatest work of the Church on earth is intercession. And the true measure of a Church, like that of a man (or woman), is the measure of the time spent in prayer and intercession before the Throne of Grace. Intercessory prayer is the life-breath of the Church. It precedes evangelism, missions, works of kindness and all other worthwhile activities. It is the God-appointed

Minutes of the Gene ral Ass emb ly of the Presb yterian Chu rch in the United States of America with an App endix , 1857, page 418.

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Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 87 means of calling down His power and His blessings upon the Church and the world, and has been the necessary forerunner of every great revival, renewal and awakening in the history of the Church. A Christian or a Church that does not pray and intercede is like a body that does not breathe. Sooner or later its life will be in doubt. Make a Fasting & Prayer Covenant In 1798 the Reverend James McGready moved from North Carolina to Logan County, Kentucky in order to pastor 3 small churches. McGready understood the role of dedicated fasting & prayer in seeking Gods blessing for the conversion of the lost and the encouragement of the Church. He challenged his congregations to enter into a covenant to set aside specific time every week to fast and pray for revival. Here is the covenant that they entered in to: The Fasting Covenant of The Reverend James McGready When we consider the word and promises of a compassionate God, to the poor lost family of Adam, we find the strongest encouragement for Christians to pray in faith - to ask in the name of Jesus for the conversion of their fellow-men. None ever went to Christ, when on earth, with the case of their friends that were denied, and although the days of his humiliation are ended, yet for the encouragement of His people, he has left it on record, that when two or three agree upon earth, to ask in prayer, believing, it shall be done. Again whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. With these promises before us we feel encouraged to unite our supplications to a prayer-hearing God, for the out-pouring of his Spirit, that his people may be quickened and comforted, and that our children, and sinners generally, may be converted. Therefore, we bind ourselves to observe the third Saturday of each month, for one year, as a day of fasting and prayer, for the conversion of sinners in Logan County, and throughout the world. We also engage to spend one-half hour every Saturday evening, beginning at the setting of the sun, and one-half hour every Sabbath morning, at the rising of the sun, in pleading with God to revive His work.13 McGready and his band of prayer warriors fasted & prayed for over two years. The result was that a great revival, known to historians as The Second Great Awakening, broke out in Logan County and swept all across the southeastern United States, resulting in the conversion of tens of thousands of unbelievers. Likewise, during the Evangelical Awakening in England during the 1700s, John Wesley understood the price of spiritual power. He fasted two days every week, and in his Rules for the United Societies he encouraged every Methodist to set aside every Friday for fasting and prayer. The Parousia Network Friday Fasting Covenant At the Parousia Network we are committed to a ministry of personal fasting & prayer for one another, for God's working in the Network and for the coming of The River in power and renewal. For this reason we have established our Friday Fasting Covenant. The goal of the Friday Fasting Covenant is to set aside one day per week (preferably Friday) to meditate on Scripture ("feed on the Word") and to pray for our families, for the churches that meet in our homes, for our neighborhoods, for the needs

Covenant of Rev. J ame s McG ready. Fro m Ja mes Smith , History of the Christian Church, Including a History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (1835). Q uoted in C atharine C . Clevelan d, The Great Revival In The West 1787-1805. Copyright 1916 University of Chicago (Gloucester, Mass : Peter Smith, 1959).

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Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 88 of those around us, for the ministry of The Parousia Network, and above all, to ask our Sovereign God to turn our house churches into the new channel where the River of His Spirit will be poured out and will flow in great power and blessing! If you would like to become a part of the Friday Fasting Covenant you can join by simply sending us a blank e-mail with "JOIN" in the subject line to FastingCovenant@parousianetwork.com. The Relationship Between Fasting And Prayer So, what is the relationship between fasting and prayer? This question is not as easily answered as we might think on first glance. For example, in the book of Esther we find one of the most powerful examples of fasting in all of Scripture, resulting in deliverance from total destruction for the Jewish people. Yet there are no instances of prayer in the entire book! It would appear that, just as one can pray without fasting, so too, one can fast (successfully and powerfully) without praying! Please Note: My point here is not an encouragement to fast without praying nor to minimize the importance of prayer, but to underscore the intense intercessory nature of genuine fasting. I believe that there are two primary reasons why one can fast without praying and still be effective and powerful. First, God honors the attitude and intent of our hearts. His Spirit searches our spirit, interceding with groanings too deep for words (Romans 8:26 & 27). God knows the secret unspoken reasons and motivations for our outward fasting, and He honors them as we fast unto Him. Second, I believe that fasting (done with the proper attitude towards God) is itself a form of intercession, and the fasting saint is an interceding saint in the eyes of God. And our God is One who loves intercessors and intercession so much that He seeks them out. God Looks For Intercessors Does it come as a surprise to you that God is searching for intercessors? We see this aspect of Gods heart in two passages: And He saw that there was no man, and was astonished that there was no one to intercede. . . (Isaiah 59:16). And I searched for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one (Ezekiel 22:30). These passages tell us several things about the heart of God and the role of an intercessor. First, God is looking for people who will intercede with Him on behalf of others, and He is astonished when no intercessors are to be found. Second, an intercessor is someone who does two things: they build up the wall and they stand in the gap. An intercessor is someone who sees a spiritual situation where a need exists; there is a gap in the wall. He (or she) responds first by standing in the gap, thereby preventing the situation from deteriorating further. But he also responds by helping to build up the wall, thereby working with God in prayer to repair the damage that has already been done. But be warned. Intercession is more than simple prayer, or even intensified prayer. Listen to Norman Grubb describe intercession as exemplified in the life of Rees Howells: Perhaps believers in general have regarded intercession as just some form of rather intensified prayer. It is, so long as there is great emphasis on the word intensified; for there are three things to be seen in an intercessor which are not necessarily found in ordinary prayer: identification, agony and

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 89 authority.14 I believe that fasting is a form of intercession. Indeed, I believe that fasting, when combined with fervent prayer, is the Christians most powerful form of intercessory prayer. When we fast and pray for individuals or situations, God often places us in the unique position of an intercessor. In this position God enables us to identify with the person or circumstance (often described as the giving of a burden to pray). He then grants us to enter into and share the agony felt by that person. And finally He gives us the spiritual authority to pray life-changing prophetic prayers into that persons life or into that particular circumstance. Fasting, when combined with prayer, is the most powerful form of intercession available to the believer. The fasting and praying believer is one who, like Daniel, has set (his) face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting . . . (Daniel 9:2-3). This is serious, powerful, intercessory praying. Derek Prince has well described such times, In the prayer life of each one of us there comes a time when we have to set our face. From that moment onward, no discouragement, no distraction, no opposition will be allowed to hold us back, until we have obtained the full assurance of an answer to which Gods Word gives us title.15 Three Examples of Intercession If we want to see how important intercession is to God we only need to look at three biblical examples of intercession. Elijah. In Romans 11:2 the Apostle Paul tells us that the Prophet Elijah interceded with God against Israel (See 1 Kings 19:10, then see Chapter 13 of this book). We often think of prophets as men who made great pronouncements regarding the will of God and performed amazing acts of power on the stage of Scripture. But perhaps the largest part of Elijahs ministry to ancient Israel was a ministry of intercessory prayer. In 1 Kings 17:1 Elijah bursts upon the public stage of Scripture and decrees that there will be no rain in Israel for three years (the actual number 3 is does not appear until 18:1). The twenty-four verses that follow in Chapter 17 cover a span of three years. Now, the obvious question should be, What did Elijah do during those three years? We know he spent time by the brook Cherith, but we dont know how long. It was long enough for the effect of the drought to dry up the brook, so it was probably several months, but we dont really know. We also know that he went to live the remainder of the time with the widow of Zarephath, but we dont know how long he was there, either. So what did he do during all that time of isolation? I want to suggest that he spent a significant portion of that time alone in prayer with God, interceding for the people and the nation of Israel. I believe that those three years of isolation and intercession alone with God prepared Elijah and Israel for what would eventually take place on Mr. Carmel in Chapter 18 at the end of those three years. The events on Mr. Carmel and the triumph of Elijah over the prophets of Baal lasted for one brief day, but the preparation through intercession had lasted for three years. In James 5:16-18 the Apostle James, the brother of Jesus, tells us that Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. I believe that we are told this to let us know that, in our essence and in our potential, we are no different from Elijah. W hat he accomplished through prayer is also available to us. So, what

14

Grubb , Rees Howells Intercessor, page 81.

Derek Prince, Shaping History Through Prayer & Fasting (Fleming H. Revell Com pany: Old Tappan, 1973), page 103.

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Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 90 is the difference between Elijahs prayer life and ours? Perhaps it is the discipline that Elijah was willing to exercise in order to become an intercessor. Intercession, and its power results, is not the product of the stage and the spotlight, but of the solitude of time spent alone in the presence of God. In those same verses James also describes an effective prayer, using the example of Elijah. The word translated effective is the Greek word energew (energeo). It means to be active and energetic, to prove oneself strong. In this passage it seems to denote the inspired prayer or the prayer of a righteous man wrought by the operation or energy of the Holy Spirit. I believe that intercessory prayer, as demonstrated in the life and ministry of Elijah, refers to prayer that is inspired and empowered by the Holy Spirit. In other words, it is prophetic in that it prays the will of God into the particular situation. Because it is disciplined over time and inspired by the Holy Spirit, it is effective, energetic and strong in its result. This is what it means to be an intercessor. Holy Spirit. Intercessory prayer not only means following the example of Elijah, but it also means following the example of the Holy Spirit. We find our second example of intercessory prayer in Romans 8:27, and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Intercessory prayer is so important that it is one of the ministries of the third person of the Godhead. The Holy Spirit intercedes in and for the life of every believer, searching our spirits, understanding our struggles, knowing our needs, and communicating these things to the Father in a manner that is in keeping with His will for us. This, I believe, is an example of prophetic praying. It means to understand Gods will for a person or situation and praying Gods will into that situation. One thing we can always be assured of is that God will always accomplish His will! Jesus Christ. Our third biblical example of intercessory prayer is the most important one of all. It is found in Hebrews 7:25, Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Yes, it is the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. Intercession is one of the primary post-resurrection ministries of the risen and glorified Christ. He is our sympathetic heavenly high priest who continually intercedes for us, bringing your needs and mine before His heavenly Father. And just as Jesus intercedes for us, He gives us the example and the privilege to intercede for one another. If intercession is so important to the heart of God that it is a primary ministry of both the Holy Spirit and the Son of God, shouldnt it be important to us as well? In 1 John 5:14-15 we have an important promise related to the ministry of intercession, And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. The promise of this passage is that when we pray according to the will of God we can be confident of two things, that He hears us and that we have the request we have made. But what does this mean to us as we pray. Do we simply pray and hope that our prayers happen to correspond to Gods will; if they do He answers, and if they dont, well too bad and better luck next time? No. That is not biblical intercession. So the question becomes, How do we know the will of God for a particular situation so that we can pray for His will to be accomplished? We know His will first and foremost through the study of His Word. But secondly, we know Gods will as He reveals it to us by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. As we fast and pray for an individual the Holy Spirit reveals to us the bondages of their lives, the secret hurts and struggles, the spiritual and emotional wounds that He desires to heal. He gives us both the knowledge and the burden necessary for genuine intercession. This is what I refer to as prophetic praying; praying Gods will and Gods heart into a persons life or into a particular circumstance or

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 91 situation. Listen to what Andrew Murray says about this type of praying: Now we can understand how Christ could give such unlimited promises of answer to prayer to His disciples; they were first going to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now we understand how God can give such a high place to intercession in the fulfillment of His purposes of redemption. It is the Holy Spirit who breathes Gods own desire into us and enables us to intercede for souls.16 The goal of our intercession is to become intercessory vessels through whom the Holy Spirit intercedes for the world according to the will of God. Arthur Wallis, in his excellent little book Pray In The Spirit, makes a distinction between the intercessory ministry of Christ and that of the Holy Spirit. Christ, he says, intercedes for us. That is, we are the passive recipients of His intercessory prayers. But the Holy Spirit desires to intercedes through us. He desires to use us as His willing instruments to intercede for the world, but He requires our co-operation. I believe that through the discipline of fasting, combined with prayer, we place ourselves in a uniquely powerful position to become the intercessory vessels for the intercessory ministry of the Holy Spirit. What Intercessors Believe I believe that God is moving in our present generation to raise up an army of intercessors. He is raising up people who He has uniquely touched and anointed both to fast and to pray His kingdom purposes into the lives of men and women and into the affairs of nations. These are true intercessors believe in the power of intercessory prayer. W hat do they believe about prayer? Here are some of the beliefs that characterize Gods army of true intercessors: 1. True Intercessors believe that Jesus Christ has made intercessory prayer possible (John 14:6). 2.True Intercessors believe that God hears and answers prayer (Jeremiah 33:3; Hebrews 11:6; Psalm 65:2). 3.True Intercessors believe that Jesus Christ placed priority on prayer (Mark 1:35; Luke 18:1). 4. True Intercessors believe that Jesus Christ has taught us how to pray (Luke 11:1-10). 5. True Intercessors believe that Jesus Christ prays and intercedes on our behalf (Luke 22:3132; John 17:20; Hebrews 7:25). 6. True Intercessors believe that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God (Romans 8:26-27). 7. True Intercessors believe in personal prayer (Matthew 6:5-15). 8. True Intercessors believe in the partnership and power of united prayer (Matthew 18:18-20). 9. True Intercessors believe in the need for persistence and prevailing in prayer (Daniel 6:10; Luke 11:5-13; Luke 18:1-8).

16

Andrew Murray, The Secret of Intercession (Springdale: Whitaker House, 1995), page 32.

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 92 10. True Intercessors believe in the practicality of prayer (Isaiah 40:28-31). 11. True Intercessors believe in the power of prayer (Acts 12:5-7). 12. True Intercessors believe in surrender in prayer (Psalm 62:8; Matthew 26:39). 13. True Intercessors believe in the comprehensive coverage of prayer (Philippians 4:6; John 15:7). 14. True Intercessors believe in corporate prayer (Acts 12:12). 15. True Intercessors believe in meeting the conditions of prayer (John 15:7; Psalm 66:18; I John 3:22; 5:14-15; James 4:2-3). 16. True Intercessors believe in the promises of prayer (Psalm 91:15; Luke 11:9-10 Jeremiah 33:3). 17. True Intercessors believe in God's Word as the guide to prayer (Psalm 119:10-11; 2 Timothy 3:l6). 18. True Intercessors believe the church is a house of prayer (Matthew 21:13). 19. True Intercessors believe in praying for others (Ephesians 6:18; James 5:16). 20. True Intercessors believe in praise and worship predominating prayer (Psalm 103:12; Psalm 145; Psalm 146:1-2; Acts 16:25). 21. True Intercessors believe in fasting as a God-appointed means of aiding intercessory prayer. 22. True Intercessors believe in prayer as a primary means to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 9:37-38; Acts l:8). Seeking God With A Whole Heart A frequently quoted Old Testament passage regarding prayer is found in Jeremiah 29:12-13, Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek me and find Me, when you search for me with all your heart. One question that is seldom asked (or answered) by those who quote this verse is, What does it mean to seek God with all of our heart? If our goal in prayer is to find God and His answers to our prayers then answering this question is critical, since the promise is based upon our seeking Him with all of our heart. It should come as no surprise that there is a relationship between seeking God with all our heart in prayer and seeking Him through fasting. It can be seen in Joel 2:12, Yet even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping, and mourning . . . Here, returning to the Lord with all your heart is connected directly with fasting. Put differently, to seek God by means of prayer with fasting is to seek Him with all of our hearts. And when a man (or woman) does this he achieves the attention of Heaven for his prayers. Arthur W allis agrees and observes:

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 93 When a man is willing to set aside the legitimate appetites of the body to concentrate on the work of praying, he is demonstrating that he means business, that he is seeking with all his heart, and will not let God go until He answers.17 Revitalizing Our Prayer Time Why do we not pray more? Why do we not persevere in prayer? Why are our prayer meetings so poorly attended? Why are our prayer ministries so ineffective? What is it that hinders our prayers? What can we do to revitalize our times of prayer and intercession? The following are only a few ideas to stimulate our thinking and discussion in the Church.

Spiritual Hindrances To Prayer: There are many reasons why we do not pray more, or have a more effective ministry of prayer and intercession. A list of these reasons should include, but not be limited to the following:

1. Spiritual Warfare - We have an enemy who does not want us to pray, and in order to prevent prayer he engages in warfare against the saints. The last thing Satan wants to see is Christians humbling themselves with fasting before the Throne of Grace in fervent intercession. The warfare that the enemy uses against praying saints can range from simple things that irritate (sleepiness, unclean thoughts, worrisome distractions, unexpected interruptions, I dont feel like praying tonight, etc.) to more serious demonic oppressions. 2. Traditions of Men - How God has blessed particular ways of doing things in the past can become a hindrance to new blessings He wants to release in the present. Long established prayer chains or prayer meetings (long established but poorly attended) may need to give way to small groups of intercessors who meet in homes or other convenient places for prayer. 3. Pride - I Peter 5:5 warns us that God is opposed to the proud. There is no place for pride before the Throne of Grace. 4. Unconfessed Sin and Unforgiveness - If we consciously harbor unconfessed sin in our hearts, God will not hear our prayers. 5. Unbelief - Faith is the key that opens all of Gods blessings to His people, for without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).Notice that we must not simply believe that God exists, but we must believe that He actively rewards (i.e., answers) those who seek Him in prayer. Most of us believe that we should pray (it is the Christian thing to do), but we dont really believe that God answers every prayer. This is unbelief. 6. Dry eyes; lack of heart-felt fervor - While we should not wait upon or depend upon emotions before praying, there should come a point in the prayer life of every believer when prayer becomes both a passion towards God, and a compassion towards men. We need to ask God to break our hearts over the things that break His heart. 7. Impatience (unwillingness to wait before the Lord) - The Psalmist, David, declared, I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry (Psalm 40:1). A significant aspect

17

W allis, Gods Chosen Fast, p. 50.

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 94 of true intercession is the discipline of waiting upon God. 8. Disinterest in His Will (usually expressed in terms such as MY church, MY ministry, My __________). We must continually remind ourselves and one another that the purpose of prayer is not to tell God what it is that we want, but to discover what He wants. While part of intercession is making our needs known to Him (Philippians 4:6), a much more significant part of intercession is asking God to change our will and to give us His will.

Mechanical Hindrances To Effectual Prayer: In addition to spiritual hindrances to effective prayer, there are also practical or mechanical hindrances (which the enemy can also use, thereby creating a spiritual crisis over some mundane issue). Such Mechanical Hindrances can include:

1. Prayer Request Time - this often becomes an opportunity for extended times of visiting (or gossiping) instead of time for prayer. 2. Rushing Into His Presence - God is not in a hurry, nor should we be hurried in His presence. 3. Eloquent Prayers and Monologs - Prayer time is not a time for preaching, lecturing or any thing other than talking with God. People should be reminded that neither the length nor the volume of a prayer has anything to do with its power before God. Long and loud prayers do not impress God, and they can be downright irritating to His people. 4. Failure To Pray In One Accord - Prayer time is not a time for pursuing ones personal agenda under the guise of praying. The calling of an intercessor is to pursue Gods kingdom purposes, whatever they may be. Unity in prayer comes when believers agree to seek Gods will rather than our own purposes. 5. Intolerance of Silence and Failure to Listen Before Praying - In prayer, silence is listening and silence is intimacy. Many people fear silence during prayer because they confuse silence with emptiness. In reality, it is when we are silent before God that He has opportunity to speak to us. And He has opportunity to speak because silence is intimacy. Someone who is comfortable with silence during prayer is usually a person who has discovered intimacy with God.

Suggestions For Effectual Corporate Praying: The first suggestion for effectual corporate or group prayer is to find people who have a burden, desire or anointing to pray. All Christians have the privilege to pray, and Scripture encourages us to Pray without ceasing. But there are Christians whom God has touched and called to pray. Sometimes He calls us to pray by squeezing our circumstances until we cry out. At other times he simply pours out His Spirit of intercession in someones life and calls them to a ministry of prayer. But the beginnings of an effectual ministry of intercession are found in bringing together individuals who have a desire to pray. This coming together of intercessors may be in corporate prayer meetings at church, or it may be in small groups in private homes. Whatever the format or venue prayer is not a program or a meeting. Prayer is Gods people gathering together to seek Gods presence. Here are a few ideas for more effective group or corporate praying:

1. Be alert to the enemy tactics that foil prayer time. Intercessory prayer in the name of Jesus is the most powerful tool we as believers have against the schemes of the Enemy, and he knows it. It should come as no surprise that he will do everything in his power to foil our times of personal and corporate prayer. Pastor Ron Dunn describes the significance of such prayer this way, Prayer is not

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 95 a religious exercise - it is a human necessity. He adds: Prayer means that I never have to say, Theres nothing I can do. I can always do something. . .I discovered that prayer is the secret weapon of the kingdom of God It is like a missile that can be fired toward any spot on earth, travel undetected at the speed of thought, and hit its target every time. . . Satan has no defense against this weapon; he does not have an anti -prayer missile...We do not pray by default - because theres nothing else we can do. We pray because its the best thing we can do. 2. Make prayer time a priority - Prayer cannot be haphazard. It should be at a regular place and at a regular time. In the world of hectic schedules and competing time commitments, prayer must become a conscious choice. We choose it above other possible activities because we recognize its priority. 3. Arrive prayed up - If you have not spent extended time in prayer alone, your effectiveness in group prayer will be limited. Effective public intercessors are people who are also effective private intercessors. I do not believe that we should have people lead in public prayer who do not spend considerable time in private prayer (my point here has to do with leading corporate prayer, not with participating in corporate prayer meetings). 4. Pray in small groups - Even in large corporate prayer gatherings, breaking into smaller prayer groups encourages intimacy and discourages anyone who might be tempted to pray for effect before larger crowds (yes, it does happen!). Small groups are also less threatening for to individuals who may be uncomfortable praying aloud before other people. Be sensitive and do not create an environment where participants who are not accustomed to praying aloud in a group setting will be embarrassed or intimidated. 5. Limit prayer request time. This can often turn into an unscheduled sharing time, with the majority of time spent sharing and visiting rather than praying. Allow sufficient time for everyone to share their most pressing concerns then conclude the request time by suggesting that if anyone remembers additional needs during the prayer time, they should feel free to prayer for them. 6. Take time to draw nigh. There is no need to rush into prayer. Be willing to be silent, praying for the Holy Spirit to come, to bestow His presence and to release His ministry of intercession. 7. Enter into His courts with praise. Dont be afraid to sing as the Spirit leads. If someone is gifted to lead worship, allow them to lead the group in a few songs of worship and praise. 8. Examine your own heart before Him. Silently confront and confess the sins of your own heart as the Holy Spirit reveals them to you, claiming the promise of 1 John 1:9. 9. Intercede for prayer needs item by item, as the Holy Spirit leads, keeping your prayers brief and focused, allowing others the blessing of praying!. Be sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit as He leads and guides your prayer time, bringing additional thoughts and needs to mind. 10. Ask HOW to pray before praying. Use silence to listen to the Holy Spirit for direction to pray in keeping with His will. 11. Stay with one item until all those in the group have had a chance to pray or until the Holy Spirit releases you to pray for the next item.

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 96 12. Welcome periods of silence as times when the Holy Spirit can speak to your heart as you rest in His presence. 13. Be prepared to spend time in prayer, worship and waiting before Him. Do not rush your agenda, and do not be in a hurry to get done. I have seen small group prayer times go for three hours with no one wanting to leave. 14. Remember the relationship between fasting and prayer: Fasting is designed to make prayer mount up as on eagles wings. It is intended to usher the suppliant into the audience chamber of the King and to extend to him the golden sceptre. It may be expected to drive back the oppressing powers of darkness and loosen their hold on the prayer objective. It is calculated to give an edge to a mans intercessions and power to his petitions. Heaven is ready to bend its ear to listen when someone prays with fasting.18 Principle of Application God wants intercessors and is always looking for individuals who are willing to stand in the gap on behalf of people and circumstances in intercessory prayer. He is looking for individuals who are willing to exercise the personal discipline to spend prolonged times of isolation alone with Him, fasting and praying for His Kingdom purposes in the lives of men. He is looking for people willing to become the vessels for intercession by the Holy Spirit. This is the discipline and devotion of intercession. Prayer of Application Heavenly Father, make me an intercessor. Teach me to fast, to pray and to intercede. Build in me the disciplines of devotion and of solitude to spend time alone with you in prayer. Send the River of the Spirit of God to flow through me in greater power for intercession. Make me a vessel through which the Holy Spirit can intercede for those around be. Send your Holy Spirit into my prayer life to inspire the desires and longings of my heart, to quicken my mind and my heart to your Kingdom purposes, to give me your prayers for others, and to pray those prayers through me. In the powerful name of Jesus Christ, my Intercessor. Amen.

18

Ibid.

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 97

Preparing To Fast & Pray

Why Are We Fasting & Praying? 1. Because Scripture Models It:

2. Because Jesus Expected It:

3. Because The Early Church Practiced It:

What Are We Fasting & Praying For? 1. For the River of Ezekiel 47 To flow through us, our families, our homes and into the world around us:

2. For the Holy Spirit to empower us to become the church that meets in our homes and that reaches our neighborhoods & our community:

3. For God to release His: a. Kingdom Power b. Kingdom Presence c. Kingdom Promises d. Kingdom Purposes e. Kingdom Provision f. Kingdom Protection 4. For the 8 characteristics of New Testament House Church (Acts 2:41-47) to be made real in our homes. a. Perseverance b. Fear of God c. Uncommon Community d. One-Mindedness e. House-to-house Ministry f. Eschatological Joy g. Grace h. God-inspired Evangelistic Growth

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 98

Prayer, Fasting and The Seasons of Our Lives

A Perspective on Time People as well as civilizations are known by the significant events which mark their existence. Those events, whether public or private, become the mile posts by which we mark the passage of time. The Ancient Romans measured time and their own existence from the date of the founding of their eternal city. For well over a thousand years all dates were reckoned A.U.C. (anno urbis conditae or in the year from the citys foundation). Hence, by the Roman calendar, Jesus Christ was born in the year 753 A.U.C. In Western civilization our calendars are marked with the term A.D. from the Latin Anno Domini meaning in the year of our Lord. For 2000 years the birth of Christ as been the mile post event by which we have measured the passing of the days, months and years of our lives. It has served as a reminder that Christ came the first time, numbering the days since His advent, as well as a reminder that He promised to come again at the End of Time. Christian civilization has traditionally lived between the two advents of Christ. The first advent changed the course of history and inaugurated the end times of this present age. His second advent will culminate in the End of Time and will usher in the Age to Come. Our calendar is a silent reminder that we who live between His comings are to number our days, and apply our hearts unto wisdom. Times and Seasons In Scripture Time is an interesting concept in Scripture. The Jews measured time on a daily basis from sunset to sunset. The Greeks measured days from dawn to dawn, and the Romans measured the time of each day from mid-night to mid-night. But two of the most significant measurements of time, and of our lives, in the New Testament is expressed through the use of two Greek words: cronos (chronos) and kairos (kairos). Chronos is time as measured from beginning to end. It is time as measured by its duration, from Alpha to Omega, from creation to judgment, from the advent of Christ until now (A.D. 2000, and counting!). From Chronos we get our English words for the measurement of time such as chronology (the orderly sequence of historical events) and chronometer (the orderly passage of seconds, minutes, hours and day, etc.). Kairos is time as measured by its significant moments or events or periods. Kairos time is sacred time, thick with power and meaning, when God interrupts the methodical sequence of events in our lives, and interposes His seasons of the heart. Kairos is Kingdom time, for it was in the fulness of Kairos time that God sent forth His Son (Galatians 4:4). Such Kairos or Kingdom times are not simply chronological in nature (although they certainly occur in chronological time). They are cosmic events when the cosmos itself responds to what God is doing. So the heavens themselves announce the birth of Jesus with a new star, and upon His death the earth itself trembles, the sky is darkened as the sun mourns, and the dead are raised and walk about because the power of death itself is dying. These are Kairos and Kingdom times , the significance of which cannot be measured with a watch.

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 99 Chronos Deals with dates Expresses length or duration of a period Marks quantity of time Describes the length of the interval until the Lords Return Kairos Deals with seasons Expresses time as marked by certain features Marks quality of time Describes the special features of the interval until the Lords return

Most Christians today, along with our culture, have lost their cosmic sense of time. This is just one of many unfortunate results of the rationalism of the Enlightenment and the pseudo-scientific process of demythologization that robbed classical liberal Christianity of both its spiritual power and its sense of Kairos. Ask the average evangelical Christian what time it is and he or she will probably look at their chronometer (probably a digital watch!). Ask them to tell you about the seasons of their lives and they will probably give you a blank or quizzical stare. Ask them what liturgical season the Church is currently in and they will probably wonder if youve been secretly slipping out to attend Mass. It should therefore come as no surprise that the trend among secular scholars today is to replace the designation A.D. with the designation C.E. which signifies in the common era. It is interesting that what such scholars are changing is not the chronology of time (Chronos). The year under either reckoning is the same (such as A.D.2000 versus 2000 C.E.). What they are changing is the meaning, the significance, the Kairos.19 The implication is both subtle and clear. History has not been radically altered by any significant event. There are no end times and we do not live between the advents of Christ, or anyone else for that matter. There are no events significant enough for all mankind to use in marking the seasons (Kairos) in the passage of time (Chronos). Mankinds existence in our day has become both common and meaningless. The march of our lives has been reduced to little more than a chronology. In the light of such attitudes toward time and events, it should come as no surprise that we live in a day when most people, including most Christians, do not keep personal journals, even prayer or devotional journals. Consistently keeping such a journal places at least three demands on the believer. First, keeping such a journal demands the discipline of a healthy personal devotional life, and the willingness to thoughtfully and prayerfully reflect on Gods daily dealings in our lives. Second, it demands a genuine belief that hidden in the chronology of our days, like a hidden gift waiting to be found and opened, is a season of the heart in which God is revealing and unfolding His Kingdom will and purposes for our lives. And to experience such a season we must believe that our times are in Gods hand and that the seemingly endless march of our days is in fact proceeding according to His carefully laid-out plan. Third, keeping a devotional journal demands that we believe our time on earth is a sacred thing. It is a gift, a stewardship, if you will. And just as God entrusts people with varying amounts of His physical wealth, so He entrusts each of us with varying amounts of time (Chronos) on earth, which we are to steward as closely and as carefully as we steward His physical wealth. Hidden within and superimposed upon the time (Chronos) He has given us are seasons (Kairos) of Kingdom purposes awaiting our discovery.

The Masthead date of the English edition of the Jerusalem Post newspaper (which you can access via the internet at www.jpost.com) shows another date, bas ed upo n the Jew ish calen dar. Th e W estern d ate of A.D. 2000 becomes the year 5760 in the Jewish Calendar, referring to 5,760 years since the Creation of the world. In this way Judaism has remained grounded in a sense of kairos time by reckoning its dates from a significant event (i.e., Cre ation , whic h is celebrated annually in the feast of Rosh Hashan ah, the Jewish new year).

19

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 100 Gods Seasons of the Heart I believe that there is a divine rhythm to each of our lives and that God brings forth the fullness of His plan in the fullness of His time. But I believe that most Christians today have lost touch with the rhythm of their individuals lives. God speaks to us, but we have not trained our ears to listen. He moves in our circumstances, but we see only a jumbled mess of unrelated events. We have lost the divine rhythm of our lives. We no longer look for Gods seasons of the heart. This material on prayer, intercession and the seasons of our lives which you are now reading is the result of such a season in the life of the author. Several years ago, through a series of events, God began to open up a ministry in my life of prayer, fasting and intercession for renewal and revival. As my wife and I were seeking God for His purposes in this we attended a church conference in Anaheim, California, along with our pastor and four other people from our church. It was a wonderful week of receiving teaching, ministry, prayer and listening for Gods voice. During this time I was over three weeks into a forty-day fast. On the final evening of the conference, as our group was leaving the auditorium, we paused in the lobby to have a group picture taken. Someone in our group stopped a woman (a total stranger) in the lobby, asked her if she would mind taking the picture and handed her a camera. As she agreed to take the picture she added, And when Im done, I think the Lord has a word for those two, pointing to me and my wife. After taking the picture of our group this person approached me and my wife. She turned to my wife and said, I believe that God wants you to bless him (nodding toward me) and impart the word to him. There is more, but God will show it to you later. With those words she walked away, and we left the auditorium wondering what it was that God was doing. What He was doing was opening a season of the heart which would last for the next three years. The week we returned home my wife began keeping a journal of Gods dealings during the times which followed, and at the end of three years it had reached almost five hundred type-written 8 X 11 pages. Gods dealings with us were powerful, profound and humbling. Like Paul in Arabia, we seemed to disappear from the view of our Christian friends into a wilderness of Gods design where dross is burned away to purify metal, and where wood, hay and stubble are revealed for what they really are . . . worthless. During these three years our vision of a ministry of prayer, fasting, and intercession for renewal and revival seemed to die. We experienced a business collapse, bankruptcy, the foreclosure of our home and what appeared to the outward observer to be a disastrous defeat. But God had a different agenda for this season of the heart. During this time He taught us to trust Him without fear or wavering by bringing us into circumstances that would cause our hearts to tremble and our resolve to waver with fear. There, alone in the midst of a battle field and surrounded by enemies on every side, He taught us to do battle against the Enemy of our souls with weapons of righteousness for the left hand and the right. He trained us to hear His voice in things great and small. He would awaken my wife in the middle of the night with a Scripture reference on her mind (the reference, not the verse). Not knowing the verse she would look up the reference and discover a verse that was exactly appropriate for what we were going through at that time. This happened not once or twice, but dozens of times, as God fulfilled His prophetic word spoken to us through a complete stranger, that Gale would impart His word to me. For nearly six months he gave us some three dozen significant dreams which He then spent the next two years teaching us to pray over and to watch Him fulfill. He taught us to pray for the needs of others and to rejoice in their answers, even when our own needs appeared to go unmet. He taught us to pray for daily provision, and to rejoice when the answers He sent took a form different from what we had hoped. He taught us to pray for the River of Ezekiel 47, that it would flow in greater power in our lives and in the life of the Church, because this River of the Spirit

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 101 of God is the well-spring and source of all revival, personal and national. He taught us to pray without ceasing and to prevail over circumstances that we thought would destroy us. We learned that His fire purifies but does not consume, and that in a flood of great waters they will not overwhelm us, because He sets our feet upon a rock, making our footsteps firm. This was our iron furnace of Egypt, our Arabia, our Season of the Heart. And this material, which you hold in your hands, is one of the Ebenezers (memorial stones) He gave us so that we would remember and so that you would take courage during your own season. Periods of fasting and prayer represent another season of the heart. To measure a time of fasting merely chronologically (I fasted for three days) is to miss the true significance of what God is doing during such a time. Fasting time, a season of fasting, is Kairos time. It is Kingdom time, when we enter more fully, deeply and powerfully into what God is doing, not simply in our individual lives, but in His Kingdom-at-large. The spiritual realm becomes more real, spiritual conflict becomes personal and powerful, the River of the Spirit of God flows more deeply, prayer is more powerful and God releases His Kingdom purposes and power. It is Kairos time, thick with power and meaning. Personal Devotional Notes On The Season Of Your Life Today: Take a moment to stop now and reflect on the season of your life right now. What lesson (or lessons) is God working into your life. There is no right or wrong answer, only a personal description of what God is doing in your life as you best understand it.

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 102 Who Are You Praying For? The following prayer suggestions are offered to help stimulate your consideration (remember katanoeo?) and prayer for particular people in your house church. List the names of people under the prayer that you are praying for them. When this list becomes too confining, begin your own open prayer list using the pages that follow. 1. Lord, I pray that You would draw these people to yourself (John 6:44):

2. Lord, I pray that You would cause these people to seek to know You (Acts 17:27):

6. Lord, I ask You to give me the opportunity, the courage and the right words to share the gospel with these people (Colossians 4:3-6; Ephesians 6:19-20):

3. Lord, I pray that You would cause these people hear and and believe the Word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13):

7. Lord, I ask You to send someone to share the gospel with these people (Matthew 9:3738):

4. Lord, I ask You to prevent Satan from blinding these people to Your truth (2 Corinthians 4:4; 2 Timothy 2:25-26):

8. Lord, I pray that the Holy Spirit would move in the lives of the following people, equipping, filling and empowering them for greater ministry in your Kingdom, and release your fresh giftings for effective service in their lives:

5. Lord, I ask the Holy Spirit to convict these people of their sin and their need for your salvation in Christ (John 16:8):

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 103

People & Situations You Are Praying For

Use the space below to list people or situations by name, to describe your prayer request, to list a Scripture passage you are claiming as you pray and to list the date you began praying for this person or situation. As some prayer situations can be sensitive, keep your prayer sheet in a secure & private place. Remember: The effective (literally energetic) prayer of a righteous man (or woman) can accomplish much (James 5:16). Name Prayer Request Scripture Promise Date

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 104 Preparing To Fast Worksheet
The purpose of this worksheet is to help you think through Gods call on your life regarding fasting. If you have a chronic health concern, consult your doctor as part of your planning.

Grace: Describe why you believe that God in His grace is calling you to fast?

Goal: Describe what you believe God wants to accomplish in you and through you during this time (The breaking of a particular bondage, solving of a particular problem, release of spiritual power, the release of a new gifting, the opening of a new ministry, healing, repentance and mourning over sin, for greater personal and spiritual discipline).

Reasons: What are your reasons for fasting (see 11 Reasons on reverse side)?

Prayer & Intercession: What prayer concerns has God placed on your heart that require special intercession?

Scripture: What Scriptural promises has God shown you to claim? If none, what plan do you have to read Scripture, and other prayer and devotional helps, during this time?

Fellowship: To whom will you be accountable during this time?

Type of Fast: What type of fast are you going to do (Normal, Absolute, Partial)?

Length of Fast: How long will you fast? When will you start, and when will you finish?

Personal Commitment: By the gracious prompting of the Holy Spirit I believe that God is calling me to seek Him through fasting and prayer. I commit myself to do so as an act of faith and obedience, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to see His every good purpose accomplished in my life. Signature & Date:

Praying & Interceding For Your House Church - Section 4 : Page 105

Eleven Biblical Reasons Why Christians Should Fast

Reason # 1: We should fast because it is a biblically appointed and practiced means of seeking after God.

Reason # 2: We should fast because fasting is a practical and Biblical means of waiting upon God. (Isaiah 40:29-31)

Reason # 3: We should fast because Jesus expected us to fast. He assumed that His own disciples would fast, and taught them how to do it properly (Matthew 6:16-18).

Reason # 4: We should fast because it is a biblical and practical means of practicing self-denial (I Corinthians 9:24 & 27); and training in self-denial is indispensable to one who is to be entrusted with spiritual power.

Reason # 5: We should fast as a means of persisting and prevailing in prayer. (Luke 18:1)

Reason #6: We should fast to honor God in our personal walk of obedience and humility.

Reason #7: We should fast to humble ourselves before God so that we can experience more of His grace (l Peter 5:5-6) and thus a more intimate relationship with Him.

Reason #8: We should fast to express our personal repentance from sin. Fasting puts teeth into our personal sorrow and repentance over sin (Nehemiah 1:4; 9:1-2; Ezra 9:5; Joel 2:12-13).

Reason #9: We should fast in repentance to change God's response and to persuade Him to bless, rather than to judge. We see this promise most clearly expressed in Joel 2:12-14.

Reason #10: We should fast and pray for God to open the way for a new direction, task or ministry (Acts 13:1-3).

Reason #11: We should fast and pray in preparation for the Bridegroom (Matthew 9:14-15).

Personal D iscipleship
If anyone wishes to come after Me, let deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. Matthew 16:24

When Jesus Christ calls a man, He bids him Come and die. Dietrich Bonhoeffer The Cost of Discipleship

Personal Discipleship - Page 107

Hushed Was The Evening Hymn by James D Burns

Hushed was the evening hymn, The temple courts were dark; The lamp was burning dim Before the sacred ark; When suddenly a voice divine Rang through the silence of the shrine. The old man, meek and mild, The priest of Israel, slept; His watch the temple child, The little Levite, kept; And what from Eli's sense was sealed The Lord to Hannah's son revealed. O give me Samuel's ear, The open ear, O Lord, Alive and quick to hear Each whisper of Thy Word, Like him to answer at Thy call, And to obey Thee first of all. O give me Samuel's heart, A lowly heart, that waits Where in Thy house Thou art, Or watches at Thy gates; By day and night, a heart that still Moves at the breathing of Thy will. O give me Samuel's mind, A sweet unmurm'ring faith, Obedient and resigned To Thee in life and death, That I may read with child like eyes Truths that are hidden from the wise.

Personal Discipleship - Page 108

The C ost of D iscipleship

The New Testament word disciple comes from the Greek word mathetes. The word occurs 269 in the New Testament (but not after the book of Acts). It literally refers to a pupil, a student, a learner. To follow Jesus as His disciple means that He becomes our teacher, and we become His student. The New Testament is unfamiliar with the idea of salvation apart from discipleship. Throughout His 3 years of ministry Jesus preached to tens of thousands, and many of those tasted of the Powers of the Age to Come by way of healings, deliverances and resurrections. But when he ascended into heaven at the end of 40 days of post-resurrection ministry, the number of follower-disciples numbered between 120 (Acts 1:15) and 500 (1 Corinthians 15:6). Before His ascension into Heaven, Jesus gave instructions to His disciples, namely, that as they were going into all the world (it was His operating assumption that they would go) their specific instruction was to make disciples. The charge of the Church, given by its Head - Jesus - is to make disciples. And we read in Acts 11:26 that it was the disciples who were first called Christians in Antioch. Did you make the connection? To be called a Christian, one first had to be a disciple. Disciples were Christians; Christians were disciples. There was no distinction. The number of true believer/disciples at the close of Jesus earthly ministry was small because discipleship has a price. Jesus declared in Luke 14:27, Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. A cross was a Roman instrument of execution. The disciple of Jesus was someone who lived under a sentence of death, beginning with death to self. The grace of salvation is indeed so rich and free, but we spend the rest of our earthly lives paying for it. If this sounds like a contradiction, it is not. It is a paradox, an unresolved dilemma, two true statements held in constant tension without resolution on this side of eternity. True faith, true discipleship and free grace all come with a price. It costs us nothing to believe; and yet it costs us everything. That is what Jesus taught. That is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer understood. In the 1930's and 40's Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a pastor in the German Lutheran Church and a leader of the anti-Nazi Confessing Lutheran Church. He wrote and bemoaned the fact that the doctrine of free grace had deteriorated into a belief in cheap grace; the notion that one could believe in Jesus without having to pay the price of ones convictions in this world. Bonhoeffer believed that being a Christian, a disciple, meant that he must speak out against and actively resist Nazism. He did so, and was arrested and sent to a concentration camp. Those who knew Pastor Bonhoeffer in the final months of his life, spent in Nazi concentration camps, observed the peace and dedication with which he ministered to those around him up until the very day of his execution. Understanding the true price of free grace, and that it wasnt cheap, Dietrich Bonhoeffer had died the death of a disciple long before his physical body perished on the gallows of his Nazi executioners, who saw but who never understood. Contemporary Christianity sells cheap grace like a novelty item in a Christian bookstore, right alongside cheap mints wrapped in packaging that assures the purchaser of their usefulness in furthering their Christian testimony. It should therefore come as no surprise to us that contemporary Christianity also specializes in passive, vicarious discipleship where Christians live off of the spiritual experiences of others - a form of discipleship-by-proxy if you will. We enthusiastically quote cute cliches such as Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Then we promptly proceed to give away free spiritual fish and later wonder why our people have no clue as to how to use their spiritual fishing poles for themselves (or if they even

Personal Discipleship - Page 109 possess such poles?). House Church, if it is to live up to its promise of truly becoming the Church that lives and meets in our homes, must reject the passive spirituality of traditional church and contemporary Christianity. We can no longer passively sit while others tell of how God has spoken to them. We must now become intentionally active, asking God to speak to us, and doing those things which lend themselves to hearing Gods voice. We must reclaim the biblical heritage of costly discipleship. We must reclaim the spiritual disciplines that have characterized genuine discipleship. We must begin requiring and expecting within our house church fellowships the active spirituality of people who daily fish in the ocean of Gods Manifest Presence. The Practicalities of Personal DIscipleship Personal discipleship means different things to different people. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church and leader of the Evangelical Awakening in England in the 1700s, established rules or Directions for personal discipleship groups called Band Societies within the Methodist Church. These Band Societies consisted of 2 or 3 believers whobanded together to encourage each other and to hold one another accountable in areas of personal discipleship. Here are the rules Wesley gave to his Band Societies to govern their personal discipleship. Directions Given To The Band Societies by John Wesley (1744) You are supposed to have the faith that overcometh the world. To you, therefore, it is not grievous: 1. Carefully to abstain from doing evil; in particular: a. Neither to buy or sell anything at all on the Lords day. b. To taste no spiritous liquor, no dram of any kind, unless prescribed by a physician. c. To be at a word both in buying and selling. d. To pawn nothing, no, not to save life. e. Not to mention the fault of any behind his back; and to stop those short that do. f. To wear no needless ornaments, such as rings, ear-rings, necklaces, ruffles. g. To use no needless self-indulgence, such as taking snuff or tobacco, unless prescribed by a physician. Zealously to maintain good works; in particular: a. To give alms of such things as you possess, and that to the uttermost of your power. b. To reprove all that sin in your sight, and that in love and meekness of wisdom. c. To be patterns of diligence and frugality, of self-denial, and taking up the cross daily. Constantly to attend on all the ordinances of God; in particular: a. To be at church and the Lords table every week, and at every public meeting of the bands. b. To attend the ministry of the Word every morning, unless distance, business, or sickness prevent. c. To use private prayer every day; and family prayer, if you are at the head of a family. d. To read the Scriptures and meditate therein, at every vacant hour. And, e. To observe as days of fasting, or abstinence, all Fridays in the year.

2.

3.

Personal Discipleship - Page 110 These rules or Directions provided the basis for personal discipleship & obedience in the Methodist Church. An expanded version of these rules, entitled The Nature, Design, and General Rules of the United Societies formed the basis for membership in the larger United Societies of the Methodist Church. Personal and Corporate Discipleship in the Methodist Church of the 1700s was both practical and specific (you can view these rules on our website at www.parousianetwork.com by clicking on House Church Resources and following the Wesley links). The purpose of this section is not to endorse 18th Century Methodist rules of discipleship, but to demonstrate that the Churchs understanding of the nature & requirements of personal discipleship have varied over time. There is no right or wrong way to pursue personal discipleship. Each of us must discover what it means for ourselves to be Christs disciple. What we want to offer here is an outline of those elements of biblical discipleship that Scripture teaches and the Church has discovered to be timeless. How you incorporate them into your own walk with God on a daily basis is up to you. Start With The Three Pillars of Piety Jesus actually addressed the nature of personal discipleship with His disciples. In Matthew 6:1-18 Jesus warned His disciples about the danger of practicing their righteousness (i.e., their personal spiritual disciplines) publicly in order to be seen by other people. Jesus explained what He meant by giving specific instructions regarding three basic spiritual disciplines: giving alms, praying, and fasting. These three spiritual disciplines have been referred to as the three pillars of Jewish piety and were expected of every pious Jew. Notice, Jesus did not attempt to abolish these practices. Instead He gave His disciples instructions on their proper exercise & observance:

Charitable Giving - In 6:1-4 Jesus gave His disciples instructions regarding personal acts of charity (the giving of alms to the poor). Lets place this in todays terms. In a traditional church of say 300 people on a Sunday morning you could go through the entire service, probably for weeks on end, without ever knowing that four pews away from where you are singing and worshiping God sits an individual or a family in deep financial distress with pressing needs that go unmet. Why? Because, if the truth be told, we are out of touch with all but a handful of people in the church. Out of a congregation of 300, we might be personally involved in the lives of how many? Probably less than a dozen (individuals or families). Or about the number of people in an average house church. Who do you know who is experiencing personal financial difficulty? What have you done to help? Or what excuses have you made for not helping? Personal Prayer - In 6:5-15 Jesus gave extensive instructions regarding how we should pray. How much time do you spend in prayer? Prayer was so important in the life and ministry of Jesus that he often spent whole evenings in prayer (Luke 6:12; Matthew 14:23). On other occasions Jesus would slip away to the wilderness and pray (Luke 5:16). Frequently the disciples would find Jesus alone in prayer (Luke 9:18) or Jesus would take them away for a time of solitude and prayer (Luke 9:28). It should come as no surprise that the disciples would eventually ask Jesus, Lord, teach us to pray (Luke 11:1). So, how much time do you spend in prayer? A national survey of the devotional habits of pastors revealed that the average pastor spends around 5 minutes per day in prayer. The house church movement will never fulfill Christs great commission by spending only 5 minutes per day in prayer.

Personal Discipleship - Page 111

Devotional Fasting - In 6:16-18 Jesus gave instructions regarding how His disciples (Both then and now) should fast. When was the last time you spent a day, or several days (or longer) fasting and praying for Gods Kingdom purposes for your life, your family and your ministry? Jesus expected His disciples to fast on a regular basis. John Wesley, whom we have referred to on several occasions, fasted two day per week (every Wednesday and Friday, from sunrise until after 3:00PM) throughout his life. And he refused to appoint to the Methodist ministry anyone who refused to commit themselves to fast one day every week (preferably on Friday). From my own personal study of the history of revival and the role of fasting & prayer I can tell you that every great revival in the history of the Church has been preceded by earnest and prolonged periods of fasting and prayer on the part of Gods people. I believe, as Jesus taught, that regular personal fasting should characterize the devotional life of every disciple.

The implication for personal discipleship is clear: Jesus expected that all of His disciples would regularly practice all three of these spiritual disciplines. Christ expects His disciples to regularly engage in personal acts of charity (the giving of alms or gifts to the poor). Similarly, Christ expects His disciples to practice regular personal prayer. Jesus also expects His disciples to regularly practice personal devotional fasting. Daily Bible Reading & Study If the Word of God is really going to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, then we must make the reading and study of Gods Word a priority in our personal spiritual disciplines. W hat is your plan to personally read & study Gods word on a daily basis? Here are some suggestions to help you get started:

Make a plan to read through the Bible in one year. You can do this by reading 4-to-5 chapters of Scripture each day. Purchase a book that will help you through the Bible by introducing you to each book along the way. I particularly like Nelsons Complete Book of Bible Maps & Charts (available from your local Bible bookstore, ISBN # 07852-1154-3) It contains excellent charts and outlines of each book. Record the chapters you read each day in your Personal Discipleship Journal, including key thoughts or verses. If you need even more of a guided reading program, Walk Thru The Bible Ministries offers a monthly Bible reading guide entitled The Daily Walk that will take you through the entire Bible in one year. A subscription to the monthly guide is available from Walk Thru The Bible Ministries. The annual subscription price for The Daily Walk is $18 per year, and the guides are mailed out monthly. You can order on the web at www.walkthru.org or call them toll free at 1-800-868-9300.

Regular Devotional Reading In Philippians 4:8 Paul exhorts the Christians in Philippi, Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. I believe that reading devotional books, biographies of notable Christians and other good Christian literature can be a way of accomplishing what Paul intended.

Personal Discipleship - Page 112 Personal Introspection & Evaluation There is a place in the Christian life, in our own personal discipleship, for personal examination of where we are in our walk with the Lord. Paul told the Corinthians, Test (examine, scrutinize) yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you - unless you fail the test? (2 Corinthians 13:5). We have already seen how John Wesley prepared rules or directions for his Band Societies. While a student (and later a professor or Don) at Oxford University Wesley led a group of Christians called The Holy Club that met together to hold one another accountable in their walk with Christ. Wesley prepared a series of questions that each participant in the fellowship had to answer on a regular basis in the presence of the others, as a means of personal accountability. Here is an adapted version of John Wesleys Holy Club questions. During the past week: 1. Did I consciously or unconsciously create the impression that I am better than I am (in other words, was I a hypocrite)? 2. Was I honest in all my acts and words, or did I exaggerate? 3. Did I confidentially pass on to another what was told me in confidence? 4. Was I a slave to dress, fashion, work or habits? 5. Was I self-conscious, self-pitying or self-justifying? 6. Did the Bible live in me this week? 7. Did I give the Bible time to speak to me every day? 8. Did I enjoy my times of prayer? 9. Did I speak to someone this week about my faith? 10. Did I pray about the money I spent this week? 11. Did I get to bed on time and get up on time> 12. Did I disobey God in anything this week? 13. Did in insist upon doing something about which my conscience was uneasy? 14. Was I defeated in any part of my life? 15. Was I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful towards anyone this week? 16. How did I spend my spare time? 17. Was I proud or arrogant? 18. Did I thank God that I am not as other people, like the Pharisee who despised the publican? 19. Was there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I going to do about it? 20. Did I grumble and complain constantly this week? 21. Was Christ real to me this week? Another set of self-examination questions has been developed by Dave Guiles, a church planing missionary in Argentina with Grace Brethren International Missions. Here are his questions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. How have you sensed Gods presence in your life during the past week? Have you received specific answer to your prayers? What was it? Have you spoken with a non-believer about your faith in Jesus Christ? With whom? To whom have you shown Gods love during this past week? What have you learned about God in your personal Bible reading this past week?

Personal Discipleship - Page 113 6. 7. 8. As a result of your Bible reading this past week, how have you determined to better obey God? Specifically, what area of your life do you feel that God most wants to change? Have you taken specific steps to make those changes? What good habit do you feel God wants to form in your life? Have you taken specific steps to develop that habit?

Personal Devotional Journaling A personal devotional journal is a written record of your discipleship walk with God. Most Christians today do not keep devotional journals (much of what we know of John Wesleys personal ministry comes from his extensive journals). As we shared in Section 4 regarding prayer and the seasons of our lives, it should come as no surprise that we live in a day when most people, including most Christians, do not keep personal journals, even prayer or devotional journals. Consistently keeping such a journal places at least three demands on the believer. First, keeping such a journal demands the discipline of a healthy personal devotional life, and the willingness to thoughtfully and prayerfully reflect on Gods daily dealings in our lives. Second, it demands a genuine belief that hidden in the chronology of our days, like a hidden gift waiting to be found and opened, is a season of the heart in which God is revealing and unfolding His Kingdom will and purposes for our lives. And to experience such a season we must believe that our times are in Gods hand and that the seemingly endless march of our days is in fact proceeding according to His carefully laid-out plan. Third, keeping a devotional journal demands that we believe our time on earth is a sacred thing. It is a gift, a stewardship, if you will. And just as God entrusts people with varying amounts of His physical wealth, so He entrusts each of us with varying amounts of time (Chronos) on earth, which we are to steward as closely and as carefully as we steward His physical wealth. Hidden within and superimposed upon the time (Chronos) He has given us are seasons (Kairos) of Kingdom purposes awaiting our discovery. Getting Started Well, heres the acid test. It is time to put all of these things into practice. We have provided for your use 25 double-sided copies of My Personal Discipleship Journal. The purpose of these pages is to help you begin and maintain the devotional life of a committed disciple, incorporating all of the aspects of personal discipleship that we have discussed. Each sheet is broken down by days-of-theweek and one sheet covers one week. You can make additional copies as needed. Now the work of personal discipleship is up to you. If the house church movement is to survive and thrive in the long term it will require the active participation of all its members. There can be no pewsitters, no clergy-laity distinction, no professional ministers vs. everyone else. Everyone must be actively involved. And that kind of involvement requires the active personal discipleship of each individual believer. Any church, house church or traditional, institutional church, or any other form of church, is only as strong and vibrant as the spiritual lives of its members. The famous playwright, George Bernard Shaw (not a Christian), once put these words into the mouth of one of his characters, You cannot build a marble mansion from a mixture of mud and manure. Shaw was right. And you cannot build a strong New Testament church (of any kind) from a mixture of nominalistic professing Christians who believe that genuine personal discipleship is somehow optional. It isnt!

Teaching & Study Notes

Song Sheets
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with you heart to the Lord. Ephesians 5:18-19

Lets Be Legal About This Christians love to sing. We also love to make pirated song sheets. Singing is free. Making song sheets of copyrighted worship and praise songs isnt free. In order to help our house church networks to stay legal when it comes to song sheets, The Parousia Network has paid a fee to CCLI, a copyright usage and licensing agency, to be able to legally reprint contemporary worship and praise songs. This section contains over 50 pages of hymns and contemporary praise & worship songs. We encourage your house church to use these pages and these songs. Our only requirement is that, if you make copies of these pages for your house church, you must tell us how many copies you have made because we report to CCLI on a regular basis as to how many of our people are using these sheets (our licensing fee is based upon total numbers in use). The problem is easily solved for us if everyone in your house church purchases a copy of this Equipping Notebook (hint, hint). But we do need to know how many extra copies of the song sheets you make for use in your church.

O O O

Please let us know how many copies of these sheets you are currently using in our home group. Please let us know the name/title/artist of any song(s) you would like to see included in any updated sets of song sheets. Please encourage each person/family in your home church to affiliate with The Parousia Network (see the Affiliation Application in the following Section 8). Phone:

Your Name:

Address:

How many copies of the enclosed song sheets have you made for distribution use in your house church? Copies (If none, write none).

We would like to have the words of the following song(s) included in any updated versions of these song sheets (Please give as much info as possible, including title & artist, group or label): 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Please mail this completed form to: The Parousia Network, P.O. Box 18793, Spokane, WA 99228.

Parousia Helps

Affiliating Your House C hurch With The P arousia Netw ork

Why You Should Affiliate With The Parousia Network
House Churches tend to be an independent group, but in the days ahead that very independenc e and isolation may prove to be the A chilles hee l of the hou se chu rch m ovem ent. W hy are networks of house churches going to be so important in the days ahead? First, because networks of house churches will be the chan nel an d ves sel fo r the n ext g reat m ovem ent o f the S pirit of God in ren ewa l and r eviva l. Second, because networks of house churches will provide a persecution resis tant s truct ure to prote ct an d enc oura ge G ods peop le through the difficult times that may lie ahead. Let me be blunt and to the point: Neither you nor your house church will survive or prosper long-term if you are not networked with other house churches and house church leaders who can offer you support, encouragement, equipping, teaching, counseling and m ore. And one of the stated purpose s of The Parous ia Network is to provide a networking support structure for house churches like yours. So, by networking together by means of affiliation The Parousia Ne twork would like to do the following:

O O

To p rovid e spir itual c over ing an d acc oun tability fo r you a nd you r hou se c hurc h m inistry, To connect you with an intercessory prayer network of believers who are regularly fasting and praying for one another and for the River of Ezekiel 47 to flow in fresh po wer for re vival and re newal in o ur nation, b eginning with the Church that meets in our houses, To help you get started and to become the Church that meets in your house, To provide you with fellowship, mutual nurturing and encouragement with fellow believers who are of one-mind rega rding the im porta nce of ho use chur ch m inistry, To provide you with a m onthly new sletter filled with inform ation and p ersp ective that w ill help you to understand what it means to be a Christian and a hou se church in a Post-Ch ristian, Post-Modern culture such as ou rs tod ay, To help you think and pray through the appointment of biblical leaders, elder and deacons, in your house church, To help you to keep your ministry focused on the main thing, and to help you avoid being tossed about by every wind of d octrine, To provide you with equipping, information and encouragement to become a growing and multiplying house church that is ma king a pos itive co ntribu tion to the g rowth of the King dom of G od in yo ur ne ighbo rhoo d & c om mu nity, To help you with issues of accountability, counseling and problem-solving as issues arise in your house church min istry tha t nee d out side input and c oun sel. To help you build networking relationships with other house churches, both in your area and arou nd th e cou ntry, that will provide an important resource of prayer, encouragement and support during the difficult times that may soon come upon the Church & the world, T o provide you with the opportunity to participate in the cutting-edge of house church ministry through your financial gifts and offerings which go to fund our house church support activities such as our House Church Equipping & Resource Center and The Parousia Network Radio program.

O O O O O O O O

It is not the ro le or p lace of T he P arou sia Network to tell you how to manage and lead your house church. Our calling and our miss ion is to enc ourage you to bec ome the chur ch that m eets in your house and to provide you with the equipping and res ources that you nee d to do tha t. But none of us can do it alone.

The Parousia N etwork

of House & Cell Churches

Affiliation Application
1. Your F ull Nam e: First 2. Your Business or Occ upation: 3. Nam e of Spo use: First 4. Spou ses Bu siness or Occ upation: 5. Mailing A ddress : City/State/Zip Code : City 6. Marital Status: Single Married State Divorced Zip Code Remarried Midd le Last Midd le Last

7. W hen did you accep t Christ?: 8. W hen did you r spous e acce pt Christ? : 9. Educa tional Bac kgrou nd: Did you com plete high s chool/G ED?: courses, degrees, certificates that you hav e com pleted:

Have you been ba ptized?: Have th ey been b aptized?: . College? : . Briefly list any other educational

Church Background 10. What is your Church/Denominational background? 11. Have you ever been licensed for ministry? 12. Have you ever been ordained for ministry? House Church Information 13. Are you currently participating in a house church? 14. Are you currently leading or facilitating a house church? 15. How many people (children & adults) currently attend? 16. How long has this fellowship been meeting? 17. When is your regularly scheduled meeting day/time/place?: By whom? By whom?

Please Complete Your Contact Information

Hom e Phon e: Bus. Ph one: Cell Pho ne: E-Ma il:

18. Do you want your meeting informa tion to be m ade ava ilable to those seeking house churches in your area? 19. Has your house church appointed/recognized elders? 20. Has your house church appointed/recognized deacons?

W ebsite: Com men ts:

Page 1 of 2 of Affiliation Application

Your Comm ents (Please use this space to briefly des crib e wh at yo u exp ect fro m yo ur affilia tion w ith Th e Pa rous ia Network, what ques tions or iss ues you n eed help r eso lving, and h ow w e can be of spec ific an d pra ctica l help in the building and growth of your house church):

Affiliation Agreement By affiliating with The Parousia Network I agree, to the best of my ability and by Gods grace, to undertake the following:: 1. I agree to willingly and actively parti cipate in the ministry of The P arousia Netwo rk in the pla nting, enc ourage men t, discipling an d mu ltiplication of org anic hou se chu rches in my neig hborho od and my com mun ity. 2. I agree to support The Parousia Network in its various ministry activities with my regular financial giving from my tithes and offerings. 3. I agree to consult with, to be responsive to and to be accountable to the leadership of The Parousia Network in the conduct of my house church activities. 4. I agree to abide by the teaching, policies and practices of The Parousia Network in matters affecting the peac e, purity and functioning of the Church that meets in my house. 5. I agree to c onduc t myself in a man ner wor thy of a true d isciple of Je sus C hrist and to com mit m yself to regular devotional time s of s eek ing G od in B ible re ading /stud y, praye r and fastin g for my p erso nal sp iritual grow th and develop men t. 6. I agree with the Doctrinal Statement utilized by The Parousia Network, specifically The Lausanne Covenant of 1974, understanding that it is not intended to replace or to supercede any other historic doctrinal and/or creedal confession of historic Christian faith and practice which may me adopted or recognized by the members of my house church. 7. I understand and agree that The Parous ia Network reserves the right to deny, revoke or withdraw any Affiliation granted under this application at any time and for whatever the leadership of The Parousia Network regards as a valid reason. 8. I am enclo sing my $ 50 A ffiliatio n Pro ces sing Fee , whic h pays for th e pro ces sing of m y applic ation . In ret urn I w ill receiv e a co py of the "Introdu ctory H ouse Chur ch Eq uipping Hand book " and th e m onthly ne wslette r "Mau rice's Parou sia Diges t." Return both pages of your completed Affiliation Application to: The Parousia Network, P.O. Box 18793, Spokane, WA 99228

Page 2 of 2 of Affiliation Application

Become A Student Of House Church Ministry

There is on old adage which says, Become a student of your craft. This is true of our pursuit of house church ministry. It needs to become a way of life, a way of thinking and the subject of our reading and study. The following reading resources are intended to give you a wide sample of some of the best basic books on House Church and Cell Church ministry:

Wolfgang Simson, Houses That Change The World: Towards a Re-Incarnation of Church. Probably the best single book on House Church ministry available todate. Every House Church library should have a well-worn copy of this book. Published by Dawn International Network, PF 212, 8212 Neuhausen 2, Switzerland, available thru Amazon.com or from House2House ministries at www.house2house.tv. House2House Magazine. Published by House2House Publications, this is a new and well done magazine dedicated to House Church Ministry. Subscriptions are free on a suggested donation basis. Order it via their website at www.house2house.tv. TOUCH Outreach Ministries, Inc. publishes a Resource Catalog of books and curriculum resources dedicated to the Cell Church ministry. If you are just plain afraid of not knowing how to get started or what to do once you do start, this resource will be your best friend. Contact them at: P.O. Box 19888, Houston, TX 77224-9888; Telephone: (800) 735-5865; FAX (281) 497-0904; Website: www.touchusa.org. Ralph W. Neighbour, Jr., Where Do We Go From Here?: A Guidebook for the Cell Group Church (10th Anniversary Edition). This is the book that effectively launched Cell Churches to an American audience. A must read. ISBN 1880828170. Touch Publications, P.O. Box 19888, Houston, TX 77224-9888; Telephone: (800) 735-5865; FAX (281) 497-0904; Website: www.touchusa.org. Joel Comiskey, Groups of 12: A New Way To Mobilize Leaders and Multiply Groups in Your Church Touch Publications, 1999. ISBN 1880828154. Joel Comiskey, Home Cell Group Explosion: How Your Small Group Can Grow And Multiply (Houston: Touch Publications, 1998), ISBN1880828065. Jim Petersen, Church Without Walls: Moving Beyond Traditional Boundaries (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1992). ISBN 0891096639 Larry Kreider, House Church Networks: A Church for a New Generation, 2001House to House Publications, 1924 West Main Street, Ephrata, PA 17522 William A. Beckham, The Second Reformation, Touch Publications, P.O. Box 19888, Houston, TX 77224 ISBN 1880828901 Church Growth and the Home Cell System, Church Growth International, Yoido P.O. Box 7, Seoul 150-600, South Korea. Howard Astin, Body and Cell: Making the transition to cell church, a first hand

O O O O O O O

account. Monarch Books, Broadway House, The Broadway, Crowborough, East Sussex TB6 1HQ, England

Parousia Helps - Page 123

The Gospel: The First Step In House Church Ministry

Like all Christian activity, House Church Ministry begins with a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. Your author offers the following as a basic description of how one can enter into a personal, spiritual relationship with God (Excerpted from The Four Spiritual Laws, by Bill Bright, Copyright 1994 Campus Crusade For Christ, Inc. Used by permission). Just as there are physical laws that govern the physical universe, so are there spiritual laws which govern your relationship with God. LAW ONE. GOD LOVES YOU, AND OFFERS A WONDERFUL PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE. God's Love. God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16). God's Plan. (Christ speaking) I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly (that it might be full and meaningful) (John 10:10). Why is it that most people are not experiencing the abundant life? LAW TWO. MAN IS SINFUL AND SEPARATED FROM GOD. THEREFORE, HE CANNOT KNOW AND EXPERIENCE GOD'S LOVE AND PLAN FOR HIS LIFE. Man Is Sinful. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Man was created to have fellowship with God; but, because of his stubborn self-will, he chose to go his own independent way and fellowship with God was broken. This self-will, characterized by an attitude of active rebellion or passive indifference, is evidence of what the Bible calls sin. Man Is Separated. For the wages of sin is death (spiritual separation from God) (Romans 6:23). This diagram illustrates that God is holy and man is sinful. A great gulf separates the two. The arrows illustrate that man is continually trying to reach God and the abundant life through his own efforts, such as a good life, philosophy or religion.

The third law explains the only way to bridge this gulf.

LAW THREE. JESUS CHRIST IS GOD'S ONLY PROVISION FOR MAN'S SIN. THROUGH HIM YOU CAN KNOW AND EXPERIENCE GOD'S LOVE AND PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE.

He Died in Our Place. God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

He Rose From the Dead. Christ died for our sins . . . He was buried . . . He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures . . . He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred . . . (I Corinthians 1 5:3-6)

He Is the Only Way to God. Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me

Parousia Helps - Page 124 (John 14:6). agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience. We receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of the will. These two circles represent two kinds of lives:

This diagram illustrates that God has bridged the gulf which separates us from Him by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for our sins. It is not enough just to know these three laws . Which circle best represents your life? Which circle would you like to have represent your life? The following explains how you can receive Christ

LAW FOUR. WE MUST INDIVIDUALLY RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST AS SAVIOR AND LORD; THEN WE CAN KNOW AND EXPERIENCE GOD'S LOVE AND PLAN FOR OUR LIVES.

YOU CAN RECEIVE CHRIST RIGHT NOW BY FAITH THROUGH PRAYER.

We Must Receive Christ. As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name (John 1:12). We Receive Christ Through Faith. By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast (Ephesians 2:8,9). When We Receive Christ, We Experience a New Birth.(Read John 3: 1 -8). We Receive Christ by Personal Invitation. (Christ is speaking): Behold, I stand at the door and knock if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him (Revelation 3:20). Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to make us the kind of people He wants us to be. Just to

Prayer is talking with God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. The following is a suggested prayer: ''Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be." Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? If it does, pray this prayer right now, and Christ will come into your life, as He promised.

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What Do We Believe?
The purpose of doctrinal statements, confessions and creeds has historically been to present the outline, sometimes broad and sometimes in excruciatingly specific detail, of historic and biblical Christian orthodoxy. In other words, to establish the boundaries of orthodox Christian faith. On our website we have links to several of the best recognized statements of historic orthodox faith. There is always a temptation for a ministry or church to create its own unique doctrinal statement. The usual purpose of this is to establish the minimum standards of acceptable doctrine for its members, while including those unique doctrinal items which distinguish their particular group or church from all others (You can just imagine what unique items the doctrinal statement of the Independent Primitive Foot-washing Missionary Baptists of my native North Carolina must include!). We have taken a different approach in The Parousia Network. We acknowledge, with all of their differences and similarities, the great historic confessional creeds of the Christian Church (a list of which along with links can be found on our website home page under What We Believe). In addition we have included in this Equipping Notebook a copy of The Lausanne Covenant which originated in the 1974 Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. The Covenant is a clear expression of historic Evangelical faith with an emphasis upon the calling of the Church to evangelize the world and to disciple the nations. In other words, it is a doctrinal statement that focuses upon the active calling of the Church to fulfill Christs Great Commission, which is the active calling of the House Church Movement. If we miss this, then we will have missed the main thing. The Lausanne Covenant Introduction We, members of the Church of Jesus Christ, from more than 150 nations, participants in the International Congress on World Evangelization at Lausanne, praise God for his great salvation and rejoice in the fellowship he has given us with himself and with each other. We are deeply stirred by what God is doing in our day, moved to penitence by our failures and challenged by the unfinished task of evangelization. We believe the Gospel is God's good news for the whole world, and we are determined by his grace to obey Christ's commission to proclaim it to all mankind and to make disciples of every nation. We desire, therefore, to affirm our faith and our resolve, and to make public our covenant. 1. The Purpose of God We affirm our belief in the one-eternal God, Creator and Lord of the world, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who govern all things according to the purpose of his will. He has been calling out from the world a people for himself, and sending his people back into the world to be his servants and his witnesses, for the extension of his kingdom, the building up of Christ's body, and the glory of his name. We confess with shame that we have often denied our calling and failed in our mission, by becoming conformed to the world or by withdrawing from it. Yet we rejoice that even when borne by earthen vessels the gospel is still a precious treasure. To the task of making that treasure known in the power of the Holy Spirit we desire to dedicate ourselves anew.

Parousia Helps - Page 126 Scripture References: Isa. 40:28; Matt. 28:19; Eph. 1:11; Acts 15:14; John 17:6, 18; Eph 4:12; 1 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 12:2; II Cor. 4:7 2. The Authority and Power of the Bible We affirm the divine inspiration, truthfulness and authority of both Old and New Testament Scriptures in their entirety as the only written word of God, without error in all that it affirms, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice. W e also affirm the power of God's word to accomplish his purpose of salvation. The message of the Bible is addressed to all men and women. For God's revelation in Christ and in Scripture is unchangeable. Through it the Holy Spirit still speaks today. He illumines the minds of God's people in every culture to perceive its truth freshly through their own eyes and thus discloses to the whole Church ever more of the many-colored wisdom of God. Scripture References: II Tim. 3:16; II Pet. 1:21; John 10:35; Isa. 55:11; 1 Cor. 1:21; Rom. 1:16, Matt. 5:17,18; Jude 3; Eph. 1:17,18; 3:10,18 3. The Uniqueness and Universality of Christ We affirm that there is only one Saviour and only one gospel, although there is a wide diversity of evangelistic approaches. We recognise that everyone has some knowledge of God through his general revelation in nature. But we deny that this can save, for people suppress the truth by their unrighteousness. We also reject as derogatory to Christ and the gospel every kind of syncretism and dialogue which implies that Christ speaks equally through all religions and ideologies. Jesus Christ, being himself the only God-man, who gave himself as the only ransom for sinners, is the only mediator between God and people. There is no other name by which we must be saved. All men and women are perishing because of sin, but God loves everyone, not wishing that any should perish but that all should repent. Yet those who reject Christ repudiate the joy of salvation and condemn themselves to eternal separation from God. To proclaim Jesus as "the Saviour of the world" is not to affirm that all people are either automatically or ultimately saved, still less to affirm that all religions offer salvation in Christ. Rather it is to proclaim God's love for a world of sinners and to invite everyone to respond to him as Saviour and Lord in the wholehearted personal commitment of repentance and faith. Jesus Christ has been exalted above every other name; we long for the day when every knee shall bow to him and every tongue shall confess him Lord. Scripture References: Gal. 1:6-9;Rom. 1:18-32; I Tim. 2:5,6; Acts 4:12; John 3:16-19; II Pet. 3:9; II Thess. 1:7-9;John 4:42; Matt. 11:28; Eph. 1:20,21; Phil. 2:9-11 4. The Nature of Evangelism To evangelize is to spread the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and that as the reigning Lord he now offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gifts of the Spirit to all who repent and believe. Our Christian presence in the world is indispensable to evangelism, and so is that kind of dialogue whose purpose is to listen sensitively in order to understand. But evangelism itself is the proclamation of the historical, biblical Christ as Saviour and Lord, with a view to persuading people to come to him personally and so be reconciled to God. In issuing the gospel invitation we have no liberty to conceal the cost of discipleship. Jesus still calls all who would follow him to deny themselves, take up their cross, and identify themselves with his new community. The results of evangelism include obedience to

Parousia Helps - Page 127 Christ, incorporation into his Church and responsible service in the world. Scripture References: I Cor. 15:3,4; Acts 2: 32-39; John 20:21; I Cor. 1:23; II Cor. 4:5; 5:11,20; Luke 14:25-33; Mark 8:34; Acts 2:40,47; Mark 10:43-45) 5. Christian Social Responsibility We affirm that God is both the Creator and the Judge of all men. W e therefore should share his concern for justice and reconciliation throughout human society and for the liberation of men and women from every kind of oppression. Because men and women are made in the image of God, every person, regardless of race, religion, colour, culture, class, sex or age, has an intrinsic dignity because of which he or she should be respected and served, not exploited. Here too we express penitence both for our neglect and for having sometimes regarded evangelism and social concern as mutually exclusive. Although reconciliation with other people is not reconciliation with God, nor is social action evangelism, nor is political liberation salvation, nevertheless we affirm that evangelism and socio-political involvement are both part of our Christian duty. For both are necessary expressions of our doctrines of God and man, our love for our neighbour and our obedience to Jesus Christ. The message of salvation implies also a message of judgment upon every form of alienation, oppression and discrimination, and we should not be afraid to denounce evil and injustice wherever they exist. When people receive Christ they are born again into his kingdom and must seek not only to exhibit but also to spread its righteousness in the midst of an unrighteous world. The salvation we claim should be transforming us in the totality of our personal and social responsibilities. Faith without works is dead. Scripture References: Acts 17:26,31; Gen. 18:25; Isa. 1:17; Psa. 45:7; Gen. 1:26,27; Jas. 3:9; Lev. 19:18; Luke 6:27,35; Jas. 2:14-26; Joh. 3:3,5; Matt. 5:20; 6:33; II Cor. 3:18; Jas. 2:20 6. The Church and Evangelism We affirm that Christ sends his redeemed people into the world as the Father sent him, and that this calls for a similar deep and costly penetration of the world. We need to break out of our ecclesiastical ghettos and permeate non-Christian society. In the Church's mission of sacrificial service evangelism is primary. World evangelization requires the whole Church to take the whole gospel to the whole world. The Church is at the very centre of God's cosmic purpose and is his appointed means of spreading the gospel. But a church which preaches the cross must itself be marked by the cross. It becomes a stumbling block to evangelism when it betrays the gospel or lacks a living faith in God, a genuine love for people, or scrupulous honesty in all things including promotion and finance. The church is the community of God's people rather than an institution, and must not be identified with any particular culture, social or political system, or human ideology. Scripture References: John 17:18; 20:21; Matt. 28:19,20; Acts 1:8; 20:27; Eph. 1:9,10; 3:9-11; Gal. 6:14,17; II Cor. 6:3,4; II Tim. 2:19-21; Phil. 1:27 7. Co-operation in Evangelism We affirm that the Church's visible unity in truth is God's purpose. Evangelism also summons us to unity, because our oneness strengthens our witness, just as our disunity undermines our gospel of reconciliation. We recognize, however, that organisational unity may take many forms and does not necessarily forward evangelism. Yet we who share the same biblical faith should be

Parousia Helps - Page 128 closely united in fellowship, work and witness. We confess that our testimony has sometimes been marred by a sinful individualism and needless duplication. W e pledge ourselves to seek a deeper unity in truth, worship, holiness and mission. We urge the development of regional and functional cooperation for the furtherance of the Church's mission, for strategic planning, for mutual encouragement, and for the sharing of resources and experience. Scripture References: John 17:21,23; Eph. 4:3,4; John 13:35; Phil. 1:27; John 17:11-23 8. Churches in Evangelistic Partnership We rejoice that a new missionary era has dawned. The dominant role of western missions is fast disappearing. God is raising up from the younger churches a great new resource for world evangelization, and is thus demonstrating that the responsibility to evangelise belongs to the whole body of Christ. All churches should therefore be asking God and themselves what they should be doing both to reach their own area and to send missionaries to other parts of the world. A reevaluation of our missionary responsibility and role should be continuous. Thus a growing partnership of churches will develop and the universal character of Christ's Church will be more clearly exhibited. We also thank God for agencies which labor in Bible translation, theological education, the mass media, Christian litterature, evangelism, missions, church renewal and other specialist fields. They too should engage in constant self-examination to evaluate their effectiveness as part of the Church's mission. Scripture References: Rom. 1:8; Phil. 1:5; 4:15; Acts 13:1-3, I Thess. 1:6-8 9. The Urgency of the Evangelistic Task More than 2,700 million people, which is more than two-thirds of all humanity, have yet to be evangelised. We are ashamed that so many have been neglected; it is a standing rebuke to us and to the whole Church. There is now, however, in many parts of the world an unprecedented receptivity to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are convinced that this is the time for churches and para-church agencies to pray earnestly for the salvation of the unreached and to launch new efforts to achieve world evangelization. A reduction of foreign missionaries and money in an evangelised country may sometimes be necessary to facilitate the national church's growth in self-reliance and to release resources for unevangelised areas. Missionaries should flow ever more freely from and to all six continents in a spirit of humble service. The goal should be, by all available means and at the earliest possible time, that every person will have the opportunity to hear, understand, and to receive the good news. We cannot hope to attain this goal without sacrifice. All of us are shocked by the poverty of millions and disturbed by the injustices which causes it. Those of us who live in affluent circumstances accept our duty to develop a simple life-style in order to contribute more generously to both relief and evangelism. Scripture References: John 9:4; Matt. 9:35-38; Rom. 9:1-3; I Cor. 9:19-23; Mark 16:15; Isa. 58:6,7; Jas. 1:27; 2:1-9; Matt. 25:31-46; Acts 2:44,45; 4:34,35 10. Evangelism and Culture The development of strategies for world evangelization calls for imaginative pioneering methods. Under God, the result will be the rise of churches deeply rooted in Christ and closely related to their culture. Culture must always be tested and judged by Scripture. Because men and women are God's creatures, some of their culture is rich in beauty and goodness. Because they are

Parousia Helps - Page 129 fallen, all of it is tainted with sin and some of it is demonic. The gospel does not presuppose the superiority of any culture to another, but evaluates all cultures according to its own criteria of truth and righteousness, and insists on moral absolutes in every culture. Missions have all too frequently exported with the gospel an alien culture and churches have sometimes been in bondage to culture rather than to Scripture. Christ's evangelists must humbly seek to empty themselves of all but their personal authenticity in order to become the servants of others, and churches must seek to transform and enrich culture, all for the glory of God. Scripture References: Mark 7:8,9,13; Gen. 4:21,22; I Cor. 9:19-23; Phil. 2:5-7; II Cor. 4:5 11. Education and Leadership We confess that we have sometimes pursued church growth at the expense of church depth, and divorced evangelism from Christian nurture. We also acknowledge that some of our missions have been too slow to equip and encourage national leaders to assume their rightful responsibilities. Yet we are committed to indigenous principles, and long that every church will have national leaders who manifest a Christian style of leadership in terms not of domination but of service. We recognise that there is a great need to improve theological education, especially for church leaders. In every nation and culture there should be an effective training programme for pastors and laity in doctrine, discipleship, evangelism, nurture and service. Such training programmes should not rely on any stereotyped methodology but should be developed by creative local initiatives according to biblical standards. Scripture References: Col. I:27,28; Acts 14:23; Tit. 1:5,9; Mark 10:42-45; Eph. 4:11,12 12. Spiritual Conflict We believe that we are engaged in constant spiritual warfare with the principalities and powers of evil, who are seeking to overthrow the Church and frustrate its task of world evangelization. We know our need to equip ourselves with God's armour and to fight this battle with the spiritual weapons of truth and prayer. For we detect the activity of our enemy, not only in false ideologies outside the Church, but also inside it in false gospels which twist Scripture and put people in the place of God. We need both watchfulness and discernment to safeguard the biblical gospel. We acknowledge that we ourselves are not immune to worldliness of thoughts and action, that is, to a surrender to secularism. For example, although careful studies of church growth, both numerical and spiritual, are right and valuable, we have sometimes neglected them. At other times, desirous to ensure a response to the gospel, we have compromised our message, manipulated our hearers through pressure techniques, and become unduly preoccupied with statistics or even dishonest in our use of them. All this is worldly. The Church must be in the world; the world must not be in the Church. Scripture References: Eph. 6:12; II Cor. 4:3,4; Eph. 6:11,13-18; II Cor. 10:3-5; I John 2:18-26; 4:1-3; Gal. 1:6-9; II Cor. 2:17; 4:2; John 17:15 13. Freedom and Persecution It is the God-appointed duty of every government to secure conditions of peace, justice and liberty in which the Church may obey God, serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and preach the gospel without interference. We therefore pray for the leaders of nations and call upon them to guarantee freedom of thought and conscience, and freedom to practise and propagate religion in

Parousia Helps - Page 130 accordance with the will of God and as set forth in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We also express our deep concern for all who have been unjustly imprisoned, and especially for those who are suffering for their testimony to the Lord Jesus. We promise to pray and work for their freedom. At the same time we refuse to be intimidated by their fate. God helping us, we too will seek to stand against injustice and to remain faithful to the gospel, whatever the cost. We do not forget the warnings of Jesus that persecution is inevitable. Scripture References: I Tim. 1:1-4, Acts 4:19; 5:29; Col. 3:24; Heb. 13:1-3; Luke 4:18; Gal. 5:11; 6:12; Matt. 5:10-12; John 15:18-21 14. The Power of the Holy Spirit We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Father sent his Spirit to bear witness to his Son, without his witness ours is futile. Conviction of sin, faith in Christ, new birth and Christian growth are all his work. Further, the Holy Spirit is a missionary spirit; thus evangelism should arise spontaneously from a Spirit-filled church. A church that is not a missionary church is contradicting itself and quenching the Spirit. Worldwide evangelization will become a realistic possibility only when the Spirit renews the Church in truth and wisdom, faith, holiness, love and power. We therefore call upon all Christians to pray for such a visitation of the sovereign Spirit of God that all his fruit may appear in all his people and that all his gifts may enrich the body of Christ. Only then will the whole world become a fit instrument in his hands, that the whole earth may hear his voice. Scripture References: I Cor. 2:4; John 15:26;27; 16:8-11; I Cor. 12:3; John 3:6-8; II Cor. 3:18; John 7:37-39; I Thess. 5:19; Acts 1:8; Psa. 85:4-7; 67:1-3; Gal. 5:22,23; I Cor. 12:4-31; Rom. 12:3-8 15. The Return of Christ We believe that Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly, in power and glory, to consummate his salvation and his judgment. This promise of his coming is a further spur to our evangelism, for we remember his words that the gospel must first be preached to all nations. We believe that the interim period between Christ's ascension and return is to be filled with the mission of the people of God, who have no liberty to stop before the end. W e also remember his warning that false Christs and false prophets will arise as precursors of the final Anti-christ. W e therefore reject as a proud, self-confident dream the notion that people can ever build a utopia on earth. Our Christian confidence is that God will perfect his kingdom, and we look forward with eager anticipation to that day, and to the new heaven and earth in which righteousness will dwell and God will reign forever. Meanwhile, we rededicate ourselves to the service of Christ and of people in joyful submission to his authority over the whole of our lives. Scripture References: Mark 14:62; Heb. 9:28; Mark 13:10; Acts 1:8-11; Matt. 28:20; Mark 13:21-23; John 2:18; 4:1-3; Luke 12:32; Rev. 21:1-5; II Pet. 3:13; Matt. 28:18 Conclusion Therefore, in the light of this our faith and our resolve, we enter into a solemn covenant with God and with each other, to pray, to plan and to work together for the evangelization of the whole world. We call upon others to join us. May God help us by his grace and for his glory to be faithful to this our covenant! Amen, Alleluia!