Hello, you lovely followers. Sorry for my absence. I've been away and dealing with the ramifications of leaving the local IC (institutional church), and figuring things out effectively on my own, and attending a new IC. I'm still looking for a house Church in my area.
That said, I've been mulling something around in my head that I want to share. As per the usual, it's a series. The first part will establish the individual Believer's role as follower of Christ. The second will establish how this directly informs what the Body is, and will establish what the Church is as a result of being Christian - that is, subject to Christ's authority. The third will establish how this is an effective "Christian culture", as we are "in the world (John 15)", and "not of the world (John 17)," as well as the practical ramifications of this fact (I'll get there), including its implications for discipleship and evangelism.
The fourth will explore what it is to be a Christian by name only, which is a person that identifies with the Body of Christ, loosely identifies with Jesus Christ, but neither participates with, nor is submitted to, either party - Christ or the Church (as we are to submit ourselves to one another as to Christ [Ephesians 5]). The fifth will establish how this influences a Christ-less congregation, whether full of Christians or not. The sixth piece will describe how this creates "cultural Christianity", or a twisted type of Christianity that is not Christianity at all, but rather is influenced to a small degree by the Word and draws the vast majority of its influence from the World. Think "American Christianity," which is a term to describe a demographic, and sometimes political entity, as well as a general phrase for "how Americans do church."
The seventh, and final piece of this will deal with both "Christian Culture", and "Cultural Christianity." It will hold the former up as a standard, and expose the hypocrisy of the latter.
love y'all. Comment with any questions you want dealt with.
Best,
J.D. Means
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
simplechurch.com forum
I do agree with the idea that the standard church my have gone astray in some avenues but here are a few questions that I have for you house church people. One, what do you fine the main difference between your small gathering and say a church of 200 that has small groups? Two, how do you guy's fight off wrong teaching seeing as you allow anyone to speak and many people misinterpret, so do you let them speak freely because even that wasn't allowed in the early church as some authors are trying to shove along, Also, what do you do when your house church becomes two big to you stop having people meet at your house, or do you meet at a bigger building? Because if you stop people from coming you seem like you don't allow the body to come. Also, if you are growing and you become known as a place or community that does good things in the community and speaks about God you will become bigger and establish and isn't that what the church is? Also, once you start to grow leadership is organic and is natural, for example Moses was the head of Israel, all the Judges were head of Israel, the High priest that God establish was in charge of the church, and Paul was the head of the church of Antioch. So saying that headship is wrong... please don't say that because its a lie. Please don't think I'm trying to speak down on the house movement its something that I've been looking into a lot, I just was wondering why you go to them over the modern church that has small groups.
Response:
I hope to contribute something positive to the responses you've gotten at this forum.
In order: "What is the main difference between small gatherings and a Church of 200 that has small groups?
The difference, honestly, is multi-faceted, but can be broken down into three interconnected points.
First, it's a matter of structure. When speaking of structure, we typically talk of two types within Institutional Churches. 1) Administrative structure, and 2) Structure within a gathering. Whereas traditionally structured Church organizations, say of about 200 people, have a team of administrators who serve a large number of Christians who gather to listen to a sermon, sing with music, and give to an offering that would, for the most part, cover the overhead costs of a space, a house Church rarely (if ever) functions in this way. Typically, the pastors and elders of a house Church are those raised up by God, with proven character and stability in their daily submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the ones who 'moderate'. There is nothing "official" about it. The people God raises up to leadership are the ones God raises up. As God raised up Moses and the Judges, so too did He raise up Christ. So too does God raise up pastors, elders, teachers, evangelists, etc. It is the least quantifiable route, but it's evidenced with authority by the Holy Spirit.
Sensitivity to the God the Holy Spirit protects against falsehoods from people who claim to be of us, but actually try to hurt us.
As for headship, Jesus said to call no-one father, because one is our Father and He is in heaven. He also said to call no-one teacher because we are all brothers, and He is our teacher. The lack of electing fathers and teachers in a house Church is a matter of obeying our Lord.
As for the second kind of structure, house Churches are "structured" so that there can be open, Spirit-led contribution to a gathering, with as few circumstantial inhibitors as possible. Where the members of the Body of Christ are free to participate openly with each other, the Spirit of God is able to use a "foot" as a "foot", an "eye" as an "eye", and a "hand" as a "hand", each toward the end that His will is accomplished immediately within and outside the Body of Christ. This means participation with God as well as with each other. The big difference between an IC's small group and a house Church can be ultimately a matter of semantics, but most often boils down to how the gathering is run, that is whether or not the Believers can interact, pray, and be led together while they're gathered. This type of functioning practically encourages interaction during the weeks because there is intimate interaction during the meeting. An IC's small group gathering typically holds to the structural and organizational practices of its parent gathering. One person functions as teacher, and everyone else sits and is instructed by the one person. The difference here is that all are instructed as we are instructed by the Holy Spirit, functioning within the design of our membership in the Body of Christ, whether someone be a foot, or a hand, or an eye, or an ear.
This leads to the second difference: participation. Typically, the members of the Body of Christ who attend an IC's meetings, even smaller meetings, are expected to show up, sit down, sing, listen quietly to a man's message (prayerfully crafted, borrowed, or whatever else), sing some more, and leave, if there's no fellowship dinner before or after the service. Typically, the members of a house Church are encouraged and almost expected to participate with each other under the present influence of God the Holy Spirit, and our Lord Jesus Christ. To answer your question about fighting off wrong teachings, we typically fight them off by dealing with them in the present moment.
The least quantifiable route to knowing what is a false teaching is the influence of the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit points out falsehood to those who belong to Christ. We also are given guidance in the Word to know what is of God. So, we know that if whatever has been said exalts Christ and His Lordship, then it is of God; if it does not, then it is not.
The key is that all participation is directed by the Holy Spirit. Since we're Christians, there should be enough respect for God's Will and purposes that one will not say something except by God directing the saying of it. Be imitators of God, as dear children, as the Holy Spirit said to paul in the letter to the Ephesians. Jesus is our Savior, our Lord, and our Example. He did nothing that he did not see the father doing. So should we.
This leads into the third point. Another difference is the practical headship of Jesus Christ in a gathering. Rather than operating by the functioning headship of a man, a house Church will typically allow itself to be led by the functioning, practical, obvious headship of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ will direct a gathering. A Christian's only responsibilities in this capacity are being sensitive to our Lord, and obeying our Lord.
In all things, everything a Christian does ought to be done by the Lord's impetus, not our own. An obedient house Church will be obedient in everything, even growing and splitting as the Lord desires. If a house Church is getting too big to handle caring for itself, then a Church will keep its ties, split, and start anew, hopefully splitting and growing many times over the years.
As for what the Church is.. the Church is the body of Christ. We are here to be in fellowship with God, setting out to do God's will and not our own. Members of the Body may become prominent, but it is all to the glory of Jesus Christ, that all men might bow their knee to our Lord. We are His. Do we do things for the community? Yes. Do we speak about God? Yes. Is that the limit of what we are? Hardly. :)
I hope this helps.
blessings to you, brother. :)
Joshua D. Means
Response:
I hope to contribute something positive to the responses you've gotten at this forum.
In order: "What is the main difference between small gatherings and a Church of 200 that has small groups?
The difference, honestly, is multi-faceted, but can be broken down into three interconnected points.
First, it's a matter of structure. When speaking of structure, we typically talk of two types within Institutional Churches. 1) Administrative structure, and 2) Structure within a gathering. Whereas traditionally structured Church organizations, say of about 200 people, have a team of administrators who serve a large number of Christians who gather to listen to a sermon, sing with music, and give to an offering that would, for the most part, cover the overhead costs of a space, a house Church rarely (if ever) functions in this way. Typically, the pastors and elders of a house Church are those raised up by God, with proven character and stability in their daily submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the ones who 'moderate'. There is nothing "official" about it. The people God raises up to leadership are the ones God raises up. As God raised up Moses and the Judges, so too did He raise up Christ. So too does God raise up pastors, elders, teachers, evangelists, etc. It is the least quantifiable route, but it's evidenced with authority by the Holy Spirit.
Sensitivity to the God the Holy Spirit protects against falsehoods from people who claim to be of us, but actually try to hurt us.
As for headship, Jesus said to call no-one father, because one is our Father and He is in heaven. He also said to call no-one teacher because we are all brothers, and He is our teacher. The lack of electing fathers and teachers in a house Church is a matter of obeying our Lord.
As for the second kind of structure, house Churches are "structured" so that there can be open, Spirit-led contribution to a gathering, with as few circumstantial inhibitors as possible. Where the members of the Body of Christ are free to participate openly with each other, the Spirit of God is able to use a "foot" as a "foot", an "eye" as an "eye", and a "hand" as a "hand", each toward the end that His will is accomplished immediately within and outside the Body of Christ. This means participation with God as well as with each other. The big difference between an IC's small group and a house Church can be ultimately a matter of semantics, but most often boils down to how the gathering is run, that is whether or not the Believers can interact, pray, and be led together while they're gathered. This type of functioning practically encourages interaction during the weeks because there is intimate interaction during the meeting. An IC's small group gathering typically holds to the structural and organizational practices of its parent gathering. One person functions as teacher, and everyone else sits and is instructed by the one person. The difference here is that all are instructed as we are instructed by the Holy Spirit, functioning within the design of our membership in the Body of Christ, whether someone be a foot, or a hand, or an eye, or an ear.
This leads to the second difference: participation. Typically, the members of the Body of Christ who attend an IC's meetings, even smaller meetings, are expected to show up, sit down, sing, listen quietly to a man's message (prayerfully crafted, borrowed, or whatever else), sing some more, and leave, if there's no fellowship dinner before or after the service. Typically, the members of a house Church are encouraged and almost expected to participate with each other under the present influence of God the Holy Spirit, and our Lord Jesus Christ. To answer your question about fighting off wrong teachings, we typically fight them off by dealing with them in the present moment.
The least quantifiable route to knowing what is a false teaching is the influence of the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit points out falsehood to those who belong to Christ. We also are given guidance in the Word to know what is of God. So, we know that if whatever has been said exalts Christ and His Lordship, then it is of God; if it does not, then it is not.
The key is that all participation is directed by the Holy Spirit. Since we're Christians, there should be enough respect for God's Will and purposes that one will not say something except by God directing the saying of it. Be imitators of God, as dear children, as the Holy Spirit said to paul in the letter to the Ephesians. Jesus is our Savior, our Lord, and our Example. He did nothing that he did not see the father doing. So should we.
This leads into the third point. Another difference is the practical headship of Jesus Christ in a gathering. Rather than operating by the functioning headship of a man, a house Church will typically allow itself to be led by the functioning, practical, obvious headship of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ will direct a gathering. A Christian's only responsibilities in this capacity are being sensitive to our Lord, and obeying our Lord.
In all things, everything a Christian does ought to be done by the Lord's impetus, not our own. An obedient house Church will be obedient in everything, even growing and splitting as the Lord desires. If a house Church is getting too big to handle caring for itself, then a Church will keep its ties, split, and start anew, hopefully splitting and growing many times over the years.
As for what the Church is.. the Church is the body of Christ. We are here to be in fellowship with God, setting out to do God's will and not our own. Members of the Body may become prominent, but it is all to the glory of Jesus Christ, that all men might bow their knee to our Lord. We are His. Do we do things for the community? Yes. Do we speak about God? Yes. Is that the limit of what we are? Hardly. :)
I hope this helps.
blessings to you, brother. :)
Joshua D. Means
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
A thought.
"My Lord, my God! You've given me so much! How can I not devote my every breath to You and Your glory?"
I've been given too much to leave it to the dross of programmable Christianism. So much of ministry after ministry I see amounts to little more than an evangelical gentleman's club. It disgusts me to see professing believers doing their works before men to be seen by men, never counting themselves dead to sin and the world, and furthermore as living sacrifices to our Lord Jesus Christ.
I've watched a minister laugh in my face with the words, "Nice seeing you," only to weep in his heart, as his face told it, at what he'd just said. Why did he weep?
I told him, after being accosted and ridiculed by a fellow worker of his, "I'm here looking for the love of God. If I do not find it, I will leave."
What these men did not understand is the authority of our indwelling God. Jesus Christ is the Lord. Earthly lords are obeyed, and there are consequences for disobedience even with our Heavenly Lord. We cannot, with absolute, and clearly whole, theological certainty, explain all that is abrogated by God from the consequences of sin for the believer, outside of Hell eternal and the law of sin in us. All will be accounted as precious stones, metals, and gold, or wood hay and stubble. Five of the virgins were left outside the banquet. and one of the servants was thrown out in Matthew 25.
So, at that moment on that night, to perhaps mournful consequences (they will, after all, give an account of their actions as I will for every last one of my damnable acts of pride and rebellion), neither of these men could say with integrity, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
They were quenching the Holy Spirit of God, and had been doing so for so long that it took blasphemy for one of them to realize what he'd been doing. (Oh Holy Spirit, may I ever be sensitive to your Counsel and conviction, and how many times I could not say with integrity, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loves me gave himself for me.. oh how terrible that state of disharmony against you, my Lord..")
Why did these men quench the Holy Spirit? I might say that it is a state of mind to which they found themselves so accustomed, that they didn't leave it behind when they left for the place of ministry.. Pride. Damnable pride.
I've found myself in the same state. I can say that with my life, weeks have gone by while I've yielded to the flesh and any spirit telling me whichever way to go, and quenched the Holy Spirit of God as He brought conviction and direction to my life. Damnable.
I owe God my life and the whole of my existence because of Jesus Christ. There is no recourse but absolute servitude and gratitude for my redemption - the faith which is a gift, and the propitiation which is also a gift.. Jesus is the way. To Him be glory.
Yet, spending time with the world, and being simply hard with most that come to them, these men counted it joy to see a Spirit-filled Christian named Daniel preaching on the streets when they've known apparently little (perhaps nothing) of subjecting themselves to the will and movement of God Almighty.
It's a lying, smirking, holier-than-thou brand of Christianity that they live in. I'll stand against this smirking generation my whole life if I have to. Yet, my calling extends far above and is greater than that, the fruit of programmable Christianism.
My calling involves (hopefully) anonymity. It involves making disciples, and being obedient from the heart. Humble. Loving. Kind. Hating sin. Loving the Triune God above all else.
Oh God, may I be counted worthy by you. In Jesus' name, may that be.
Dear readers, when is the last time you dear people wept over your sin, and purposed in your heart to be worthy of the calling with which we've been called?
with much love and trepidation before God Almighty,
Joshua "Danger" Means
I've been given too much to leave it to the dross of programmable Christianism. So much of ministry after ministry I see amounts to little more than an evangelical gentleman's club. It disgusts me to see professing believers doing their works before men to be seen by men, never counting themselves dead to sin and the world, and furthermore as living sacrifices to our Lord Jesus Christ.
I've watched a minister laugh in my face with the words, "Nice seeing you," only to weep in his heart, as his face told it, at what he'd just said. Why did he weep?
I told him, after being accosted and ridiculed by a fellow worker of his, "I'm here looking for the love of God. If I do not find it, I will leave."
What these men did not understand is the authority of our indwelling God. Jesus Christ is the Lord. Earthly lords are obeyed, and there are consequences for disobedience even with our Heavenly Lord. We cannot, with absolute, and clearly whole, theological certainty, explain all that is abrogated by God from the consequences of sin for the believer, outside of Hell eternal and the law of sin in us. All will be accounted as precious stones, metals, and gold, or wood hay and stubble. Five of the virgins were left outside the banquet. and one of the servants was thrown out in Matthew 25.
So, at that moment on that night, to perhaps mournful consequences (they will, after all, give an account of their actions as I will for every last one of my damnable acts of pride and rebellion), neither of these men could say with integrity, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
They were quenching the Holy Spirit of God, and had been doing so for so long that it took blasphemy for one of them to realize what he'd been doing. (Oh Holy Spirit, may I ever be sensitive to your Counsel and conviction, and how many times I could not say with integrity, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loves me gave himself for me.. oh how terrible that state of disharmony against you, my Lord..")
Why did these men quench the Holy Spirit? I might say that it is a state of mind to which they found themselves so accustomed, that they didn't leave it behind when they left for the place of ministry.. Pride. Damnable pride.
I've found myself in the same state. I can say that with my life, weeks have gone by while I've yielded to the flesh and any spirit telling me whichever way to go, and quenched the Holy Spirit of God as He brought conviction and direction to my life. Damnable.
I owe God my life and the whole of my existence because of Jesus Christ. There is no recourse but absolute servitude and gratitude for my redemption - the faith which is a gift, and the propitiation which is also a gift.. Jesus is the way. To Him be glory.
Yet, spending time with the world, and being simply hard with most that come to them, these men counted it joy to see a Spirit-filled Christian named Daniel preaching on the streets when they've known apparently little (perhaps nothing) of subjecting themselves to the will and movement of God Almighty.
It's a lying, smirking, holier-than-thou brand of Christianity that they live in. I'll stand against this smirking generation my whole life if I have to. Yet, my calling extends far above and is greater than that, the fruit of programmable Christianism.
My calling involves (hopefully) anonymity. It involves making disciples, and being obedient from the heart. Humble. Loving. Kind. Hating sin. Loving the Triune God above all else.
Oh God, may I be counted worthy by you. In Jesus' name, may that be.
Dear readers, when is the last time you dear people wept over your sin, and purposed in your heart to be worthy of the calling with which we've been called?
with much love and trepidation before God Almighty,
Joshua "Danger" Means
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Volunteer Effort
This last weekend, a tornado came through Woodstock.
Thus, we're organizing a volunteer effort for God's glory, that He might be glorified through Jesus Christ, in the capacity of clearing out debris and giving an account of the Gospel, and repentance and belief, as well as comforting men and women through and for Jesus Christ.
Please keep us in your prayers.
Best,
Salt and Light at Oglethorpe University
Thus, we're organizing a volunteer effort for God's glory, that He might be glorified through Jesus Christ, in the capacity of clearing out debris and giving an account of the Gospel, and repentance and belief, as well as comforting men and women through and for Jesus Christ.
Please keep us in your prayers.
Best,
Salt and Light at Oglethorpe University
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