Brad,
The heart cry of people has always been simple: "Show us Jesus!"
That showing people Jesus has become so difficult to do should trouble us all. I can add nothing to your outstanding commentary, Brad. A church that does not operate out of the power of the Holy Spirit is no church at all. All things proceed from this. (I wrote a few months ago that a church with poor community is a sure sign the Holy Spirit has fled.)
Dan,
Dan,
Thanks for your continual encouragement. I find in some house church folks that there is an aversion to getting too intentional about worship and prayer. To them it seems too much like mainstream church. To me this is a poisonous idea. When we meet, we need to be showing people and modeling how to experience the immediate presence of God.
blessing,
Amen! This was such an awesome post! I will definitely keep up with this blog. You are absolutely right. Without the power of the Holy Ghost, conversion to the church can have little or no effect. And baptism is meaningless if it is not baptism into Jesus Christ. Bravo! Adding this one to my Favorites as we speak. Expect to hear more from me. God Bless!
Brad,
I appreciate your emphasis on the immediacy of the presence of God. It is very much needed in our mainstream Evangelical churches.
Recently we had a man leave our church after 20 years. He has been a close friend of my wife's family, and his daughter was a roommate of my wife's in college. His primary reason for leaving is a lack of concern for evangelism in our church.
My wife and I discussed his departure and came to the conclusion that his complaint identified a symptom rather than the root problem. The root problem is a stale relationship with Jesus. We don't talk to the lost about Jesus because we have nothing to talk about.
And I am guilty as charged.
Do you have any suggestions for a thoroughly Baptist church? I like your thoughts in Christianity by Total Immersion, but I am having trouble briding the differences between your house church and our tradition-filled Baptist church.
One of the big issues with us is that it all starts with confession. As you really get real with confession, your sin starts to tear you up. The next step is to realize that a million meetings a day would help. So together as you maintain the confession and seek God, the ned for real authentic power is so surfaced that only God Himself is een as the answer. I suggest to get one or two close friends and start being rigorously honest.
Hi Brad!
Was wondering whether you could send me an email and tell me a little more about your life of daily community. I aspire to this theoretically but can't comprehend how it could work in practice.
Converting people to church and not Christ - Isn't that true? Yet is it also my experience that some people want church (as in a programed institution) and not the community.
About 3 years ago I dropped into a black hole – four months of absolute terror. I wanted to end my life, but somehow [Holy Spirit], I reached out to a friend who took me to hospital. I had three visits [hospital] in four months – I actually thought I was in hell. I imagine I was going through some sort of metamorphosis [mental, physical & spiritual]. I had been seeing a therapist [1994] on a regular basis, up until this point in time. I actually thought I would be locked away – but the hospital staff was very supportive [I had no control over my process]. I was released from hospital 16th September 1994, but my fear, pain & shame had only subsided a little. I remember this particular morning waking up [home] & my process would start up again [fear, pain, & shame]. No one could help me, not even my therapist [I was terrified]. I asked Jesus Christ to have mercy on me & forgive me my sins. Slowly, all my fear has dissipated & I believe Jesus delivered me from my “psychological prison.” I am a practicing Catholic & the Holy Spirit is my friend & strength; every day since then has been a joy & blessing. I deserve to go to hell for the life I have led, but Jesus through His sacrifice on the cross, delivered me from my inequities. John 3: 8, John 15: 26, are verses I can relate to, organically. He’s a real person who is with me all the time. I have so much joy & peace in my life, today, after a childhood spent in orphanages [England & Australia]. Fear, pain, & shame, are no longer my constant companions. I just wanted to share my experience with you [Luke 8: 16 – 17].
Peace Be With You
Patrick
I love that your blogs are so substantive. I've just put you on my official blogroll - keep it up.
Would not the church represented in Acts be in some sense a mega-church?
Believe me, I'm not for ALL mega-churches - there are many that frighten me greatly in their approach - but the mega-church movement in and of itself it not, by necessity, a bad thing.
I - a 'Reformed Charismatic' Christian - work as the Assoc. Music Minister of a quickly growing church of about 1500, and though we aren't a church 10,000, we operate much like one (once you hit the 1000-level it's hard to operate in the traditional model effectively). Yes, our Pastor is an excellent communicator, and yes, our music is excellent - I wouldn't necessarily say that the programs are 'fast-paced', but we are attentive to schedule & time. The pastor's main job, in most Mega-Churches that I'm familiar with, is to - like Mark Driscoll teaches - be the primary teacher, and otherwise pastor the team (elders & church staff), who in turn act as pastors to their ministries in the church. I've found mega-churches (I've got connection at a few, primarily North Point in Atlanta, Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD, and Vineyard Church of Columbus, OH) to be excellent places to hear the gospel, find fellowship with other believers (they tend to have broad communities, so it's easy to make like-minded friends), and even grow, as small-groups are so often strongly promoted in such environments, encouraging the very community you're seeking.
Lastly, yes - Jesus offended some, but he offended them with 'content', not 'form'. A solid evangelical mega-church (not all are, mind you) like ours exists for that very purpose: we teach the gospel clearly, and worship passionately - those things we will not water down, but we do church otherwise so as to make it easy for the non-believer to come in and feel welcome, and comfortable. If I'm going to offend the lost, I want to offend them with the truth - not with how I dress, the style of music I choose, or my 'lingo'.
Anyway, I really enjoy a number of your blogs, and just felt I needed to chime in more deeply on this one. Thanks for doing what you do...
blessings,
shannon
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