I like what you are sharing here. This is very concise and well said. THere is a discussion going on in the comments on my blog about churches and the contrast between the mega -vs- the small church. We haven't touched on the doctrinal issues that much but I hope to link to this in a follow up post.
Spunky | Homepage | 10.25.05 - 2:10 pm | #

Thanks for the reminder Mr. Harris.








I really liked your fireplace analogy. Very true, I've seen that happen before and as a result, the church dies.






Wonderful post, it had me intrigued till the end!



Marshall
Marshall | Homepage | 10.25.05 - 6:53 pm | #

Thanks Spunky. Your blog is great! Stay in touch.
Gregg Harris | Homepage | 10.27.05 - 12:07 am | #

Well said. That is what we want to see and that is what homeschool families should be modeling, spirit filled, doctrinally sound and reaching the lost. It is possible.
Jennifer Pepito | 10.29.05 - 3:01 pm | #

Interesting, but limiting. Only reformed, charasmatic, and evangelical?

I think what you are describing is Pastor Chuck Smith's church, Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa. He is very Word based (reads through the bible over and over again, finishes, starts again). He wrote a book, Charisma VS. Charismania, and his have grown like the California wild fires since the early 70's.

The only thing missing from the menu with Pastor Chuck, is the reformed doctrine. So if you take reformed out of the menu, and just say "sound doctrine," then I think you've got yourself exactly what you suggest with Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. Realizing of course, that to some, sound doctrine means reformed ... but to some, it means the opposite. I guess that's the glitch.
Anonymous | Homepage | 10.30.05 - 6:09 pm | #

Reminded me immediately of Richard Foster's book: Streams of Living Water. "[H]e examines six major traditions of spirituality in Christianity: contemplative (prayer-filled life), holiness (virtuous life), charismatic (Spirit-empowered life), social justice (the compassionate life), evangelical (Word-centered life), and incarnational (sacramental life)."
Dawn | 10.31.05 - 6:12 am | #

Gregg, this is right on. Why is it so hard to find a church that simply believes the whole Bible? HOFCC looks great. By the way, the HOFCC website is pretty out of date - a lot of 2004 events listed.
Mark | 11.02.05 - 11:36 am | #

Mr. Harris,

I like the analogy of the fire and fireplace, and you carried it through quite nicely with the Reformed fireplace and the Charismatic fire. When you finished the paragraph on the Evangelical approach, though, the analogy
seemed less clear than on the other points. Here's my suggestion on how to continue the analogy in a clearer way:

The major problem I've seen in evangelical churches (and most of the ones my family has gone to ended up being charismatic/evangelical) is that they are so preoccupied with inviting people in to sit by the fire that they forget to attend to the hearth in their own church. They stand on the sidewalk, handing out little "Sample fire" candles, but forget to feed the fire or mend the fireplace (which leads to the "nominal christianity" you talked about).

Thank you for taking the time to have a "publicly edited" blog, and thank you for letting us have a preview.

Melissa Dow
Melissa | Homepage | 11.03.05 - 7:20 pm | #

Wow. I'm not Charismatic...that I know of. I come from a large seeker-sensitive church that cared more for the lost than the saved, and I've recently started attending small Reformed Baptist church (a F.I.R.E. church). So, this article really has struck some chords with me.

Would say that what C.J. Mahaney started with Sovereign Grace Ministries fits the bill here?

Along this same line, I am very happy to see the "Together for the Gospel" blog. Those are some pretty cool men!

I'm going to link to this article from my blog...
Mike Perrigoue | Homepage | 02.18.06 - 1:06 am | #

I think you have made some awesome points and I see the churches we have been to in your post. Do you know of any ministries like your's in Texas?
titus2wife | 05.09.06 - 8:25 am | #

Hi Gregg and all,

Wes Fleming, Syracuse, NY, (blast from the past) wants to check in and say thanks for all the distance learning Gregg Harris offered me in the 80's. (Off site mentoring!) Please visit www.ComingHomeMinistries.com, www.RaisingChildrenOnPurpose.com and www.EastsideVineyardChurch.org to see the impact Gregg has had on my life. You are a life coach Gregg!

I loved the article on reformed/charismatic and am stunned to see how closely it articulates the vision we have for our church. Google the book, Quest for the Radical Middle, by Jackson

Would love to reconnect! Wes
Wes Fleming | 05.19.06 - 8:16 am | #

Brother Harris,

Well said! This kind of thinking will bring the church into unity.
Craig M. Roberts | Homepage | 08.14.06 - 8:16 am | #

Amen, and Amen. I've been blessed to sit under a Reformed Anglican who also was a non-cessatinionalist (is that a word?) and an Assembly of God minister who is remarkably Reformed. I loved your post, it resonates with me.
Anne | Homepage | 11.04.06 - 3:48 pm | #

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Martha | Homepage | 02.03.07 - 8:46 am | #

I read your posts tonight and I was blessed to have the Holy Spirit pull a bunch of thoughts that I have been struggling with together. I have been in each of these places in my life now struggling with the expository only part and could never let go of the other portions. While reading "Church History in Plain Language" I began to see what you were talking about here churches taking a piece and then distorting and breaking from eachother because of the distortion. I was fascinated but didn't put it together with modern time till tonight and it brings me some peace to move forward with these new thoughts. Thanks for taking the time to put them out here.
J Muraoka | 03.04.07 - 10:52 pm | #

Dear Greg,

I agree with everything that you said. I am exhausted with church programs that divide and sap the strength of the family, with each camp's doctrine whose evangelistic effort is centered on why ours is better than yours and with the further polarization of every group. The greatest misfortune of all of this is that is separates people for Jesus.
Mark Johnston | 03.22.07 - 5:36 am | #

How about taking it farther? Are you familiar with the "Hebrew Roots" movement? You might like to check out First Fruits of Zion and TorahResource.com. I really think you will be blessed. Sincerely and Shalom, Shelly
shelly hahn | 04.03.07 - 3:15 pm | #

Huh...!!?? Such a sick american society... err... being an Indian I am really proud my roots.

I'm saying this coz... Ministries, Home School, Media records, the words used by hypocratic ministry pupils sickens me up. coz once Benny Hinn was here in bangalore and Hyderabad & their was some women here...

All of them sucks...

what could this world be without such hypcratic religious leaders is in my imagination is "Super Peaceful" & Gods too will REST IN PEACE.
bharadwaj | 06.21.07 - 5:46 am | #

Dear in Christ,

I'm greet you from Reformed Charismatic Church in Osijek. We are first Reformed Charismatic Church in Croatia. Our desire is that we unite reformed theology and pentecostal expiriences.

We are at the beginning of church planting in Osijek. Now we are in the phase of preparing the facility for church use, because we plan to start regular services this autumn.

We want to have felowship with other reformed charismatic congregations in the world. If you are interested about our Work, please stay in contact with us.

If you have some questions, please write to us...

God bless you,

Darko Kelemen,
pastor
Darko Kelemen | 08.21.07 - 11:49 pm | #

Great message. Lately I have been struggling with some questions about my position within the body of Christ. I grew up charismatic, but have accepted many Reformed positions as I've grown older. Yet, I've always felt oddly out of joint in a spiritual sense. This message answered a lot of my questions. God bless.
Fred Miller | Homepage | 11.01.07 - 5:09 am | #

would you ever do a tv ad for homeschooler and or presidential candidates to push homeschooling issues?
gt | 01.10.08 - 9:35 am | #

Hey, it was nice meeting you on the airplane. Love your blogs and I will sure buy your book after hearing about you and your sons amazing website!

God Bless,
The Roethes
Melissa, Emma and Jack | 05.23.08 - 8:50 am | #