Tuesday, March 06, 2012

CONSTANTLY CRUCIFIED


My recent epiphany has come as the result of reading the book, Viral Jesus, by Ross Rohde. It made me realize how weak my faith had become lately. It brought me both a vision for what could be and condemnation for what I have been lacking in my walk with Jesus.

In response, God spoke to me through one of the letters of Fenelon in the book, Let Go, (which seems to have been written specifically for me). Here’s what I read the other day:

“Do not be like a person I just met a short time ago, who, after reading the life of one of the saints, was so angry about his own life in comparison that he completely gave up the idea of living a devoted Christian life. I know this will not be true of you.” (pg. 26)

So, in one book Jesus revealed to me how far I had fallen, but in another book he encouraged me not to give up hope.

What I’ve also realized in this process is that the areas of my life where I have failed to live out my calling as a follower of Christ are all due to the same failure to die to myself. I can vividly recall moments where I have allowed my fear of man to keep me from speaking the truth. I can remember the conversations where I held back the name of Jesus in order to protect my own reputation. I can replay the scene in my mind – over and over again – when I let an opportunity to share my faith in Christ slip away because I was not ready to suffer persecution for my faith.

In each of those moments, scenes and conversations what I lacked was a willingness to die, even a little bit, so that Christ could live in me. My cross was somewhere under my desk at work, or in the backseat of my car in the parking lot.

Suddenly I am aware that death to self is more practical and tangible than I imagined. Being thought of as “the Christian nut” by my coworkers is the fruit of embracing my own cross. Having people mock me for being “Joe Christian” is what it costs to follow my Jesus with everything I have. Suffering the contempt of my unsaved friends is necessary to the process of dying to myself. It’s also what makes it possible for the Gospel to impact the world I live in – and to impact my life as well.

Unless I die to my flesh, I cannot fully experience the resurrection life of Christ within me.

The real truth. The very shameful and painful and embarrassing part of it, is that I have loved myself, my status, my reputation, more than I have loved my friends and my coworkers. That is my own sin. That is what drives the nails deeper into my heart. I am horrible and selfish. I am the monster that needs to die. Let me crucify that worthless creature of arrogance and pride. I want those nails to pierce this flesh. I need to let this dark person taste the metallic flavor of death on his tongue.

Only Jesus can drive those nails. As much as I long to dance on the grave of this selfish bastard, I love myself too much to do the deed myself. So, please, Lord Jesus, make me to lie down on this rugged cross. Bind my wrists to this cruel beam. Press the tip of that iron nail into my hand. Lift that hammer, Lord Jesus. Drive it deep. Deep enough that it won’t come loose again tomorrow.

I need your life, Lord Jesus. I need to know the power of your resurrection by sharing in your sufferings. I need this constant, daily, crucifixion if I am ever to reach the end of this road and look up into your wonderful face. Only then may I lay down this cross of death. Only then may I lay it aside and rest in your comforting arms.

Until then, I pray, let me be constantly crucified and surrendered to your perfect will.

Let your Kingdom come, Lord Jesus.

-kg

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Monday, March 05, 2012

FIRST LOVE


“Do not be overly concerned about your defects. Instead concentrate on having an unceasing love for Jesus, and you shall be much forgiven, because you have loved much. (Luke 7:47). However, we need to be aware of the tendency to seek the good of feelings and selfish thrills of love (which are the by-products of love) instead of love itself. We can so easily deceive ourselves on this matter. We can concentrate so much on love that we miss the point entirely…But when we are concerned with the constant assurance of His love, we are still in a measure busy with self.” – Fenelon, Let Go, Letter 13, pg. 25



Over the last several months I’ve been trying to draw near to God. I’ve awakened early in the morning, spent time alone in the dark on my knees trying to hear His voice, or sitting in silence, or crying out to Him, but none of that seemed to matter. I heard nothing. I felt nothing. God, it seemed, was not interested.

Eventually, I stopped getting up early. I rolled over in my bed and whispered a sentence of prayer softly into my pillow before drifting back into sleep. It seemed to make no difference if I spent 30 minutes on my knees or two minutes curled under the covers.

What I missed was something so obvious, so simple, and yet blindness does that to you, doesn’t it? It prevents you from seeing what’s right in front of you.

I was coming to God for a feeling or a blessing. God wanted me to come to Him because of my love for Him.

There’s a big difference between loving someone for what they can do for you and loving them “just because”. True love is its own reward. True love does not need to be fed with anything more than love itself. True love is satisfied with itself, and nothing more.

I had forgotten my first love.

In Revelations, Jesus speaks to the church in Ephesus and says,

“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.” (ch 2:2-3)


As wonderful as all of that sounds, what Jesus says next is heart-breaking:
“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.” (v.4)

Somehow, as they were working hard and persevering, as they were exercising discernment and rooting out false apostles, as they were enduring hardships for the sake of Christ, they had forgotten to love Jesus with all their heart.

I find myself sitting in the church of Ephesus. Those words of Jesus echo in my ears as well. “You have forsaken your first love, Keith.”

So, now when I draw to my knees it’s not to receive a blessing. It’s not to hear some pearl of wisdom. It’s not to feel the tingle of the Spirit’s presence. It’s simply to sit at the feet of my precious Jesus. To sit in silence if that’s what He wants. To pour out my heart to Him if that’s what He wants. To experience His touch, if that’s what He wants. But above all, to come to Jesus because He is Jesus.
Because that is enough.

He is more than enough.

Sunday, March 04, 2012

Desperation


As I’ve been reading through Ross Rohde’s book, Viral Jesus, the last few weeks I’ve been both inspired and humiliated. Inspired, because the book is packed with story after story of how real Jesus is and how often he shows himself to those who are seeking him in everyday situations. Humiliated, because I realize that I have been so oblivious to this reality for so long now that I have become numb to the voice of God and the power of His Spirit within me.

So, what do I do? I am balanced on the precipice looking down a sheer drop into despair at the enormity of my failure. How could I be so foolish? How could I become so blind? My faith, for so long, has been slowly draining away until it seems now there is little left within me to even take a breath. My fear of man has paralyzed me somehow. I have forgotten that to die to myself I must suffer first the death of my reputation among men. I have tried to carry my cross when no one is looking, and this has made my cross a little bit lighter, a little less painful to my flesh. Maybe now it’s not even a cross at all? Maybe it has become an exercise in religious pride, or worse, hypocrisy?

This is why I cannot read much more than a page or two of this book without closing it shut and bowing my head to contemplate the glorious power of God and, at the same time, my own sins of compromise and self-deception.

While I could easily spend my time wallowing in the depths, and believe me, I am very tempted to do just that, I remember something wonderful. I remember that I’ve always known what a loser I am. It comes as no surprise to me that I am foolish and prideful and weak. This is who I am, inside and out. I admit it freely. So what? This is what Jesus came to fix. This is who He died for. This is what He lives to make right. This is why I came to Him in the first place, because I was so completely aware of my own desperate condition without Him.

This week as I shared this with our house church family at the Mission, my wife read from Philippians 2:13-14 where Paul says, “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of (knowing Christ). But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

The good news? God gives us the opportunity to start over. Once we realize where have gotten off track, we can stop where we are, confess our mistake, turn around and start off in the right direction again. Like Paul, we can “forget what is behind” and “press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called (us).”

So, today I draw a line in the sand. This is the starting line. I am off now in the right direction. Jesus has given me a clean slate. He loves to make all things new.


“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

God Did Not Choose You To Be Saved


Believe it or not, Romans 9 through 11 is not at all about God’s choosing you (or not choosing you) for salvation. Instead, Paul has in mind simply the answer to the question, “What about the promises that God made to Israel in the Old Covenant scriptures?”

Those who read Romans 9 incorrectly begin by assuming that there are a finite number of people who are chosen to be saved from the foundation of the world. In their version of election, God has chosen individual people to be saved before they were even born, and consequently he has chosen everyone outside of that elite group for destruction. This is not what scripture teaches, nor is it what Paul has in mind in Romans 9.

If Romans 9 is not a teaching about individual salvation then what is Paul talking about? As I said earlier, Paul is only talking about God’s promises to Israel. So, he begins by making the point that not everyone descended from Abraham by blood is truly Israel. (Romans 9:6) In other words, God’s promises were not ever intended to be for every Jewish person ever born, but only for certain people (Jew or Gentile) who are truly Israel.

God’s promises to Israel were not to every Jewish person. Paul points out that some Jews are faithful to God and some are not. The ones who are faithful to God are indeed Israel and those Jews who are not faithful to God are not Israel.

Paul anticipates an objection to his argument by someone (perhaps a Jew who rejects Christ as Messiah) with the attitude that says, “Who are you to decide that the Jewish people can be separated into two different categories and say that one is Israel and the other is not?” Paul starts at Abraham and points out that, although Abe had several sons, only one of them (Isaac) was the chosen one, the other seven sons were not chosen. That means that seven out of eight sons of Abraham were not the Israel of God. Physical descent from Abraham, therefore, is not what gives anyone status or claim to the promises made to Abraham’s seed. Next, Paul goes on to point out that Isaac had two sons but only one of them was chosen to receive the promise of God (Jacob). The other son, Esau, was not the chosen of God, even though he could legitimately claim to be a son of Abraham.

So, clearly, the scriptures already confirm that within the family of Abraham there are some who are the chosen and some who are not the chosen of God. But, what does it mean to be chosen? Does it have anything to do with salvation? No. Not at all.

To be the chosen of God, or true Israel, was simply to be the person (or people) who would carry the bloodline of the Messiah and therefore the people of promise through whom God would bless the nations.

Again, nowhere in the Old Covenant scriptures do we read that God chose Israel to go to heaven. This is 
not part of the promise or covenant that God made with true Israel. What did God choose Israel for? Israel was chosen to be God’s instrument to bring the Messiah into the world and to preserve the knowledge of God on the Earth. That’s it. Israel had a ministry and a function, not a promise of eternal life.

As in the case of Jacob and Esau, the two twin sons were chosen before they were born by God’s sovereign choice. Chosen to do what? To carry the bloodline of the Messiah. Jacob was chosen of God to carry the promise of God, not to be eternally saved. Esau was not chosen to be damned forever. The Bible does not teach that. Esau and his descendants had just as much opportunity to serve God and to follow Him as anyone else. Certainly, Esau lost his birthright, but nowhere does the Bible suggest that he also lost his salvation. As far as we know Esau and his children did serve God and probably did go to heaven. But this is not the point and this is not what Paul is talking about either.

The election Paul is talking about in Romans 9, 10 and 11, is simply the identity of the Israel to whom God made His promises in the Old Covenant. Paul is clear to point out that not every Jew is truly Israel and to explain how God has the right to choose some Jews to carry the promise and others not to carry the promise. Again, this is not about salvation, simply about being the chosen or not being the chosen of God to carry the promise of God.

So, who is chosen? God has chosen to bless the faithful remnant of Israel. If a Jew has faith in Christ then they are truly Israel. If they are not trusting in God’s messiah, then they are not true Israel.

Using the analogy of the potter and the clay from Jeremiah 18, Paul goes on to explain how the one lump of clay, which is Israel, is divided by God into two lumps. Out of one lump God may choose to make a beautiful sculpture, but out of the other He may choose to make a cup or a bowl. This is God’s prerogative. 

He can chose to divide that lump of clay and to say “this lump I have chosen for blessing and this other lump I have chosen for destruction.”

Again, this is not about salvation but about who is actually the rightful recipient of God’s promises and who is not. God has created two categories; those who are in Christ (true Israel) and everyone else (those who reject Christ).

Who then are the chosen of God? Anyone who is in Christ Jesus. Who is not the chosen of God? Anyone who rejects Christ as Messiah. There are only two categories. As Paul explains so clearly in Galatians chapter 3, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (v.29)

Therefore, God chose Christ before the creation of the Earth.  This is the only individual person chosen by name before the world began. Christ was the Chosen one.  You and I can decide for ourselves if we want to be in Christ or not.  If we chose to be in Christ, then we are the remnant of God and we are true Israel.  If we chose not to be in Christ, or if we reject Him as Messiah, we are not chosen of God and we are not true Israel. “For He chose us in him (Christ) before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.” (Eph 1:4)

In Romans 11 Paul uses the illustration of the olive tree as an illustration of how some branches are grafted into Christ and how others are cut off. God has always had a faithful remnant. There have always been faithful Jews and Gentiles in the true Israel of God. Anyone who is in Christ, according to Paul, is a child of Abraham and an heir according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29)

Do you know what this means? It means that Christ is the Chosen One of God. Not you specifically, unless you are in Christ. If you are in Christ (Ephesians 1) then you are Chosen. God does not choose us to be in Christ, but if we are in Him then we are chosen. Jesus is the Chosen One. Not you. Not me. Only Christ. This why God’s Word says that we are chosen “in Him”, not “chosen to be in Him”.

Salvation is a choice and God leaves that choice up to us. Whether we are Jewish or Gentile, Male or Female, Slave or Free, we can choose Christ or reject Him. God’s choice is Jesus. Our only hope is to be found in Him.

-kg

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

JOIN US FOR MOMENTUM

MOMENTUM: WEST COAST REGIONAL ORGANIC CHURCH CONFERENCE
March 30-31, 2012 at Southland Christian School in Walnut, CA

Facilitators:
Neil Cole (Organic Church)
Ross Rohde (Viral Jesus)
Ken Eastburn (The Well OC)
Bob Sears (The Well OC)
Bill Faris (Homegrown)
Jeanne O'Hair (The Well)‬‬
Keith Giles (This Is My Body:Ekklesia as God Intended)


 
DETAILS:
  • Spend a day and a half in a small group engaging on issues critical to organic church.
  • Meet your personal organic church coach who will continue to provide insight beyond this conference.
  • Interact with other house church practitioners in a conversational environment.
  • Gain tools, insights and resources to plant an organic church in your own home or community.
At Momentum:
  • One facilitator will share insights on our topic and everyone will share their perspectives within their small group.
  • Each small group will have a house church coach who will be available beyond the event to answer questions, provide support and help with the growth and development of your house church.

 

Cost: $99 (includes lunch on Saturday)

REGISTRATION LINK AND CONFERENCE WEBSITE COMING SOON! 

 

 Our Schedule:

*Friday, March 30th, 7pm to 9:30pm
*Saturday, March 31st,  9:00am-6:00 pm

 

Our Topics:  
  • How do you know you're ready to plant a house church?
  • Leadership models in organic church.
  • Dealing with conflict and difficult people.
  • What to do with the children?
  • Planting another church out of your house church.
  • What's wrong with Organic Church?
  • What makes a healthy church?

 

 

Hope to see you on March 30th and 31st at MOMENTUM.
-kg 

 

NEW EBOOK: THE POWER OF WEAKNESS

I've published my first Amazon-exclusive ebook for the Kindle called "The Power of Weakness." It's available for $2.99 at this link>

About The Power of Weakness

In his second letter to the church in Corinth, the Apostle Paul described an encounter with God that taught him a valuable lesson about humility and perspective.

The author, Keith Giles, explores this Kingdom principal of weakness in the lives of people like Moses, Gideon, Samson, Solomon and even Jesus to help us understand how we can unleash the “power of Christ” in our own lives.

**

If you have a Kindle please download the book and read it. If you would, I'd like to ask you to publish your review on the site to share your thoughts.

Thanks,
kg

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Monday, February 13, 2012

REVIEW: THIS IS MY BODY BY RAD ZDERO


A REFRESHING LOOK AT GOD’S ORIGINAL DESIGN FOR THE CHURCH


Keith Giles’ book “This Is My Body: Ekklesia As God Intended” is 167 pages long, it has a foreword by well known house church leader Dr. Jon Zens, and it has several pages at the end of recommended resources. Its main premise is that God actually has an original intention for the church, as prophesied in the OT and as described in the NT, which we would do well to consider once again as modern day Christians.


From a scriptural and practical point of view, the book challenges the method and the mentality of the traditional/denominational church system, and calls us all back to God’s original design for Christ’s body.
There are a number of strengths to this work. I found myself metaphorically nodding in agreement on a number of points. It is very easy to read and could be considered almost a “conversational theology” on the house church movement. There are some personal stories, feelings, and thoughts the author gives, rather than just “theory”, which makes it a very accessible and practical book.
Giles provides a generous tone toward the institutional church and those who might disagree with him on some scriptural interpretations. Giles, however, does demonstrate a clear conviction that the New Testament does provide an actual model for the church’s form and function. One thing I found particularly interesting is Giles Old Testament analysis about prophecies concerning the nature of the Church to come, which is something that is almost never discussed in most simple, organic, house church books, which usually stick to the New Testament only. There is also an excellent contrast between what the New Testament church is and is not, as well as an excellent teaching and encouragement of the priesthood of ALL saints. I also appreciated much about his scriptural analysis about local and translocal leadership in the church.
There are several areas, however, I wish could have been addressed better. I felt that Giles’ discussion on several issues was not entirely convincing to me (and sometimes was absent), such as the decision making and organizing role of apostles and elders/pastors/overseers (ex. Acts 15:6,23; 1 Tim 3:4,5), the teaching and rebuking role of leaders (1 Tim 4:11, 5:17; 2 Tim 3:16,17; Titus 2:15), and the need for larger public meetings and cohesive networks of multiple house churches like in Jerusalem in Solomon’s Porch or in Ephesus (ex. Acts 2:41-47, 5:12, 5:42, 20:20).
Also, I felt there was too much fuss made against things like bank accounts, technology, etc, as tools to accomplish the tasks of the church. In light of Giles’ prior role as an ordained denominational pastor, it may be understandable that he is perhaps reacting a little too much to things that remind him of the institution, but in time perhaps he may come to a more moderate view on these items.
Overall, this is a refreshing book on the growing house church movement, it offers some personal and practical insights, it provides a fresh look at the scriptures about the form and function of the church, and it would be a good introductory read to those asking questions about whether God is calling them into this spiritual revolution. I give it at 4 out of 5 stars.
-Rad Zdero 
**
RAD ZDERO, author of LETTERS TO THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT and THE GLOBAL HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT , www.scribd.com/rzdero, www.twitter.com/radzdero, www.facebook.com/radzdero
PURCHASE "THIS IS MY BODY" ONLINE FOR $9.99>
DOWNLOAD A FREE EBOOK VERSION FOR NOOK, KINDLE, OR IPAD>

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Saturday, February 11, 2012

Is a Statement of Faith Necessary for Unity?


Let’s suppose you have a family in our house church that has been with you for several years. They laugh with you, cry with you, worship with you and serve with you on a daily basis. You’ve heard the Lord speak to you profoundly through these dear people. Their family is part of your family. You cannot imagine being a church without them.

However, imagine now that they do not fully embrace the doctrine of the Trinity. Let’s say they believe that Jesus is God, but that he also takes the form of the Holy Spirit and sometimes the Father. [It’s called the “Jesus Only” or “Oneness” doctrine for those of you who are not familiar with the concept.]

Although they do not agree with you or anyone else in your church family about the Trinity, they also never attempt to argue for their "Jesus Only" view or impose their perspective on anyone else in the church. What do you do? Do you invite them to leave? Do you host an intervention and attempt to show them how wrong they are?

As I was reading Rad Zdero’s latest book, “Letters to the House Church Movement” I found myself asking myself this very question. What would I do? In his book, Zdero provides a specific example of an occasion when he counseled a family to separate themselves from another family they had been serving with for a long time because of just such a difference regarding the Trinity doctrine. But, is that the right thing to do? I’m not so sure.

Also, just this week, Neil Cole published an article at CMA Resources about statements of faith and he included the doctrine of the Trinity at the top of his list of what he calls "Gun to the Head" beliefs

So, let me share with you my thoughts on this idea of formalizing our beliefs into a statement of faith.

First of all, let me affirm that I am a Trinitarian. I do accept the traditional Christian view that God is One being who is revealed in three separate persons as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. However, is this view something that we should use a litmus test for fellowship, or even for salvation in Christ?

Jesus did not seem to believe that it was of utmost importance that the Disciples/Apostles understand the doctrine of the Trinity. If He did, then He did not stress it to them in His teachings anywhere. Also, the Apostles and the NT church did not ever seem to be of the opinion that agreement with this doctrine be the litmus test for salvation. Again, if they did then we should see some very strong teaching in that regard. And we don't.

Yes, I do believe the doctrine of the Trinity, but I also believe that salvation is by Grace, through faith alone in Christ Jesus. That means when an 8 year old girl prays to receive the Christ as Lord and Savior and begins to follow Him, we do not automatically expect her to be capable of explaining the Trinity to anyone. If she fails to explain the Trinity correctly do we proclaim that she is not saved? I wouldn't think so. So, I'm of the opinion that it's better to allow people to grow in their understanding of who Christ is and not dismiss people for not being where I want them to be doctrinally.

I think my response is also tempered by the fact that our house church is made up of people from a wide variety of backgrounds: Baptist, Methodist, Brethren, Charismatic, Presbyterian, Vineyard, Calvary Chapel, Pentecostal, etc.  Because of this wide diversity we have maintained our love for one another and our unity by simply not allowing any particular theological perspective to rise above the over-arching practice of learning how to follow Jesus in our daily lives and how to love Him and love one another as He commands us.

Do we disagree on doctrine? Yes! But not intentionally, and certainly not during our fellowship time together. Exceptions to this rule are few, of course, but in general we try to focus or time on Jesus and allowing His Spirit to lead us. Sometimes our differing perspectives leak out, but in those cases we are all careful to express those differences with grace. For example, one brother in our fellowship is a dispensationalist. I am not. Most of us are not, actually. So, if our perspective of a particular verse is informed by that doctrine we say, "I believe XYZ because of the way I understand these verses ABC." We try to allow for the possibility that we could be wrong, and we allow others to voice their different view if they want to. But, the key is that none of us is attempting to impose our views on anyone else. We share our perspectives openly but we do not divide on those issues - and we never allow those differences to overshadow our time together in Christ.

Everyone is In Process
One way we have come to understand these differences is by acknowledging that "we are all in process" and by that I mean that we all fully admit that there are convictions we hold today that we did not hold five years ago. We also know that the convictions we hold now could change in the next five years. We are all in process, and because of that we have grace for one another and we do not try to harvest green fruit or coerce people to agree with our perspective.

As you might have guessed, our house church does not have any formalized statement of faith. Whenever someone comes to our church and expresses a desire to join with us we simply say, “If you love Jesus and if you’re sincerely trying to follow Him in your daily life, you’re in!” That’s it. If people aren’t comfortable with this, they usually excuse themselves. (And some have, but not because we invited them to leave).

Here's one reason why we have not attempted to write any sort of Statement of Faith for our house church: Historically, every time the Church has tried to bring unity through the writing of doctrines it has always resulted in greater division because some will always disagree with that doctrine. Doctrinal statements have never resulted in increased unity, only increased division. That's why we allow people to grow in their understanding of Christ and of the Scriptures at their own pace.

Olly Olly Oxen Free?
Does that mean there are no standards? Of course not. None of us would allow an outsider, or an insider for that matter, to introduce a teaching that was contrary to clear Biblical truth. For example, if someone came and wanted to convince us that Jesus was a space alien from Alpha Centauri, or the spirit-brother of Lucifer, we would all open our Bibles and demonstrate that Jesus is no such thing. The key, of course, is that none of us attempts to sway anyone else in our group to agree with them.

At a basic level, we believe that the Gospel is fundamentally about transformation, not about information. In other words, we follow Christ and we encourage one another to know Him more, to follow His teachings in our actual, everyday lives, and we work to put His Word into action rather than sit around and argue about it from a theological perspective.

Unity or Division?
I think doctrinal statements divide as equally as they unify. For those who agree, unity. For those who do not, division. But if the church says, "We love Jesus and we're following Him in our daily life." Then all followers of Christ can agree with that and those that don't have no place in the Body, because they are not following Christ.

Even with doctrinal statements, there will always be those who silently disagree but who go along with the program because they don't want to be excluded from the fellowship. You will also eventually discover that although everyone agrees with doctrine X, they don't all see doctrine Y the same way...and now you've got another opportunity to start excluding people and dividing the church.

Our variety of doctrinal backgrounds at our house church hasn't prevented us from "walking together" or serving together or advancing the Gospel together, or serving the poor together, or anything else. If anything, we learn from people who might otherwise be excluded from our fellowship because we welcome anyone who says, "I love Jesus and I am doing my best to follow Him in my daily life by the Grace of God."

I don't know about the rest of you, but I don’t want to be in a church where everyone agrees with me on everything. Homogenization isn't our goal. Following Jesus, putting His teachings into practice and encouraging others to follow Him is.

I'd love to hear your thoughts concerning this.

Peace,

kg