Revival, Resurrection and Reality

Maybe there’s something wrong with me? 

I already know that I don’t quite fit perfectly into the usual American Christian Evangelical mindset. That’s why I blog about things that often get me into trouble, or invite criticisms from those who disagree with my skewed views.

I think I'm also cursed to always see things from a slightly different perspective, and whenever I share that perspective I'm often blasted for it. But, I can't help myself.

So, when I see thousands of Christians gathering in a stadium for a revival, it doesn’t really resonate with me. Maybe because I don’t really expect God to perform for us on command. Or maybe because I don’t believe that God is impressed by large crowds.

Jesus seemed to always be trying to get away from large crowds, not looking for ways to attract more people. Jesus seemed to care more about those one-on-one conversations with lepers, or prostitutes, or outcasts, or women who most people ignored.

Big events don’t move me, and so I guess I tend to assume that they don’t move God either. Maybe I’m wrong about that. Maybe I’m not. I’m just sharing my gut reaction to big-scale events where people equate a trending hashtag with spreading the name of Jesus – especially when that hash tag doesn’t contain the name of Jesus.

 The bottom line is that I’m not in the place to judge anyone. I know that. No one needs to clear anything with me before they host a large Christian gathering.

If this event ignites someone's heart to follow Jesus more fully in their day-to-day life, then that's a very good thing.

But, if it leaves us empty after the emotional high is over and people are unable to see Christ in their sometimes mundane reality, it might create a dependence on emotional experiences rather than keeping us focused on the reality of a life-changing daily relationship with Jesus.

I’m just saying that if Revival truly comes to our nation, it will probably be in the quiet solitude of a prayer closet and not up on the Jumbo-Tron screen. At least, that’s where most Revivals begin, historically.

Can God do whatever He wants? Well, obviously. Yes, He can do whatever. And maybe if He really wants to get our attention, He’ll have to show up to one of our stadium events because that’s where most of us are looking.

But typically, God seems to love to do things differently. He seems to prefer to defy our expectations and to upset our status quo.

If nothing else, maybe we should keep our eyes open for Jesus in the unexpected places, off the main stage, outside the coliseums, in a quiet place, with a still, small voice calling out in rooms where no one is recording anything on their iPhone or live-Tweeting the play-by-play.

Revival, for me, is a word for a people whose hearts are broken. A person whose soul is ripped down the middle at the sight of all the suffering that surrounds them.

Revival is essentially a word that calls attention to the reality that something that is dead needs to come alive again.

Maybe we don’t need another revival meeting. Maybe what we need is more like a resurrection.

A resurrection doesn’t have a soundtrack or an official t-shirt.

A resurrection is simply a miraculous burst of life in a dark place.

When people who are hungry for Jesus and moved by Jesus are willing to go out and act like Jesus in a world that is desperate for Jesus, then we can honestly say that we have experienced a resurrection.

I’d love to host a “Let’s Go and Do the Stuff Jesus Did Conference"

where thousands of Christians spread out over the city

and break into groups of five or ten

to visit children’s hospitals

and pray for cancer patients

and give hugs to the homeless

and reconcile with their gay brothers and sisters

and pray a sincere blessing for their President

and repent publicly from seeking to change the culture through political power

and maybe take up an offering to feed the poor and house the mentally ill who sleep on our streets every night.

Now, that’s the kind of revival I can get excited about, and it just might deserve to go viral on Twitter, too.

What do you think?

-kg

THE MIRACULOUS CHURCH OF JESUS

We are members of a Miracle Church, my friends. 

We are part of a Church composed of Liberals and Conservatives; of Capitalists and Socialists; of Anarchists and Communists. 

We are a Church where all of those labels fade into nonsense and we count everything as garbage compared to the surpassing greatness of His excellence. [Phil.3]

We are part of a Church made of a mosaic from thousands of denominations who disagree on more than they agree on.

But what we agree on is what makes us one. "For we are all one in Christ Jesus" [Gal. 3:28]

When we all turn, together, and behold the face of our glorious Savior, our differences fade; our disagreements are muted, and we all gasp in wonder at His beauty, and His power – and then His grace, and His endless, boundless love washes over us and dissolves all of our disagreements. 

In Him we become One Body. He takes His rightful place as King and Lord of us all. We profess our love for one another, even with those we most violently disagree. We sell our property to provide food and clothing for brothers and sisters whose names we didn't even know a few days - or even hours - before. We lay down our need to be right and we embrace one another as we surround the Throne of Grace together.

This is the Church. We are all a part of it. 

When Jesus is the center, we can all share in the beautiful wonder and awe of His presence. 

If anything else is the center, we break apart; we turn our face from Him, and we find fault with one another.

But when we look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, we realize that there is nothing to gain by chasing such distractions as these. 

When we begin to count His blessings, and to ponder His goodness, and to meditate on His surpassing greatness, we slowly discover that there is truly no end to His unsearchable riches. 

If we begin today, we can never exhaust our exploration of His magnificent grace and endless love.

We find ourselves reflecting on Jesus and our hearts begin to race as our hearts are filled with the knowledge that Jesus is:

“....the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, [who] upholds the universe by the word of his power.” [Hebrews 1:3]

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” [Colossians 1:15-20]

“‘For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” [Colossians 2:9-10]

This is the Church of Jesus. This is the only Church there is, or will ever be. This is a Church where Jesus is at the center and people with a myriad of doctrines and distinctives swirl around His throne singing, "Worthy, worthy is the Lamb of God; who was and is and is to come! Praise His Holy Name! Alleluiah!"

I am grateful to fellowship with each of you, regardless of our differences. I choose to see Jesus in you, and to set aside the doctrines that divide us. 

We are all one in Christ Jesus. As long as Jesus is at our center, we will remain in unity and we will share in His excellent greatness and partake of His grace, love and mercy together.

May you know His presence and His love for you today.

Blessings,

Keith

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” [Ephesians 3:14-21]

EPISODE 9: Dan Notti and Keith Giles: "Being The Church"?

What does it mean to "Be The Church"?

Don't we need to find out what the Church is first?

How can we work towards unity in the Body of Christ?

These topics and more are part of this week's episode.

[VIDEO PODCAST] Episode 1: Dan Notti and Keith Giles: When Jesus Leaves The Church

My friend Dan Notti and I had an interesting conversation about what happens when the Church leaves the house and spills out into the world.

Our dialog begins with Dan's reaction to joining our house church family as we served breakfast and shared the Gospel with our friends at the Motel Church in Santa Ana.

From there, we began to wonder what might happen if the Church made a habit of being both outwardly and inwardly focused. 

Listen and share your thoughts and reactions in the comments below.

We'd love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for future Video Podcast conversations.

Follow Dan Notti at his BLOG

Thanks,

-kg

Video Blog: "Out Of Business"

Special Thanks to Richard Jacobson for his amazing animations to my manifesto.

Painting Women In A New Light

From the earliest days of our house church gatherings we have always encouraged everyone to share a testimony of what God has done in their life, or to talk about what God is teaching them, or share from scripture what they’re learning in their daily walk with Christ.

Because we’ve rejected the modern practice of elevating a pastor or teacher above the rest of the Body, the issue of women operating within their gifting as members of the priesthood has never been an issue for any of us.

Within the Organic Church movement the emphasis is on Christ being our Leader, therefore everyone else is treated as an equal within the Body. Teaching is not seen as "exercising authority over" anyone, so the question of whether or not a woman can teach in that context has never been a problem for us.

Our goal has been to live out of the reality of the priesthood of every believer found throughout the New Testament. As Peter said at Pentecost, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit was a fulfillment of God’s promise to empower the Church, and that promise was made to “all people,” including “sons and daughters” (Acts 2:17). Quoting from the prophet Joel, Peter went on to say:

“Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” (Acts 2:18)

From the beginning, God’s intention was that women and men together would equally receive the outpouring and empowering of the Holy Spirit.

Women are included among those who the New Testament authors refer to as “a holy priesthood”:

“You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” ( 1 Peter 2:5)

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” ( 1 Peter 2:9)

“And has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.” (Revelation 1:6)

“You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:10)

“The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:6)

Therefore, women in the New Testament church are not only allowed to behave as priests, but they are highly encouraged to do so. Why? Because the health and well-being of the Church is dependent upon one very important practice: the mutual sharing and serving of every single person in the Body of Christ. (See 1 Cor.12)

Without this practice of operating as organs that support and strengthen one another, we cannot rightly call ourselves the Body of Christ, can we?

We don’t believe so.

-kg

LOVE OTHERS OR YOURSELF?

Often whenever we talk about Jesus’ command that we should love our neighbor as we love ourselves, the question arises, “But what if we don’t love ourselves? If we don’t love ourselves, how can we love others?”

It’s a valid question. I’ve even wondered about this myself from time to time. But the real problem is that we’re not understanding Jesus in the first place, which is why that question throws us off.

Jesus is not saying that we need to love ourselves as much as possible so that we’ll have enough love inside to share with others. In fact, Jesus isn’t telling us anything in this statement other than that we need to go and love people. That’s it.

His point about “as we love ourselves” simply means that everyone wants to eat. So, as much as you want to feed yourself, feed another person. Everyone likes to have clothes to wear. So, in the same way we should want those without clothes to have them too.

This isn’t about not wanting food as much as we should. It’s about simply wanting for others what we automatically want for ourselves. Self-image is not issue. Compassion for others is.

So, the problem is not that we need to love ourselves more and more in order to obey Jesus’ command to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. The problem is that we do not love our neighbors in the same way that we love our own comfort.

Now, the question we ask about our own lack of self-esteem is also worth addressing. I do understand that many of us struggle with this issue. At the core I think the problem here is that we actually think too much about ourselves rather than not enough.

See, if God has said that He loves you and that He has forgiven your sins and that He thinks of you 24/7, then who are you to say otherwise? Are you suggesting that you’re the one person in the Universe that even God cannot love or accept?

If the God of the Universe says that you’re worth dying for, then all you have to do is to believe it.  If you forget it, remind yourself of it. If you need to write yourself a note, do that.

Better yet, God says that if we will put the needs of others ahead of our own, then we ourselves will be healed and restored.

In Isaiah God says that instead of fasting to get what we want from Him, we should instead share our bread with the hungry and bring the homeless into our homes. When we do that, God says:

“Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’” (Isaiah 58:6-9)

And:

“…If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”-  (Isaiah 58:10-12)

Either way, we’re commanded to love others as we love ourselves. To share our food and our shelter and our comfort with those who don’t have any. If we lack self-esteem, we can overcome that by spending more time with those who have less than we do, and God will lift our hearts as we share in their sorrows.

 

 

-kg

LESSONS LEARNED

One thing I’ve been learning over the last few years is that anytime we enter into a ministry or service to someone else, we’re also submitting ourselves to God for instruction. In other words, I might be doing a Kid’s Club for children on my street, but God is planning to teach me something in the process.

That’s what happened last week when our family opened our home for four days to host our neighborhood kids for a four day Kid’s Club ministry. We got the house ready, decorated the den with a large painted refrigerator box, practices our object lessons and skits, assembled all of our props and games and costumes and prayed for God to fill us with the Holy Spirit and bring the kids he wanted to be there.

On the first night no one showed up. No one. We were all ready to go and not one kid showed up. We were pretty disappointed as you might imagine. First of all, it made no sense. The kids were asking us for weeks to do this. We had passed out flyers the week before. We had talked to parents to make sure they would be in town on those dates. Wendy had even spoken to a few of the girls that very same morning to remind them about it. But still, no one came.

Later that night we got a call from one of the moms. She explained that Emily’s father, who had been on hospice care, had died that morning. They had all gone over to be with Emily’s mom and family and all of the kids were disappointed that they were missing the Kid’s Club.

Wendy and I have witnessed the strong sense of community that already exists on our street between various families and their kids. It’s not as if we were sent there to teach them about community. Not even close. What we’re seeing is that they already have a very powerful community built up and our hope is to become grafted into that community so we can share the love of Jesus with them.

So we decided to start over on the second evening and we adjusted our plans to turn a four day service into a three day service.

On Friday we had two people show up. One of them was Emily. We talked about how Jesus loves us and how he would rather die than live without us. It was like a private ministry targeted specifically to this little girl whose father had just died the day before.

On the next evening we had four girls. We shared with them about how the love of Jesus fills us and empowers us to keep on loving people, even when they’re sometimes hard for us to love.

On Sunday evening, our final Kid’s Club, we had six kids. Our hope was that parents would join us for pizza dinner and then stay for the lesson time and even play games with us. Only one parent showed up and then left before we started eating. That told us something important: that our ministry on this street was specifically about the kids. We’ve tried over and over again to have parents and adults join us for things like this and time after time it falls flat. Now we know that Jesus has given us a ministry to these kids and that’s more than enough for now.

During one of our skits that final evening I shared about how Jesus can heal the pain in our hearts when we lose a loved one, or a friend, or a pet that dies unexpectedly. One of the girls (not Emily) spoke up and said, “Can you work on my heart next?” She had just lost one of her pets a few weeks ago and was still feeling the loss.

The timing of our Kid’s Club, and our subject matter, seemed to have been ordained by God to address the very real needs of these kids on our street. He loves them more than we do, or anyone else does, and our calling is to show that love to them while we are there.

Another revelation to us during the Kid’s Club was how great it was to serve alongside our two teenage boys. Dylan and David each had their own object lessons and skits to perform. They both did an excellent job and it was a true joy to enter into this service with them.

Special thanks to everyone who prayed for us and for these kids on our street as we served last week. We appreciate your prayers going forward as we continue to seek the Lord’s guidance and direction for the future.

 

-kg

 

 

PRAYERS WANTED

Just wanted to give some more details about what our family is doing this week in our community and how you can pray for us.

The KID'S CLUB starts tomorrow night for the kids on our street. Our theme is J.O.Y. - Jesus, Others and You.

We'll cover each topic one night at a time, starting with "Jesus" and ending with "You" on Saturday night. On Sunday evening we'll have the parents join us outside in the front yard where we'll have their kids recite their memory verses, play games with the parents, and eat hot dogs together.

After we're all done on Sunday night I'll be passing out flyers and inviting the adults to join us on Thursday evenings in our home. These meetings will be about finding answers to their questions about the Bible, and about who Jesus was, how we know the Bible is true, how we know Jesus really rose from the dead, etc. After the first few meetings where we cover those bigger questions about Christianity we'll open it up to answering their own personal questions about God, Jesus, etc.  After this, if anyone is still interested in continuing to meet together, we'll move on to a study of the Gospel of John.

I sincerely ask you to pray for us as we put together the KID'S CLUB this week, and also for the "Questions Answered" meetings that might follow.

As many of you know, our family has always felt that God had called us - not only to start a church in our home - but also to become missionaries to our neighbors. We've been there for over 6 years now and over that time we've slowly built relationships with our neighbors and we believe that the time might be right to take this extra step towards inviting people into our home to learn more about Jesus and hopefully begin to follow Him and trust Him with their lives.

Your prayers are very, very necessary in this, I believe. Thank you for standing with us as we take this step of obedience and faith.

 

-kg

 

WHY I HATE GOING TO CHURCH

It would be very easy to post a very long list of reasons why I hate going to church, but the main reason is that “going to Church” is a sad excuse for “being the Church” and those who follow Christ are called to be the Church, not to attend one.

In other words, “going to Church” involves having a meeting about Jesus. Whereas “being the Church” involves meeting with Jesus and allowing Him to do the speaking, the teaching, the leading and the directing.

Going to Church is about assigning people specific functions, and often involves compensating them financially to do so, while the majority of people sit and observe them.

Being the Church involves every single person using the gifts that God has provided them with to serve one another, where no one person is considered greater or smarter or more spiritual than anyone else. In fact, we’re all equally miserable apart from Christ, so our desire to meet with Him and to hear from Him is magnified because we understand that without Him leading us, and teaching us, and speaking to us, we are completely hopeless.

Jesus did not die for an organization or a business model. Jesus died for a people (ekklesia) that He could call His own. He wants relationship. He wants love. He wants to be known. Most of us can relate to that.

God made us with the ability to know Him, and even placed a craving within us to seek Him out. He is not far away. He wants us to find Him.

This is exactly what the New Covenant was all about – “I will be their God and they will be my people.” [Hebrews 8:10]

What people need most today is not religion. They do not need another Church. They need Jesus. They need to meet the God who would rather die than live without them.

Forget going to Church. Go to Jesus. Be the Church. Embrace your identity as the Bride that Jesus died to redeem. 

Learn to hear His voice. He wants to speak to you. He wants you to experience the kind of life you could only dream about. That life is found only through knowing Jesus.

-kg

THIS SATURDAY: INTRO TO ALT CHURCH

INTRO TO ALT CHURCH
Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011 – 9am to 5pm
$10 at the door (lunch included)
at Anaheim Vineyard Church
5340 East La Palma Avenue
Anaheim, CA 92807
NOTE: The 91 E. fwy is under construction. Please plan your trip accordingly.

Presentations by:
>Bill Faris - Five Characteristics of Alt - Churches
>Don Sciortino - Building Nets That Work
>Keith Giles - Being Church: Discovering Your Mission in Your Community
>Eric Brown - (topic to be announced)
>Jerry Paumier - Small Drop, Big Splash
*Ken Eastburn of The Well will be joining in our panel discussion

RSVP HERE

IF CHURCH ISN'T IMPORTANT...

A friend of mine sent me this Church sign. He found it misguided and sad.

My question in response to this sign is, "If church buildings are so important, why are so many of them empty?"

Or maybe, "Why are so many of their members empty?"

My friend who sent me this photo is a senior pastor of a traditional church in the South. He and I spoke over the phone recently and he shared his personal struggle with me as he wrestles with the tension between Church as a business and Church as Jesus intended.

My friend loves his church, the people, so much that he's ready to lay everything down - his career as a full-time pastor - in order to demonstrate to his brothers and sisters that THEY are called to be priests and not depend on him for everything.

On Saturday I spoke to another senior pastor in California who finds himself in the same position. He and his wife are now fully convinced that the traditional church system is not what Jesus intended His Bride to become, and now they're struggling with how to transition out of the pulpit and into the neighborhood.

The challenges for these two pastors is very real. How do they care for their church family in this process? How do they provide financially for their own family? What will Church look like in their community? How will God lead them next?

As I listen to these brothers share their heart with me over the phone, I can only encourage them that the same God who is calling them out into this wilderness will also provide for them once they take their first steps.

There are no easy answers. This is real life. The bills are real. The spiritual battle is real. The opposition to this path is very, very real. But, as someone who walked away from all of this and searched for full-time employment for over a year, I can say now that it is possible, and most of all, that it is very, very much worth the struggle.

Pray for these two men today, and for their families. Pray for their church families too as they confront the reality of "being the Church" themselves rather than remaining spectators on the pew.

Going back to the sign at the top of this article, the answer of course is that Church is very, very important. The Church is a living temple made up of living stones who are being built together by Christ Jesus as they daily offer themselves as living sacrifices to God and who minister to one another and encourage and teach and edify one another daily.

The Church is what Jesus the Messiah died and rose again to breathe life into. The Church is the Body of Christ, as long as Christ is the head and as long as the people themselves operate as an interconnected organism in love for one another, and for Christ who is their life.

The question is not whether or not Church is important - it is. The real question is "What is the Church?" and how you answer that question - and how you live out that answer - is what matters most.

Where you meet (in a building, a house, under a tree) doesn't matter so much as what happens when you come together as a Body. Is any one of you exalted over all the rest, or is Christ Jesus the actual Head of the Body? Is every member free to function according to their gifting? Is everyone (women, children, elderly) treated and loved equally?

Church is a "Who" not a "What". It's not a meeting you attend once a week. It's not a performance. It's a family, an organism, a Body, and a Bride.

-kg

The Gospel: For Here Or To Go? (Part 1)

*This is an excerpt from the first chapter of my book, "The Gospel:For Here or To Go?" available as a free PDF download or for purchase in print
HERE

French language version also available at the link above.

**

There’s a great scene at the end of the film, “The Big Kahuna” where Danny DeVito’s character counsels a young co-worker about his overt mode of evangelism.

He says, “It doesn't matter whether you're selling Jesus or Buddha or civil rights or 'How to Make Money in Real Estate With No Money Down.' That doesn't make you a human being; it makes you a marketing rep. If you want to talk to somebody honestly, as a human being, ask him about his kids. Find out what his dreams are - just to find out, for no other reason. Because as soon as you lay your hands on a conversation to steer it, it's not a conversation anymore; it's a pitch. And you're not a human being; you're a marketing rep.”

That scene sums up, for me, how the world sees the insincerity in our attempts to sell our faith the way a door-to-door salesman sells magazine subscriptions.

As a young college student, I was very passionate about Christian Apologetics. I read book after book dealing with how to “give to every man an answer, a reason for the hope that lies within” using science, history, archaeology, and logic to convince the skeptic and the unbeliever that Jesus really was the answer.

After several years of learning, and even teaching others, about the basics of the Christian Faith, I came to the realization that I had never once argued anyone into trusting Jesus. I had some great theological and mentally stimulating discussions with people, but the fact was that my apologetics had not won a single person to Christ.

That’s when I realized that the only Apologetic that really matters is the Apologetic of your life. No one can argue with your actual, personal experience with God. I realized that my life needed to reflect the transformational power of Jesus, or else my logic and wisdom and answers were useless.

Granted, I’m much wiser and more secure in the grounding of my faith now that I’ve spent so much time studying and discussing the issues with people. But what is best for others is that I begin to actually live out the Gospel in my daily life and share openly about my own struggles, failures, experiences and insights as I personally follow Jesus every day of my life.

When Peter exhorts the early disciples of Jesus to “..always be ready to give an answer, a reason for the hope that lies within..” it was written with the underlying assumption that the people he was writing to were living radically transformational lives within the culture they were part of. We know this because of what we see in the book of Acts and by looking at the first three hundred years of Church History. The early followers of Jesus were living lives that were extremely different from those of the pagan world around them. Because of this, Peter is encouraging these disciples to be ready to explain why they cared for lepers, and fed pagan widows, and shared personal belongings with anyone in need whenever unbelievers asked them the reason why.

These days I fear we in the Church have largely lost this sense of living a different sort of life from those around us. Instead, we’re quick to offer answers to questions that no one is asking us.

-Keith Giles
**

WATCH THE CLIP

When Should We Meet Together?

Once you start reading the New Testament it becomes clear that the original followers of Jesus had only one day set aside for worship, fellowship, teaching and community. That day was called "Every day".

For example, the book of Acts tells us that "every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts." (Acts 2:46) We also know that "the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers." (Acts 16:5).

The author of Hebrews calls for Christians to "encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." (Hebrews 3:13)

Paul the Apostle took a handful of followers of Jesus to the lecture hall of Tyrannus and "had discussions daily" (Acts 19:9).

When the Grecian Jews complained that their widows weren’t being cared for it was in regards to the "daily distribution of food" to the poor which the apostles themselves were performing as true servants. (Acts 6:1)

When the Bereans were commended it was because "they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." (Acts 17:11)

This really should come as no surprise to us, however. Jesus stressed that only those who "take up (their) cross daily" could follow him (Luke 9:23) and he taught his disciples to pray daily and to ask for "daily bread". (Matt 6:11)

A good friend responded recently pointed out that neglected to mention Acts 20:7 which indicates that the early Christians met on the “first day of the week” to share a meal and to hear Paul speak since he was about to go away the next day. (This is the infamous gathering where our poor brother Eutychus fell asleep and rolled out of the upstairs windows into the street below).

I will concede that, yes, it is apparent that the early church did see an importance to gathering on the first day of the week. However, I think we still don't grasp how much their expression of faith was so deeply ingrained in their daily lives.

To us, that "first day of the week" gathering is nearly the only time we think about things like discipleship, community, evangelism, compassion, worship, studying God's Word, fellowship, etc. However, the early church saw these things as daily activities, not once-a-week rituals.

So, if you take into account that the early, New Testament church was experiencing a daily community, and a daily study of God's Word, and engaged in daily discipleship, and daily distribution of food to the poor, and meeting together daily to fellowship and pray and sing and encourage one another, etc. THEN we can grasp how significant it is that they ALSO made a point to get together on the first day of the week to share a meal together.

I have to believe that if you and I were doing all that they were doing, we'd probably set aside the first day of the week as a special day where we DIDN'T gather together. I think we’d want to find a special day where we had a break from all that meeting and gathering and constant community. At least, I think I might.

Yes, the early church did set aside the first day of the week for sharing a meal together, and that was important to them, but it should be seen as yet another example of their astounding commitment to Christ - and to one another – not as evidence to justify our own lack of commitment.

So, instead of arguing over what day of the week we should worship or gather or teach, perhaps we should stop and realize that, according to the New Testament, every single day of our lives should be devoted to God, and to the community of faith. We need to be the Church every day of our lives, not simply attend one each week.

-kg

"Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." - Colossians 2:16-17




*This article appeared here previously in October, 2009.

The Top 10 Things Every Christian Should Know #6

Number 6 - "We ARE The Church!"

Several years ago my wife and I helped some friends of ours plant a new church in Tustin, California. At the time I was longing to leave my job as a program manager at Ingram Micro in order to return to full-time ministry. As it happened, I was laid off from that job and went on staff at this same church only a few months later.

My time on staff there was a great opportunity to try new things and to lead to start ministry to the poor in our community. Personally, I learned a lot during this time and it was because of this that my wife and I began to feel a calling to start a new church-plant of our own.

At first my assumption was that we would plant another church much like the one we were currently on staff with. I envisioned a traditional church-plant with a small team of leaders meeting in a rented gymnasium somewhere in a neighboring city trying to coax the unchurched into our meeting each week.

Then something happened that changed all that. I had developed a strong desire to serve the poor during this time and I knew this would be a high value for the new church we started. However, one day I came across an article by Ray Mayhew entitled,"Embezzlement:The Corporate Sin of American Christianity". In this article, Mayhew looks at the high value that the early church placed on caring for the poor. He shares how the New Testament church considered all of the tithe as belonging to the poor and not to themselves. At no time did the offering ever go to building structures or purchasing equipment, in every case the offering belonged to the poor, the orphan, the widow and the sick. This realization galvanized my vision of establishing a body of believers who valued the poor beyond their own comfort and safety. My wife and I began to pray about how we could start a church here in Orange County, one of the richest counties in the Nation, with a committment to give 100% of the tithe to the poor and keep nothing for itself.

I can remember the day Wendy and I realized the answer. We were sitting on our bed talking about how great it would be if people could know that all of their tithe was going to help single Moms pay their rent, or to provide food for the homeless, or to assist the elderly to buy their prescription medicine. We were trying to figure out how we could realistically afford to run a church and still give all of our offerings to those in need. Wendy looked at me, and I looked at her, and almost at the same time we realized, "We're talking about a House Church". In that moment, if Wendy had laughed at the idea and told me I was crazy I think we would have found a compromise to our dilemna, or perhaps we never would have started a house church at all. Instead, she nodded her head and smiled. "You're right. It's a house church," she said.

When we first told our friends what we envisioned doing, many looked at us as if we had three heads. To be honest, I felt like I was insane whenever I tried to explain it to people. It just seemed so crazy and so "out of the box" to me, because no one I knew had ever done this before. I had grown up in the traditional church. I had been licensed and ordained in the denominational church. My entire Christian experience was totally connected to the modern, organized way of doing church. To step outside of that structure in order to follow our calling seemed uncertain at best, and downright terrifying at worst. This was what it felt like to be a pioneer, loading up the buckboard with supplies and heading West into the great unknown with only your family, a few provisions, and a lot of faith.

There are times when people say that we have left the Church. In fact, more often that not, whenever I hear someone refer to those in the house church movement, it's to say they have "left the Church". This illustrates one key misunderstanding that I'd like to clear up.

If you have surrendered your life to Christ and have an ongoing, daily relationship with Jesus, then you ARE the Church! This means you cannot leave the Church. You can decide to worship in another way, or in another place, or outside the walls of an established, organized expression of the Church, but unless you break fellowship with other believers, or turn away from your daily walk with Jesus, you cannot, and you have not, "Left the Church".

Sometimes I believe that people within the organized Church use this statement as a tactic to black-list those who dare to venture outside their established realm. Not every time of course, but if more and more people get it into their heads that they can "do it themselves", this threatens the organized expression of Church. Pastors who attended seminary in order to make a vocation out of the ministry feel as if they are no longer necessary when those within the House Church movement suggest that a gathering of like-minded Believers meeting in a living room with only The Word of God and the Holy Spirit to guide them are actually viable "Churches"; as valid and as acceptable as those with professional clergy and staff.

The other tactic I see over and over again is the claim that House Churches are vulnerable to heretical doctrine, again because of the abundance of lay people and the absence of professional, seminary-educated pastors. I find this argument especially ludicrous, honestly. If you want to create an environment that is ripe for heresy, here's what you should do: Only have one person act as the vocal spiritual authority. Have that one person speak without interruption each week and when the doctrine is spoken have everyone stand up, get in their cars and go home until next week. Do not allow those people to interact with the speaker. Do not allow those people an opportunity to discuss the message that was delivered by the speaker. That is, historically, how heresy develops. One person, usually a charismatic figure with a slanted set of doctrines, leads a large group of people
to follow his private vision and interpretation of the Scriptures. Those people do not question the leader and they are not allowed to discuss or challenge his message.

In the House Church it is much more difficult to introduce heretical doctrines such as this. If one person begins to suggest a set of ideas or teachings that are in conflict with the clear teaching of Scripture, there are many others within the group who can challenge these thoughts and point out other Scriptures to correct any errors of doctrine. This keeps us from being lead astray by one person with a private agenda.

This is why the first Christians, meeting in homes, lead by the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures, actually preserved all of the creeds and doctrines of Christendom for over 300 years! Whenever heresy developed it was almost always lead by one individual who had a different doctrine or a particular spin on an existing one. Those people attempted to lead others astray after their own brand of the truth. But the New Testament House Church (and there wasn't any other kind of New Testament Church), maintained the teachings of Christ and the Orthodox Faith we hold so dear
today without ever resorting to any other form of church. I find that fascinating, to be honest. I think that God revealed His genius when He inspired the eary Church to form a family-based, Spirit-lead group where love for one another, and for others (the poor, the sick, the outcast), was the main goal.

So, if you ever feel called to change the location of where you worship, or if you feel the need to change churches, or perhaps even to join a House Church, please never forget; You ARE the Church! Church is not a meeting you attend or a building you gather in. You are the Church as long as you have surrendered your life to Christ and you daily seek His face and follow His teachings. If you gather with other believers, in a gymnasium, under a tree, in a home, by the beach, etc., then you are the Church and you can never leave it, unless you completely turn away from Jesus and abandon the Faith.

One of the most amazing things I've discovered in leading a House Church has been in realizing that we are called to be the Church and not to attend one.

-kg

The Pitfalls of Organic Church (Part 6)

Rotate Locations Early and Often.

For the first 4 years of our house church life, our family hosted every meeting together. That’s twice a week for four years! Today we only host twice a month (on Sundays) and other families take turns hosting in their homes the other weekends.

The reason we decided to rotate our meetings wasn’t because we felt burnt out, however. Not at all. In fact, we really love hosting the house church in our home and it’s very convenient for the kids on our street to join us on those Sundays, which makes it extra special for us. So, why did we decide to rotate our Sunday morning meetings? Well, it all started with a trip to Alaska. At least, an imaginary one.

As I’ve already mentioned, our house church group has been quite large for some time now. Over the last few years I’ve been pretty vocal about the fact that our group was too big and I really felt that there were plenty of mature people in our group who were more than capable of hosting and even leading a house church group in their own home. However, after a series of conversations and meetings with different people, what I learned was that none of those people saw themselves as ready, equipped or capable of doing this.

My epiphany came one evening when one of our brothers in the group asked everyone else this question: “If Keith and Wendy suddenly moved to Alaska next month, how many of you would even continue to meet together as a church every week?” To my surprise, and heartbreak, no one said that they would continue to meet together without our direct leadership in the group.

I think it was at this time that I recalled the words of wisdom shared by my friend Alan Knox who said that any church that cannot continue to function without the direct leadership of the leader isn’t a church under the headship of Christ. (Or something like that. I share this exact quote in my book, “This Is My Body: Ekklesia as God Intended”).

So, right then and there Wendy and I knew that we had failed to make disciples of the people in our house church. We wanted them to understand that they were all following Jesus – not us - and that He had equipped all of them to be the Church, and to be practicing members of the priesthood of Christ. That’s when we started asking everyone in the group to step up and to start taking some of the responsibilities away from us and to start owning the group themselves. Sharing the weekly hosting duties was just one of the things we started to intentionally give away to the group. We also started not showing up to these meetings at all on occasion to underscore the reality that they could be the Church without any help from us at all.

The good news is that, about a year later, we asked some of these same people that question again about our mythical trip to Alaska and every one of them said that they would most definitely continue to meet with the house church family even if we were not there. I have to believe that hosting the house church meetings in different people’s homes, and allowing everyone to experience the meeting apart from us made a difference. People got to see that there was nothing especially holy about our den, or about us as leaders, and that they were all called by God and empowered by the Holy Spirit to be the Body of Christ no matter where they gathered or who was in the room – or not.

-kg

The Pitfalls of Organic Church (Part 1)

Break Your Liturgy

Early on in our house church experience we took the opportunity to embrace the boundless freedom of being the church together with our friends. Sometimes we would just eat together and share testimonies, other times we would plan to sit together outside on our patio and create a giant work of art on a shower curtain to express our passion for Jesus.

However, over time, we slowly settled into a more familiar groove that has now become our liturgy. We meet for a meal. We talk and eat. We eventually gather around and sing worship songs together. Then we have our open share time. We discuss the scriptures together. We pray for one another. We share communion. We dismiss. This is our liturgy.

My suggestion is that you do all that you can to upset the apple cart as often as possible in order to remind yourselves that you are free in Christ Jesus. You can meet anywhere – under a tree in the park, in a coffee shop, around the swimming pool, at the beach. You can do anything together – pray for an hour, sing spontaneously, create artwork, let the children lead the meeting, sit quietly and listen to the Holy Spirit, play games together, take turns sharing your testimony, invite an outside teacher to lead you through a book of the Bible, or wash one another’s feet.

Whatever you do, the point is to escape the rut and to embrace the spontaneity of being church together. God always does something amazing whenever we put ourselves in a position where none of us really knows exactly what might happen next. That’s where we’re outside our comfort zones and the unexpected moment can catch us by surprise.

Some of the most memorable and powerfully profound gatherings we’ve ever had have been because we took one of these detours outside our liturgy.

One of the most wonderful things about meeting in your home and sharing life with your friends and family in Christ is that there’s no “right way” or “wrong way” to be the Church together. All of your times together are sacred because Christ is in each of you and discovering Jesus in one another is actually more likely when you’re not going through the familiar motions and rhythms of liturgy.

Step outside your comfort zone. Take a path less travelled and rediscover the thrill and joy of exploring your identity as the Body of Christ off the beaten path. You’ll be glad you did!

-kg

Visit "This Is My Body" Book Website

There's a radical difference between Church as we know it and Ekklesia as God intended. Read "This is My Body: Ekklesia as God Intended" starting on May 4th and see how God's plan for a living temple and a universal priesthood of all believers is woven into the very DNA of the Body of Christ.

To find out more about the book and to read reviews, watch videos and share your thoughts please visit the book blog
HERE

Hidden with Christ

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." - (Colossians 3:1-4)

I woke up this morning and this verse was in my mind. It's not often that this happens, especially when I've not been reading or studying a given passage and it becomes highlighted in my thoughts out of the clear blue. At first I wasn't even sure where the passage was found in the Scriptures. It wasn't until later that I looked it up that I realized where it was found in the New Testament. But I was familiar with these verses so I lay there and waited to see if God had something to say to me about the verses.

The first thing that came to me was that Paul says, "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." My typical response to this verse is that it's saying something to me on a personal level as an individual follower of Christ. But then it came to me that this letter was not written to any single individual. It was written "to the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse." (v.2) So, Paul's instructions here are not meant to be taken as individualized components. He's speaking to a community of believers in a region of Colosse when he reminds the Church that their "life is now hidden with Christ in God." He's wanting the Church in Colosse to understand that the life of the Church is hidden in Christ.

You can see further evidence of the fact that Paul is speaking to a community of believers (rather than to an individual) when he says "set your hearts (plural) on things above" and "set your minds (plural) on things above." Individuals only have one heart or mind. Paul uses the plural in this case because he's talking to a group of people; the Church.

So, what does it mean for the life of the Church to be "hidden with Christ in God"? Again, I think I always thought of this passage as saying that my personal life was to be found in Christ. But it says our life (in the Church) is "hidden". If something is hidden then it means you can't find it. It means you're not supposed to find it. It's gone. So, our life in the Church is forever hidden in Christ. All that is left of us is now in the Church is in Christ. We have died. Our life (as a Church) has been swallowed up in the glorious life of Christ our Lord.

Paul also says that "Christ...is (our) life". We have no other life apart from Christ. When we are "hidden with Christ in God" we are wrapped up in the Divine mystery and only when Christ appears will we appear. If Jesus does not manifest Himself, the Church is still hidden. Without Christ there can be no Christian.

Reading chapter 3 of Colossians again with this new awareness of Paul's instructions for a Body of Believers, it's now plain to see that his intent was to provide a basis and framework for how the Church was to relate to one another in fellowship. As he says in verse 16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." He continues to talk to a community of Believers here, urging them (and us) to let the word of Christ live in us powerfully as we teach one another and encourage one another through song.

When we come together as a Body, the purpose of our teaching, then, should be to encourage one another. We should share the "word of Christ" with each other in love. Our singing should also be full of the word of Christ, and even this is not a selfish pursuit. The singing of songs is also meant to share the word of Christ with our brothers and sisters. It's meant to be shared from a thankful heart full of gratitude for what Christ has done for us all.

I'm not exactly sure why this verse came to me in the night. But it does seem more obvious to me now that God wants His Church, and specifically the church family where I am a functioning member, to understand that Her life is only in Christ, not in the individual people who take part. We, as individuals, are called to be lost in Christ when we come together (as a community) and to discover Christ's life in our midst. We are called to be filled with the word of Christ and to encourage one another and even to sing to one another out of our sincere gratitude for the amazing love of God that has been lavished upon us all.

Now, to practice the simple truths of these verses in our time together. That's where things get really exciting.

-kg

OUR UNITY IS BASED ON JESUS AND NOTHING ELSE

I’ve written a little before on the unique blending of denominational backgrounds within our little Mission House Church. Somehow, even though we each come from divergent and oftentimes hostile denominational streams, everyone within our simple church family has managed to overlook our differences and love one another in spite of this.

So, why am I writing about this again? Well partly because I’ve started to notice that a lot of the other organic and simple churches in our area share a common denominational background, which means that their unity isn’t strained by the same forces that a group like ours might encounter. In our group we can't appeal to a common set of doctrines. If anything, we've all abandoned our identity as members of a particular denomination and embraced our core identity as followers of Jesus.

On paper, then, our house church family shouldn't be so united. We come from Pentecostal, Calvary Chapel, Vineyard, Brethren, Baptist, Lutheran and non-denominational backgrounds. How can we all sit together and worship together without sparking an argument? Simply because we have intentionally avoided centering our gatherings together on issues or doctrines that we know are potentially divisive.

Because we’re sensitive to these theological landmines we’ve instead focused our meetings on the One Thing we can all agree on – Jesus.

Not that other groups aren’t centered on Jesus and what it means to follow Him daily. I'm certain that they are. But since our group is not all on the same page when it comes to doctrines I think we have a tendency to emphasize following our Lord Jesus and discovering together how we can put His teachings into practice in our actual lives.

This also doesn’t mean that we don’t tend to stray over into areas where there are differences of opinion. We have had our share of disagreements and in those cases we’ve done our best to allow everyone an opportunity to communicate their perspective on scripture. Thankfully we’ve stopped short of trying to impose a particular perspective on everyone else in the church. No one has to agree with me, or with anyone else, on a peripheral issue in order to remain a valued and loved member of the church family.

For example, my wife and I have a huge personal conviction when it comes to our calling to love and serve the poor in the context of following Jesus. We formed the Mission largely because we wanted to plant a church where 100% of the offering could go to help people in the community (and even within our own church family) who were struggling financially or in poverty. We regularly serve at a local motel and share free groceries with families living there each month. But at no time does anyone in our house church family feel guilty for not joining us in this service. (Yes, we've asked them to make sure). Of course, we freely invite people to come along with us, and we regularly share testimonies of what God is doing through this service, but we don’t impose our conviction on anyone else in the Body.

Again, it’s not as if our group is perfect. We’re continually learning from our mistakes. But one thing we’ve tried to hold on to is the idea that everyone is free to share in our church family and everyone is free to disagree as long as no one attempts to sway the group to “go their way” in a certain practice or doctrine.

As Christians we have to admit that our calling is to love one another, not to argue one another into agreement on doctrines that are non-essential. We’re totally ok with people sharing their perspectives on the scriptures. That's how we grow together! But what we advocate is an attitude that listens and doesn't have an agenda to change the other person's mind.

Think about it: If you wanted to find something to argue about in your church fellowship I'm sure you wouldn't have to look very hard. The question is whether or not your desire is to seek for what things you disagree on, or if your desire is to seek for the things that you all agree on?

Here’s another example. A few months ago we had a new visitor to our group. In the course of our open sharing time someone brought up an issue of healing. This new brother shared his firm conviction that it is always God’s will to heal. He was allowed to share his perspective and no one interrupted him. After he was finished I shared that my perspective (and I was clear to state that I could only speak for myself) was that sometimes God choose not to heal and instead used the sickness or the struggle to work the character of Christ into our lives.

Again, my goal was not to convince him that he was wrong or to change his mind. I knew that I probably couldn’t do that anyway (and I didn’t). To be sure that this brother was ok with my sharing a counter point I invited him to lunch the following week and he and I talked together about our group’s commitment to allow differences of opinion. The great thing was that this brother understood and celebrated our open share time and our desire for freedom and acceptance of one another.

Our group only asks: “Are you following Jesus daily and is it your aim to know Him and to let the Bible be your guide?” If the answer is “Yes” then you’re in! We ask nothing else of those who desire to fellowship with us, as long as their desire is also to walk with others who may, or may not, agree with them on everything.

Our aim is to avoid being distracted from our main goal which is to love God and to love one another and to follow Jesus in our actual lives.

I think that whatever church you’re part of, you have to be ok with sitting next to someone who holds a different opinion about eschatology or baptism or spiritual gifts, etc. and still call that person a brother and love them simply because they are part of the same family of God.

If someone denies the Gospel or teaches a strange doctrine that distorts the Gospel or character of Christ, then yes, of course, you need to correct that. But we're not saved by having the correct information about the Bible, nor are we saved because we can communicate complex theological ideas, we are saved because we have a transformational encounter with the living Jesus and we fall in love with Him and His Word.

By the Grace of God our church family will continue to love one another and to accept one another on the basis of Christ and not on the basis of agreement on a set of doctrines.

-kg