INTERVIEW: ROSS ROHDE

I've been reading through Ross Rohde's excellent book, Viral Jesus, right now and at the end of this month I will join Ross and a few other local organic church practitioners at Momentum 2012. Here's our recent conversation about his book, what it means for the church, and a little of what we can expect when we get together at Momentum.

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Keith Giles: What was it that inspired you to write this book?

Ross Rohde: It was more of a process than a moment of inspiration. When I was in Spain the Lord actually directed me to the House Church movement. For the first time in my life I actually heard God speak to me, very specifically, and as a Baptist that was pretty frightening. The Lord said, “I want you to pray for 5 couples to start the house church movement in Spain” – and that was a direct quote. So, I didn’t know what to do with that, but I started praying. I didn’t tell anyone else about this other than my wife.

So, in a place where nobody else was talking about house church (in Spain) and the church itself was pretty weak, something like point 2 percent of Spain’s population is Evangelical, we started praying for God to bring us people to help start house churches. In a place where nobody was even talking or thinking about Evangelical church, we began praying and God started bringing people to us supernaturally, and not just 5 people but 11 people in about three month’s time – out of nowhere.

That was my introduction to a supernatural God.

So, a number of things happened. I got in touch with Wolfgang Simson and I started studying the house church movement. I began to realize that when I read about house church in India, China and even Switzerland it wasn’t just this technique, it was God at work. There was supernatural power involved and as someone who was raised in a context where, to be frank, I was trained to disdain and fear and to mock supernatural power and then once I began to experience it I didn’t know what to do.

In order to discipline myself to study I got involved with a doctoral program. I used that as a way of focusing my thought and I started studying house church and this is the book that came out of all that.

KG: I think you and I are on the same page. I also came from a Baptist background and then my wife and I got involved in the Vineyard movement about 15 years ago and started experiencing more supernatural things like dreams and visions and words of knowledge and healing and all of that. Then, of course, I ended up starting a house church in my home through a series of events where God spoke to me. I think we’re similar in that regard.

So, let me ask you to elaborate, when you say you studied house church, you mean more than simply people meeting in a home to listen to a sermon or a bible study. Explain what you mean when you say, “house church” because I think it’s about more than where we meet, right?

RR: For so long the church has been self-focused, and that’s been a long history, a long process over time, way beyond the middle ages even, the church became narcissistic. Kind of like a bride who looks in the mirror and is stunned by her own beauty and is constantly primping her hair so that she forgets about her fiancé.

House Church – real house church – I’m not talking about getting a bunch of people together in a house – house church is Jesus-focused. It’s people getting together in the presence of the Master to hear what He has to say to them, hear what He wants to do for them, hear what He wants them to do, and then those people go and do whatever He says out of absolute devotion and love. That’s what I mean by house church. It is so Christ centered, and in essence it is the people of God meeting with King Jesus and doing what He says because they love Him, and allowing Him – because He’s so desperately in love with us – to minister to us.

KG: Absolutely! It’s doing more than paying lip service to the idea that Jesus is the Head of the Church.

RR: Yeah, and as you know in my book, the Lordship of Jesus is a major issue. That has to be more than doctrine. We have a huge weakness in the Western Church, and particularly in the American Church. We are so indoctrinated – and I’m not against good doctrine, I think good doctrine is important – but when we look at it from a Hebrew mindset in Scripture, instead of a Greek mindset which is an adulteration of Christianity, it’s not what you say that counts, it’s what you live.

KG: Amen!

RR: And if Jesus is your Lord then you have to do what He says, not just say, ‘I agree with this idea that Jesus is the King of the Universe’ – and that’s lovely, but how does it show?

KG: Exactly, Ross. I’ve been observing this and blogging about this for several years now. There’s a radical difference between Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy. I think the Church in America has majored on having all the right beliefs. We’ve got our doctrine lined up and we believe the right things and we can debate it and study it and we have the study of apologetics and we have seminars and books and Sunday School classes to drill everyone on Orthodoxy – and not that any of that is bad in itself – but we’re so good at that and so bad at putting all of that into practice. Which, actually, when you study Jesus you discover that He seemed to be really, really concerned that people would not only hear His words but then go ahead and put His words into practice. That’s what the parable of the Wise Man building His house on the rock is all about, for instance. Jesus was looking for people who would hear His words and put them into practice (disciples) not people who would hear His words and memorize them (believers).

RR: Right.

KG: Your book is wonderful in that respect. The stories help take this out of the theoretical but helps to demonstrate the “how to” part of it.

RR: That’s what I hoped people would take out of it, but I do want to add a caveat here. You know I’ve always thought that the book of Acts was a collection of the early church’s best stories, and in a certain way my book ends up having some of my friends best stories and my best stories.  The reality is that there’s a lot of grind in there, there’s a lot of disappointment in there, you know, ‘I just blew it but God in His grace has taught me a lesson.” There’s all of that in there. I don’t know how much of that comes through to the reader, but that’s the reality of being in the harvest.

KG: Thank you for saying that. Anytime we write about something or speak on a topic – no matter what the topic is – we always tend to tell the story about the touchdowns, because that’s what everybody wants to hear. We don’t often sit down and say, ‘Let me tell you a beautiful story about the time I completely blew it.’

RR: (laughs) I am so good at fumbling!

KG: Exactly, yeah! I think that’s the truth. The same is true for me. If I was going to tell a story it would be about the two or three times I managed by the Grace of God to get it right, and probably not the times I’ve often blown it. We never want to paint a false picture that touchdowns are what happen every single time we step out to serve.

Maybe it’s self-evident, but I wanted to ask you about what you were hoping to accomplish with this book? What sort of impact are you hoping it has on the church today?

RR: As I said this book was a process and I’ve always been sort of a strategic thinker, and that’s what I’ve done and who I am. I was trying to show the strategic roadblocks – the things we have become used to that have nothing to do with real Christianity – but from a strategic point of view of how this impairs us. But over a five year process of writing the book the Lordship of Jesus and the simplicity of the New Covenant became stronger and stronger. I realized that we in the West – and I include myself in this – we focus on doctrine and we love technique. We think, because of American frontier individualism, that we can figure out how to do it and perfect the techniques – if some expert could just teach us how – we could go out and accomplish the Kingdom. But it’s just utter folly. Jesus never once said – I mean, he demonstrated in Luke 10 – he preached it and demonstrated it – but when he talks about fruit he says, if you want to bear much fruit you have to abide in me. Without me you can’t anything, he says.

We have somehow – because of our American mindset – we’ve convinced ourselves that we can apply our ingenuity to figure it out on our own, and we’re basing this on the fundamental principles of the world. That’s the world, that’s not Jesus.

When I left my culture and came back I was able to see things I couldn’t see before. There are some wonderful things in America, but if we really want to follow Jesus into the harvest we have to be aware of where we limp as well.

We limp in spirituality. That’s our weak link.

Why does the Gospel in China? In India? Are they smarter than we are? I don’t think so. Do they have more resources than we do? I know that’s not true.

But what they do that works is they have a raw dependence on Christ. I know very well that people like the heavenly man, Brother Yun, and others in the house church in China would say, “Get after Jesus.” So, we have got to get a grip, not only on our strengths, but we need to be aware that we are severely impaired.

All that we can do is to get on our knees and come to God and say, “Oh God, I know you’re a gracious God, and I know all you want is for me to get close to you so that’s what I’m going to do. I know that not only as an individual, but in community as well.”

Another weakness is that we’re so individualistic that we don’t understand the power of a focused community that is centered on Jesus Christ.

So, that’s my concern and my passion in Viral Jesus.

KG: I want to ask you kind of a loaded question. You made an observation earlier that Jesus never gave us a three step formula for success. Why do you think that is?

RR: Well, he gave us a pattern, but he gave us a pattern that he has to lead. I have been in a whole series of encountering the ‘man of peace’ situations before and none of them has ever been the same way twice. Not with me or with my friends or any other stories I’ve heard. That’s because you have to follow Jesus into this stuff. The pattern is there, but it looks different every time. I think that the answer to your question is that Jesus wants us to be dependent on him – he always has. He wants us to be in deep relationship with him, and looking to him for all the answers. But when we start looking to technique for the answers, you know, like ‘what do you do about kids in the house church?’ as if there’s one answer to that question! We ask, ‘how do we do evangelism’ as if there’s an answer to that question. The answer is, you do what Jesus says. And that sounds simplistic but it’s not, it’s just simple.

KG: Amen. As you point out, Jesus gave us a pattern, but what I find interesting is that we’ve got that pattern backwards. We think that the pattern to plant a church is to first get a ton of money, then assemble a leadership team, and then find a great worship band, and then hire a gifted youth pastor, and on and on. We just segment out everything and to us this is just normal. This is what I did. I responded God’s call on my life and entered the ministry this way because there was an established pattern and we couldn’t imagine any other pattern of doing things.

RR: Absolutely. None of us ever questioned if the Emperor had not clothes on because we were the tailors. All of a sudden someone asks a question and the scales fall off our eyes and we realize that Jesus never did any of this stuff, and he never told anyone to do any of this stuff.

Even when we start with Luke 10 and we want to find the man of peace and go out and heal the sick and raise the dead, that’s still not where Jesus starts. Jesus starts by saying, “Hey, I’ve appointed 72 others besides the 12, and I (Jesus) sent them out ahead into every town and place where I was about to go,” and then he told them that the harvest was plentiful and the workers are few and he commanded them to pray to the Lord of the harvest that he was send out more workers into the field.

So Jesus starts with his own authority and prayer, and we start with technique. ..and that’s the burning thing in my heart. That’s the key thing. What’s the key? It’s Jesus! It’s not just a document, it’s a reality. We’re in a covenant relationship with him and he speaks to our heart and mind and because of that we can actually listen to Jesus and obey, and do it in his power. That is just incredible.

I went to a very good evangelical school and got a Bible degree and went back and got a Master’s degree and was a missionary for 25 years and it wasn’t until the last 4 years of that whole process that I even started to hear about the new covenant. I mean, how do you get through Bible college without ever hearing about the new covenant? Yet I heard it said at least once a month, ‘This is the new covenant in my blood’ and it went right over the top of my head. It’s like, how can we be talking about all the details in the Bible and not get down to how my relationship with Jesus works? How can we study the details and miss the main point?

KG: Not only do most Christians grow up not knowing this – not just the people in the pews – but even the leaders in the pulpit have no idea what the new covenant is, or even know what the Gospel that Jesus preached really is?

For me it wasn’t until about 7 years ago when I first understood that the Gospel wasn’t about saying a prayer so we could go to heaven when we die, and I was a pastor and had been for nearly 20 years at the time. It’s shameful that the core of the Gospel and the reality of the new covenant is so lost to most in the Christian church.

RR: My trajectory was slightly different. I wasn’t a pastor but I was a missionary. But, how could I go to a Christian grad school and entirely miss the point? It’s like we’re so focused on dispensationalism that we’re opposed to covenant theology so we can’t talk about covenant. It’s like, what? That doesn’t even make sense. I mean, you can believe dispensationalism if you want, but for crying out loud, the new covenant is right there (in the scriptures). It’s in Hebrews chapter 8 and 10 and in Jeremiah chapter 31, it’s in 2 Corinthians 2 through 7, it’s everywhere!

KG: Yes, it is.

RR: If I could see one thing happen from people reading Viral Jesus it would be this: Not that we all decide to do house church – that would be nice, but all that does it get the barriers out of the way – but what I hope is that we as a people would seek God with our entire heart. Seek Jesus first. Jesus we want you. We don’t want Pentecost to happen because we want to see tongues of fire again. We want you! And if you want to do that again and give us some kind of Pentecost experience that’s fine, so what? We just want you, Jesus.

Even when the Spirit does move, as in China and at Azusa Street, and all the others, it usually only lasts about 20 years before all our bad ecclesiology grinds everything down like sand in the gears. But look at it the other way, if you have all the ecclesiology and you don’t have Jesus you don’t even get 20 years.

KG: Exactly!

RR: That brings me to what I want to speak on at Momentum later this month. I want to talk about practical spirituality.

KG: Sounds exciting. As you’re talking it makes me think of the original title I played with on my latest book which was “Jesus called, he wants his church back.”

RR: (laughs) Why didn’t you use it?

KG: It was a little too flippant, I guess. I was trying to get people to actually read the book and I knew if I had that title only house church people would crack the cover open.

I was just reading yesterday and today about where Jesus speaks to the churches in the book of Revelation and he warns them not to forget about him. Today the church needs that reminder that we’re doing church without Jesus and he’s on the outside knocking and asking if someone might let him back inside.

RR: I don’t want to be critical but the mission I was in, we were so intent on doing ministry through the business paradigm that we really didn’t need Jesus. We had it all figured out. I mean, in 25 years I don’t remember anyone ever saying, “Let’s just stop and see what Jesus wants us to do.” Never once!

KG: But I do understand, from a purely human sense, why asking Jesus to lead us every step of the way eventually got replaced by liturgy and tradition – because trusting Jesus for every single thing is very scary, and it’s really uncomfortable, and it brings a measure of uncertainty that most people really don’t want to deal with on a regular basis. I mean, who could survive in a system where you couldn’t predict at any given moment what was going to happen next? I mean, it’s a scary thing to actually let Jesus hold the steering wheel. He’s an unpredictable guy. You never know where He might take things, and He never seems to do anything the same way twice. So, following Jesus means staying in a constant place of unbalance. It means embracing uncertainty. That’s really terrifying to most people. We want safe, not scary. We want a nice sermon and an uplifting worship song, and we want God to be our co-pilot.

Of course, that’s not what we see in the New Testament. What we see in the first century church is a people so in love with Jesus, so devoted to Him, and excited about what Jesus was doing and where He was leading, that they wouldn’t dare put their hands on it to steer it somewhere else.

RR: Well, it’s a warts and all story, so we see that the Apostles can’t leave Jerusalem in Acts chapter 8 because they were so tied to the Temple. But another way of saying what you’re saying is that we don’t want to give up our agenda. That has been the storyline in the Bible since Genesis chapter 3. Like you said, Jesus just wants His church back.

I was really encouraged as you were talking about that and how we’re all in seasons of ministry. Frank Viola mentioned in his blog this morning, that sometimes we’re in a season of planting or watering or sprouting or plowing. But we want to be in the harvest mode all the time. That’s not how it works.

I know that people are going to read my book and assume that there must be some vast network of hundreds of house churches all over the Bay area (where I live) but it’s not really like that. There’s a bunch of people who love Jesus and are ministering to people, and sometimes they fail, and it’s kind of messy, but the Kingdom goes forward, and that’s what really counts.

KG: Amen. We can’t wrap our egos up in this and define success by how many churches we’ve planted, or how long they stay together, or any of that. Sometimes God’s plan is for a church to come together for a year, maybe less, and for them to be encouraged and blessed and sent back out again. That’s not failure, that’s the Kingdom and it’s Jesus’ church, it’s not mine. It’s His agenda, not mine. We have to let go and let Him do with His Church what He wants.

RR: That goes back to our American success story. We want to be successful and Jesus wants us to die. We just have to give up on being successful and just focus on being obedient, and that is success. We have to get over trying to impress other people or pastors. Who cares about that? All I care about is what Jesus thinks.

KG: We have to redefine success as being obedient to Jesus.  More and more I feel like we need to re-name all of this as Jesus Church rather than Organic Church or House Church or Simple Church. We need to just major on gathering together to see Jesus, hear Jesus, worship Jesus, listen to Jesus, and love Jesus. That’s really what it’s all about.

RR: We need to realize our weakness. My wife reminded me of a saying of Benedict who said, “Always we start again,” and that’s real spirituality. Not that we have some kind of flawless life but it’s that we’re frail, weak human beings who fall down and Jesus picks us up again. Even in the house church movement we have wonderful leaders, and we all know their names, but we don’t need heroes – and I know them, and they don’t want to be the heroes – they want to see Jesus exalted in the Body of Christ.

KG: That’s my prayer too. It reminds me of the phrase, “Conversatio Morem” which is a Latin phrase that means “constant conversion” which means that we need to be constantly converted to Christ, constantly sacrificed on the cross, and daily surrendered to Jesus.

RR: Yeah, we need to remember that we’re all weak. We’re quirky. We need to allow ourselves to be ourselves and be ok with we’re not all the same.

KG: I think that’s what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 12 about how we’re all different members of the Body with different strengths and weaknesses. It’s not true that the church would be a better place if everyone were just like me. The truth is that if everyone in the Church were just like me we’d be in a very bad place.

RR: (laughs) You’re heart and my heart are aligned. I want us to break away from some of our cultural tendencies that keep us from looking True North, because Jesus is our True North.

Raising Up Leaders in House Church

Over the last few years I've been corresponding with a brother in Christ, Vilbert Vallance, who lives in India. Recently he emailed me asking for help in raising up leaders within his house church family. As I was sharing it with him I thought it might be beneificial to others who might also want some advice about this.

Vilbert,

What I do in our group is to not do anything, or to do as little as possible. Really, the secret, if there is one, I'd say is to get out of the way and allow the Holy Spirit to do as much as possible. At first our house church always looked to me or to my wife to do everything - answer every Bible question, lead the communion, baptize the people, etc. So, sometimes I would just leave the room during prayer or after worship to let them figure things out together. Other times if someone asked me a question about the Bible I would lean back and say, "I don't know. What do you guys think?" and allow people to discuss this question without my interference. Sometimes I would ask another person, maybe even a child or a teenager, to lead us in communion, or to read a scripture to everyone. You can do this on the spot, or you can ask them ahead of time if they would do this when the time comes. That way you don't have to be the one to ask them but they will just do it because you've already asked them in advance. The hope being that, eventually, they will feel confident to read scriptures on their own and to take initiative when it's time for communion, or prayer, etc.

One thing that really helped our group in this respect is that we are a group of leaders. You may not have that in your group, I realize. If they are all mostly new christians then this will take more discipleship, but as they begin to grow in Christ you can begin to set them free and empower them to do more because they are all priests in God's Kingdom, just like you.

Maybe they don't know the Bible as much as you do, or have as much experience...but then how did you get your experience? Didn't someone allow you to lead? Didn't someone ask you to teach? These are the ways we raise up leaders, by allowing them to serve (not to lead). Because in the Kingdom of God the leaders are the servants of all.

If somone wants to be the leader (or the boss) then do not allow them to do this. If they want to serve, then let them do that because this is what a leader looks like in the Body of Christ. "The greatest among you is the servant of all," Jesus told us. So, everyone has the potential to be great in God's Kingdom because anyone and everyone can serve another person. It does not require skill or wisdom, only humility and love.

Another thing we did in our group was to start meeting in other homes besides ours. This allowed people to take ownership of the church and to see that there was nothing special about my house. Any house can be special because God's people meet there. Even if we meet under a tree, it does not matter. After awhile I would sometimes not even show up to those meetings outside of my house so that they could also learn that they do not need me to have fellowship or to "be the Church". They really don't need me (or you) they just need Jesus and each other. Maybe down the road you can do this with your group as they grow in Christ?

Does any of this help you? Please let me know if I'm not answering your question properly. I do want to help you grow leaders in your group.

Blessings to you as you serve the Lord and His Church.

Peace,

kg

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You can learn many more practical things about house church at MOMENTUM 2012 on March 30 and 31. This practical and interactive gathering will feature plenty of dialog, discussion and hands-on experience with organic church dynamics. Our event will include insights from practitioners like Neil Cole, Ross Rohde, Bill Faris, Ken Eastburn, Joe Chebat, Jeanne O'Hair, Bob Sears and myself. Scott Underwood will lead us in worship. Hope you can be there!
MORE INFO AND REGISTRATION > 

KNOCK, KNOCK

I wrote in my last blog about how I spent a few months seeking after God and finding only empty silence. Now I realize that this only fueled my hunger for more of Jesus. It confounded me and made me think even more about how much I needed Jesus to come to me.

Not only that, but this was actually in direct response to my prayer months earlier that Jesus was increase my hunger for more of Him. I asked Him to make me more hungry for hunger, and to make me thirsty for more thirst.  This, I see now, is exactly what He did.

During this time I also felt called to go and re-read the words of Jesus to His Churches in the book of John’s Revelation. Here I noticed something that applies both to me and to the Church as a whole.

Speaking to the church in Laodicea, Jesus says that they are lukewarm and because of this He is about to spit them out of His mouth. Most of us remember this passage because of the implications it has for any of us who begin to grow cold in our relationship with Jesus. Bringing it closer to home, it is a warning for all of us to take care of our love for Jesus. Our relationship is more important than anything else in our lives. Without Jesus we have no hope, no life, no power, no purpose, no vision. We have nothing without Jesus.
 

But look at what else Jesus says to this church:

“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” (v. 17-18)

As a people, as churches, we can become very independent. We can reach a level of self-reliance that separates us from Jesus. We don’t need Jesus to teach the Bible. We don’t need Jesus to worship. We don’t need Jesus to plan our Christmas pageant. Of course, it would be nice to have him along, but if He didn’t show up we could still pull everything off. But, obviously, church – or life – without Jesus isn’t life at all. It’s an illusion. It’s empty. It’s dead.

What we need to do is to realize that we are actually desperately hopeless without Jesus. We need to have eyes to see how poor we really are. This means our power, our experience, our resources, our ability, our reputation, is worthless. It is not our strength, instead it is actually what we need to be rid of so that Jesus can clothe us in His own power and life and Spirit.

Notice the last part of this passage where Jesus says:

“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.  Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” (v. 19-20)

Jesus affirms His love for us, even in our arrogance and pride, His love for us is the same.  His love calls us to repentance. He stands outside His own church and asks kindly, humbly, to be allowed back inside. He even knocks. (Who knocks before they enter a church?) Jesus asks to be asked to re-enter His own home. If we do ask Him to come inside and if we make Him again the King we adore He will restore us to fellowship and commune with us as He did before. Like nothing ever happened. Then He says:

"To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” – (v. 21- 22)

He’s already looking forward to that day when His church in Laodicea wakes up and invites Him to be their Lord again. He’s even willing to scoot over on His throne and make room for us to sit with Him on the throne that the Father gave to Him after enduring the cross of shame. He’s making room for us – His children – to sit next to Him for eternity.

What amazing love! What astounding grace! Our Lord Jesus, even in His rebuke is gracious, and forgiving, and optimistic about our response.

Don’t let Him down. Turn, seek Him, listen for His still small voice, and invite Him into His home again. It’s where He longs to be. It’s where you long for Him to return again.

Wait a minute. Did you hear a knock at the door?

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

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.

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)

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

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.

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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

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 

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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>

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

REVIEW: LETTERS TO THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT

I am drowning in books. Literally, I have over 25 books stacked next to my bed. Three new books came in the mail this week. I am overwhelmed with books. Which is why when Rad Zdero’s book, “Letters to the House Church Movement” first dropped into my mailbox I wasn’t eager to crack it open on the spot and devour it in one sitting. You see, I’m drowning in books.


However, once I did start reading Rad’s book I quickly placed all those other books into stand-by mode. Why? Because this book is so practical, and so fascinating, that I had to keep reading to learn more about what God is doing through house churches in his neck of the woods, which incidentally is Toronto, Canada.

The format of the book, as you might have guessed from the title, is a series of letters (always from Zdero’s side of the conversation) to different people and addressing different situations in various house churches within Zdero’s circle of influence. Much like the epistles of Paul or John or Peter in the New Testament, we get to hear how Zdero responds to conflict in the house church, how he deals with church discipline, what he believes about women in the house church, and much, much more.

Zdero has been involved in the house church movement since 1985. That is roughly when I officially entered the ministry and was licensed and ordained as a Southern Baptist minister of the Gospel. But I’ve only been involved in the house church movement for about five years now. So, Zdero’s level of experience is much broader than mine, and so I can understand why some of the ways he deals with things is different from the way I might deal with the same issue. Plus, he’s Canadian. We can’t forget that.

But on a more serious note, one of the things I have always loved about the house church movement from the very beginning was the level of freedom and the variety of expression exhibited across the board. I remember reading Robert and Julia Banks’ “The Church Comes Home” and marveling at how no two house church groups seemed to approach anything the same way. Whether it was communion or baptism or bible teaching or children’s involvement, or whatever, the variety was overwhelming and refreshing to me. And this is what I try to keep in mind as I read Zdero’s book. In some chapters, as when he comments about women in the church for example, I find that I agree with him exactly. When he encourages one couple to break off fellowship with another couple because they disagree on doctrine, I find myself disagreeing sincerely. When he writes to house church members and draws the line in the sand and asks them to commit to certain things or disband their church, I find myself unsure of how I feel about that. But, in all of these things, I have grace and respect for Zdero. One, because he’s my brother in Christ, and two, because as I’ve said many times before, we should not base our fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ on an agreement of doctrine as much as we base it on our common love for Christ and our commitment to love and serve Him.

Frankly, I found myself inserting my own style of leadership into Zdero’s letters at every turn. I found that I could hardly focus on what he was saying to his audience without pausing to ask myself what I might say in the same situation, or how I might respond differently if I were writing a letter to these same people.

I think, on a basic level, Zdero and I are two different kinds of leaders. Whereas he might be more of an Apostolic leader whose calling is to plant many churches and to (as he says in his book), “help spawn the house church movement”, I am more like a guy who heard God call him to plant a specific church where 100 percent of the offering could go to help the poor in our community. There’s nothing wrong with either calling, of course. But understanding our different roles in the Church is helpful (at least to me) in understanding why Zdero and I are different leaders.

Before you get the idea that I disagree with Zdero on some critical level, let me affirm that most of what he counsels people to do in this book is agreeable to me. I do think that it’s important for Churches to develop real community, to be involved in mission outside the four walls, and to practice loving church discipline whenever necessary. We might disagree on “how” to do those things, but we do agree on doing them as best as we can.

Again, Zdero and I agree on many, many more things than we disagree on. I want to make that abundantly clear. This book would make a wonderful contribution to anyone who was curious about how to handle difficulty in a house church setting, how to respond to critics of the house church, and even how to lovingly correct people who are overzealous for all things “house church”.

To be fair, I am probably the most permissive and passive leader I have ever met. Almost no one I know takes such a hands-off approach to leadership as I do. And I don't say that to brag. Maybe I'm too footloose when it comes to these issues? I'm not saying I've got it all figured out. But, if you read Zdero's book you should know that not everything he does is typical of all house church practitioners. The reality is more on the side of variety, as I mentioned earlier.

Much like, “The Church Comes Home” by Robert and Julia Banks, Zdero’s book does provide a nice snapshot of house church life and addresses many typical challenges faced by those who are involved in this movement. What might be missing from Zdero’s book is that variety of experience or perspective found in their book. Due, of course, to the fact that Zdero's book is from his viewpoint only (but then again, my books and articles reflect my bias as well). So, there’s not much you can do about this fact except to listen to what he has to say and weigh it against your own understanding of the Scriptures and decide for yourself what you think.

Either way, Zdero’s book is an enlightening and challenging collection of thoughts from someone who has invested a large portion of his life to the nurturing of others as they follow Christ into deeper community. I highly recommend this book.

-kg
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NOTE: I have asked Rad Zdero to talk with me for an interview about our various perspectives on leadership and house church dynamics. Hopefully this will appear on this blog in the next few weeks.

This Christian Nation

In Exodus, chapter 19, God tells Moses that He wants to make a covenant with the people of Israel. He says,

“This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel…if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” (Exodus 19:3-6)

Notice that this covenant has a condition: “If you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then…”

SPOILER ALERT: They didn’t keep their end of the bargain. So, Jesus came and fulfilled it for them, saying,

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:16-18)

A friend once described Christ’s fulfillment of the Old Covenant by pointing out that a child is a promise of an adult. When that child grows up and becomes an adult, the promise within that child is fulfilled. In this way, Jesus came and did what no one else could do – He fulfilled the law, obeyed God fully and kept the Old Covenant. But notice something; the fulfillment of the Old Covenant unlocked a promise. What was it?

“…you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:6)

 After Jesus did what no Israelite could do (kept the Covenant), He made it possible for us to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. This is why Peter says,

 “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5)

 And also,

 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation…” (1 Peter 2:9)

 Who is he talking to? To the Church! We are the Israelites who are now called “a holy priesthood” and “a holy nation”. Not just Jews, but anyone who is in Christ! As it says in Revelation 5:9-10:

“And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

And also the Apostle Paul tells us,

“If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:29)

"Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." (Colossians 3:11)

So, Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant – something no one else could ever do – so that we could receive the blessing of the promise to be made a kingdom of priests and a Holy Nation of God.

Again, as Peter affirms,

“Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:10)

To be clear, there is only one Christian Nation on the face of this Earth and it is the Church that is in Christ. Not any specific geographic land. Not any political system. Not any race or religious hierarchy. Only the one, world-wide Church – the Bride of Christ Jesus – is a Holy, Christian Nation on this Earth.

My allegiance is to that Holy Nation alone, and not any other kingdom or power of this world.

 -kg

When Judgment Comes

When God finally judges this nation, it will not be for the sins of the homosexual community, nor will it be for the women who have had abortions.

When God finally judges America it will be because those who call themselves Christian have been too proud to cry out for mercy on behalf of the poor, the exploited and the oppressed.

How can I say this? Because God says it.

"If my people, who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." - 2 Chronicles 7:14

Who are God's people? We are. Who are those who are called by His name? Christians. Who must humble themselves and pray and seek the face of God? Us. Not "those sinners" over there. You and me.

Who must turn from their wicked ways? We must.

Looking through the Scriptures I see a disturbing correlation between God's judgment and the way His people treat the poor.

For example, in the Old Testament God says:

"Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were proud and did detestable things in my sight. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen." - Ezekiel 16:49-52

And in the New Testament Jesus says:

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” - Matthew 25:41-46

So, it seems to matter to God how we treat the poor.

He's also not very happy about when we withhold fair wages from our workers, or when we exploit people to get rich.

In the Old Testament God says:

“So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the LORD Almighty." - Malachi 3:4-6

And in the New Testament the Apostle James says, 

"Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty." - James 5:3-5

America has built her success and her wealth in this day and age largely by exploiting the resources of other nations. Our corporations send in economic hit men to coerce third world leaders - either by bribery or through threats - to allow them to exploit their people and their land. If those leaders comply then our corporations get rich at the expense of those living in that nation. If those leaders resist they are assassinated or overthrown with the assistance of these economic hit men.

John Perkins, who used to be one of these hit men before he repented, explains it in vivid detail in the documentary "The End of Poverty?" and you can listen to him yourself at this link HERE>

Our nation presents itself to the world as a Christian Nation. Whether or not this is true - and I'm one of those who would argue that we are not now, nor have we ever been a Christian Nation - it is irrelevant to the fact that we are seen as a nation of Christians. So, for a nation that identifies herself with Christ to exploit the poor in the Name of Jesus we should repent. For a nation that has amassed for herself great wealth while turning a blind eye to the workers at Foxconn who are abused and mistreated we should repent. For a nation that threatens the poorest nations of this world in order to steal their resources and impoverish them further we should fall on our knees and beg for God's mercy.

For judgment will surely come to this nation. Of that I have no doubt. It is not a question of "if" but of "when". Therefore, how should we - those who are called by His Name - respond? We should humble ourselves and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways and beg for God's mercy to fall on us and on our wicked, arrogant, overfed and unconcerned nation.

Like the Church in Laodicea, America is so confident of her great wealth and yet God looks at us and says that we are naked and blind and poor. If we will turn to Him, He will forgive us and heal our land.

When judgement comes, it will not be because of the homosexuals, or the abortionists, but it will come because God's people were not willing to confess their own sins - and the sins of their nation - and humble themselves to ask God for mercy.

-kg

TOUCHING BASE

You wouldn't know it from reading this blog, but I've been furiously busy the last few weeks. That's sort of why I've not had any time to post any new articles here.

After the Pacifist Fight Club a few weeks ago, I started feeling convicted by God to do something I've never done before. In fact, it's something I can't even talk about here yet. Maybe some day. But for now I've been frantically working to assemble the necessary elements for this little project and it's taken up a lot of my time.

I've also been encouraged by a dear friend (Bill Navarro) to enter the world of ebooks. So lately I've been working on collecting various articles, and series of articles into different ebooks. Here's what I'm planning to publish in the next few months over on Amazon for the Kindle.

Ebooks Phase One - These will probably sell for about $1.99 each.

*THE POWER OF WEAKNESS (This is the book-in-progress I've had on the back burner for a long, long, time now)

*HOW TO START A MINISTRY TO THE POOR IN YOUR COMMUNITY

*TIPS FOR PLANTING A HOUSE CHURCH (Unlike my most recent book, "This Is My Body", this book will be more practical and "How-To" and  will include my recent series of articles “What’s Wrong with Organic Church?” and “The Pitfalls of Organic Church”, plus other articles that address "What about the children?", "Pastoral Authority", "Hierarchy in the Body", etc.)

*THE BEST OF THE [SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND] - Devotional Thoughts for Radical Christians (This will be a mega-collection of my best articles from the e-newsletter, plus a few from the main blog archives).

*10 MYTHS CHRISTIANS BELIEVE (This will address topics like Tithing, Hell, Pastoral Salaries, Spiritual Covering, the Return of Christ, Why does God allow suffering? Women in leadership, etc.)

*CONSUMPTION, EXPRESS & IDENTITY (This will compile my series of articles on Christians, Culture and Consumerism).

*TRUST: The Key To Everything

*SPECIAL EDITION OF [SUBVERSIVE INTERVIEWS] (The Kindle version will feature the same content as the original edition, plus my interviews with Shane Claiborne, Thomas Crisp and Porter Speakman, Jr.).

*JESUS: THE PRINCE OF PEACE (series of articles)

*OUR IDEA VS GOD’S IDEA

BARGAIN EBOOK SERIES  (These ebooks will be offered for .99 cents or Free)

*9 Marks of a Healthy House Church

*7 Habits of Highly Ineffective Pastors

*5 WORDS NO CHRISTIAN SHOULD EVER USE AGAIN

*7 MISTAKES EVERY CHURCH SHOULD AVOID

*4 UN-BIBLICAL MODELS OF CHURCH

*6 THINGS YOU NEED TO START A TRADITIONAL CHURCH

Ebooks in the Planning Stages include:

*THE ROBERT HIGGINS STORY (This will be hard to write)

*SCI-FI LULLABIES (a collection of my various science fiction short stories, scripts and short fiction).

*WINTERMOON AND COFFEESTAIN (a collection of my best poetry and lyrics)

*MY YOKE IS EASY (Uncomplicating the Gospel)

*THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM (Simplifying Jesus) or “Jesus for the Common Man”

Free Stuff

These ebooks will most likely be offered for free:

*NUT IN THE SHELL Articles (A collection of my old comic book culture articles, plus my large interview "Manga Nation" which was used as college course material)

*SALES AND MARKETING TIPS FOR TODAY’S SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS (A brain dump of my basic marketing and social media knowledge from my day job)

So...there's a lot to occupy my time at the moment. I'm hoping to release "The Power of Weakness" very soon.

-kg

More of Jesus

Something inexpressible happened last Sunday. I can't quite put my finger on any one thing that set this into motion, but without a doubt Jesus moved during our regular church gathering in a significant way.

All I know is that every song we sang, every scripture that was read, every quote that was shared, every prayer that was offered, burned in my heart like a tangible flame. My soul began to crave more of God. My spirit began to gasp within me for more of His presence. My heart began to ache with a hunger that only Jesus could satisfy.

I wasn't the only person in the room who sensed this move of the Spirit. Others also began to notice and to respond to God's movement among us. From the beginning our time together started off on a different beat. Instead of starting with songs of worship we started with scripture as a few of us felt lead to read and share what God was speaking to them about His mercy and goodness. Throughout our singing the songs all reminded us of God's presence and His love.

But what happened to us on Sunday was about more than a series of actions. Rather than something we could duplicate ourselves in our next gathering, the experience we shared was nothing other than the sovereign outpouring of God's Spirit on His people.

Speaking for myself, I've been sensing God's calling to seek Him more these last few months. I've started fasting from things that distract me most from hearing His voice, and I've tried to pray more often. But to be perfectly honest I've not been seeking God for hours at a time. Here and there throughout my day I've taken time to stop and listen, but it's not as if I've been spending hours in prayer or reading large chunks of scripture.

To be fair, I've been seeking the Lord a little bit more than normal, but it's nothing that I would even be tempted to brag about. In other words, I've been seeking him an inch and God has been responding to me with miles and miles of grace.

Many of us on Sunday could only stand around afterwards in silence and try to reflect on what God had done in our midst. It was beautiful. It was unexpected. It was powerful. And it was something we hope God will do in us again as we gather to set Him on the throne of our hearts, and our lives, and our church family.

Near the end of our time together I felt God wanted us to stand up and hold hands around the communion table. We prayed and asked Jesus to be our head. We remembered that he was broken for us and that although we are individual parts of His Body, we come together in Christ and take hold of Him as our Head. We remembered that although the bread is one, we each break off a piece of His Body and take it with us as we go out - and bring Him back with us as we come together again.

We wept. We rejoiced. We sang.

My wife Wendy suggested we listen to a worship song which says, "We will stand back and let you move. Stand back and let you move. Stand back and see what you will do." And that's just what we did that day. We laid everything down at His feet - our expectations, our distractions, our fears, our desires, our control - and we waited for Jesus to move. And He did. Wow. He really did.

I suppose what we learn from this is that God is so much more interested in drawing near to us than we are in drawing near to Him. He is much more interested in meeting with us than we are in listening for Him to speak. He wants so much more to touch us than we can ever know.

If we will just move an inch in His direction, He will move a mile.
If we will only begin to search for Him, He will reveal Himself to us.
If we will only ask Him to increase our hunger for Jesus, He will do it.

It's a wonderful thing to be touched by the living God. It's beautiful to let Him have His way.

My prayer is that we can all continue to seek Him this way and to know His loving leadership each time to come together in His name.

-kg

Thirsty For Greater Thirst

There’s a great line from an old Steve Taylor song that says, “Don’t you know by now why the chosen are few? It’s harder to believe than not to.”

As I’ve been re-reading A.W. Tozer’s classic book, “The Pursuit of God” these last few weeks I’ve been challenged to go deeper in my walk with God. Maybe “challenged” isn’t the right word. It’s more like being enticed by the Holy Spirit to explore the boundless magnificence of Jesus. And as I’ve been slowly pulled into this ever-growing vortex of God’s irresistible love, I’ve started to notice something strange; It’s harder than I would have ever imagined to keep Jesus at the center of my heart.

This truth sobers me, and confounds me all at the same time. I’m sobered by this realization because it makes me realize that up until now I’ve probably not been living my life with Jesus at the center. I thought that I was. In good faith, I’ve tried up to this point to follow Jesus and to listen for His voice and to obey. But, perhaps this is simply a season where God is turning up the volume a bit more. I’m not sure. I just know that there is more of Jesus to know than I have known so far, and I know that I want to know Him better.

I’m confounded by the difficulty of keeping Jesus at the center of my heart because it shouldn’t be anything new for me. Why is it so much harder now than it used to be? Have I allowed other things to creep into my heart and take hold? If so, how do I overcome this grip and restore Jesus to His rightful place?

Fasting seems to be in order here, because it allows me to cut off the source of worldly distractions and, at the same time, to open up my bandwidth to dial in more of the Master’s voice to my internal receiver.

Right now there are several stray thoughts and feelings that are floating around my heart like wisps of willow on the breeze. One thing I’m aware of is that it’s entirely possible for me to get lost in all the glorious beauty of Jesus. I want to get lost in Him. I realize that the veil around my heart that separates me from Him is paper thin. If anything, this is both exhilarating and terrifying. The Holy One is just inches away from me. I could take one step and be near Him. In fact, if I draw nearer to Him, He will most certainly draw nearer to me. We are closing in on one another like binary stars locked in a terminal orbit. It is inevitable that He and I will become one in spirit and purpose. My heart beats a little faster at the thought of breathing His breath, at the idea of thinking His thoughts, of hearing His whispering voice in my ear.

So, why is it difficult for me to keep this ever-approaching Jesus at the center of my heart? Why would I ever need to fight to keep someone so glorious and exquisite in my mind at all times? This is my conundrum. I am becoming aware of something inside of me that resists His will. Something outside of my control that constantly attempts to eclipse the beautiful light of His face. What is this? How do I stop it? Why is it there?

In the most simple terms, this thing is me. It’s the part of me that has yet to submit to His will. It’s the dark creature of sin that runs wild in the overgrown forest of my soul. The monster is me. The distraction is me. I want to look away. I don’t want to see that face, but it’s too late. I’ve already seen it before and I know it too well. It’s the same as the one in my mirror each morning.

So, what can I do? All that remains is to continue my journey towards His light. In Him I know that this dark flesh cannot thrive. The nearer I come to Jesus, the weaker this beast becomes. This is why it fights me. This is why it begs me to look away from my Lord. It wants desperately to live. So, it reminds me of all the candy-coated pleasures of this fleshly existence. It sings, it dances, it shouts, it pleads with me to slow down, or to stop and rest on my journey towards God. “What’s the hurry?” it says. But, I cannot let it distract me from my Lord. I must keep pressing onward. It burns. It bleeds. It struggles. But even as it fights me, I know it is condemned to lose. The hammer is already in His hands. The nails are already being pressed into my flesh. Together, my Lord and I will crucify this thing. We will endure this brief torture for the joy set before us when it is gone and nothing else could ever stand between our hearts.

God alone has the power to drive those nails. My part is only to confess my desire to desire Him more. I can only ask Him to give me the faith to want more faith so that I may become thirsty enough to cry out for more thirst for Him and His righteousness.

-kg 


**

"Let us remember: when we talk of the rending of the veil we are speaking in a figure, and the thought of it is poetical, almost pleasant; but in actuality there is nothing pleasant about it. In human experience that veil is made of living spiritual tissue; it is composed of the sentient, quivering stuff of which our whole beings consist, and to touch it is to touch us where we feel pain. To tear it away is to injure us, to hurt us and make us bleed. To say otherwise is to make the cross no cross and death no death at all."  -A. W. Tozer; The Pursuit of God.

What's New?

This is our opportunity to start again. We have a new day in which to take a different path. We have a new month in which to explore new possibilities. We have a new year ahead of us to exchange our old patterns and habits for better ones.


I am eager for something new. My hope is aroused at the thought of this unwritten page before me. What will tomorrow bring?


But the answer to this question lies in the moment. What becomes of my life at the end of this year will be determined by what I do - or do not do - today. Right now I hold the seed that will bear tomorrow's fruit. 


Thankfully, God is all about new beginnings. His mercies are new every morning. He longs to take the old and make it new. He has made a new covenant with the Earth. He has given us a new heart and a new spirit. He has put a new song in our hearts. He promises to  create a new heaven and a new earth. 


God loves to forget the past and to start over again. This is what Grace is all about. He forgets our failures. He looks forward to what we might become one day if we will place all our hopes in Him. He is eager for us to step into the new promises, and those promises are for right now. Today.


My thoughts lately have been on seeking His face more. I've been hearing Him call out to me to pursue Him more; to listen for His voice more; to put Him first in all things. 


I know that there is more of Christ to know than I have ever known before. I have yet to scratch the surface of His majesty. I have scarcely begun to explore His vast and limitless heart. There is more of Him to know than I know. But He invites me to search. He is calling me to seek Him first. He has promised me that if I will seek Him, I will find more of Him than I can fathom.


This calling on my heart does not come without a price. It will mean letting go of some things that do not matter, and some things which should not matter but sadly have become more important to me than they should. I must release my grip on those empty, broken things. But, the joy that I will find in Him is worth the loss of such worthless things. For every small thing I drop into the dirt, He will fill me with exponentially more joy and peace. This is a worthwhile exchange.


What I must lose most of all is myself. My pride. My status. My position. My ego. My dreams. My plans. My fame. All of these must go so that I might make room for more of Jesus in my heart. 


But this process begins right now. Today I have to seek Him. Today I have to let go. This is my tomorrow, right now. And it's all brand new.


-kg

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: The old has gone, the new is here!" - 2 Corinthians 5:17

"I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh." - Ezekiel 11:19

"He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” - Revelation 21:5