A THOUGH FOR THE DAY

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

Faith is not only commitment

Faith is not only a commitment to the promises of Christ; faith is also a commitment to the demands of Christ."
~William Barclay (1907-1978), The Letters of James and Peter [1976]~

gather Simply

Chapter 7: Gather Simply

From "The Simple/House Church Revolution" Book.

REACH  DISCIPLE  GATHER  EMPOWER  MULTIPLY

One pastor described his first experience of gathering in a simple, house church setting:

As of midnight Saturday night... I AM FREE! No more institutional church. I am no longer on staff at my church... We want to follow God, relax, and rest in His presence... Sunday morning we slept in the first Sunday morning "sleep in" in my adult life... Then at 4:00 p.m. we went to a friend's house for a house church meeting... We played some horseshoes in the backyard before dinner. We enjoyed communion together and ate a meal together. I got my guitar out and played a few songs and then the host popped in a worship CD, passed around some song sheets and we sang a few more worship songs. One lady's dad who lives in Oklahoma had recently been diagnosed with cancer (lymphoma) and she was really upset, so we spent quite some time laying our hands on her and praying for her dad. It was a very moving time... The freedom is almost overwhelming!

This pastor’s experience is only one example of a simple, natural gathering. It is not a “model” for house church. That way of thinking is institutional in nature. Instead, we want to allow God to lead us into the myriad of ways that followers of Jesus can gather around simple devotion to him and a love for one another.

What Gatherings Are NOT

Most of us come from backgrounds where gatherings are organized as part of traditional church structures. Most church gatherings (even small groups) are organizationally-driven, programmed events. It can be a challenge for us to re-imagine gatherings that are unlike our past church experiences.

Let’s start by thinking through the New Testament and reminding ourselves that gatherings were never:
• An event to attend
• A performance to watch
• A place to go
• A place or event that is exceptionally holy
• A place to go to get spiritually fed (focus on self)
• A service to attend where there is a pastor to sit under
• An event/service that needs finances in order to happen
• A meeting to attend that demonstrates allegiance to a religious organization
• A get-together where one goes to get one’s spiritual life “super-charged”
• A service where a few people minister to a crowd of people

What we do see in Scripture are many different types of gatherings which took place frequently, naturally, and often spontaneously. They did not require a great deal of planning or preparation because they were a natural outflow as followers of Jesus connected and gathered around a love for him and each other. They took place in normal, everyday settings and they fit into the rhythm of everyday life.

Characteristics of New Testament Gatherings

Let’s reflect on what gatherings do look like in Scripture. Remember, the first church was birthed with 3,000 people coming to Christ in one day (Acts 2). Gatherings immediately sprang up in many different settings, at many different times, and with great frequency—even daily (Acts 2:46 ). The nature of these gatherings was such that they could take place anywhere and everywhere that life was happening.

Most gatherings were small. Although there were city-wide prayer meetings at times, most gatherings took place in homes where it was easy and natural to gather. Jesus himself ministered to crowds but gathered, personally, with his closest spiritual friends (the three), spent a great deal of time building relationships with his extended spiritual family (the twelve), and, to a lesser extent, with his spiritual network (the seventy). Likewise, smaller gatherings were clearly the focal point of New Testament congregating as evidenced by the churches meeting mostly in homes.

Many gatherings took place around a meal. This created a space for relationships to be built and intimacy to take place. The smaller-sized groups, along with eating together, allowed for deeper relationships to be built and honest sharing of life to take place.

Gatherings met where people already naturally congregated. Special buildings for worship, and the associated costs were completely unnecessary as worshipers met together in homes, neighborhoods, and existing public meeting places.

Gatherings were simple and did not require professionals or even special leadership. Although leaders functioned to serve the church in a variety of ways (see chapter eight), gatherings were not dependent on special leaders to take control or guide the meetings. It was understood that when Christ’s body came together every member loved one another and ministered to one another under the guidance and leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Gatherings were more fluid than structured. In fact, many gatherings took place completely spontaneously without pre-set schedules at all. Yet even regular gatherings did not have a prescribed “order of service” or a model to follow. The idea of planning and structuring a New Testament gathering was completely contrary to the understanding that Jesus is in the midst of his body when we gather and that he is fully present and actively manifesting his will and resurrected life.

As Wayne Jacobsen said:

Jesus did not leave us a model to build, but a guide to follow. We experience the life of the church not because we meet in a certain way or in a certain place, but because we learn to listen to God together and let Him teach us how to share His life. If we substitute any method or design for that process, we will end up following it instead of Him and building a counterfeit instead of the real deal.

Every Person a Minister

The reason that simple, Spirit-led gatherings could take place anytime and anywhere was because the early church completely understood the concept of every-person-ministry. This goes to the very heart of God’s church: every person filled by the Spirit of God, every person part of the priesthood of all believers, and every person essential to the expression of Christ on earth.

Gatherings reflected this reality: “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation (1 Corinthians 14:26).” This is not just a suggested model for church gatherings; this is highlighting the reality that Christ can only be most fully expressed through the participation of every person.

Frank Viola says it well: "The Lord Jesus cannot fully disclose Himself through only one member. He is far too rich. In fact, His riches are inexhaustible (Ephesians 3:8)! When every member of the Body functions in the meeting, Christ is seen. He is assembled in our midst.”

Because the early church walked in the reality of every-person-ministry, it was easy for gatherings to take place naturally, organically, and wherever believers could easily gather. They understood these premises:
• When Jesus-followers get together, Jesus is in their midst.
• When Jesus-followers get together, everyone ministers one to another through the spiritual gifts that are given to each one.
• When Jesus-followers get together, the Spirit of God, who is in the midst of the gathering, will lead.
With this understanding, gatherings can take place simply, powerfully, any time, anywhere, with whoever is able to gather.

What About Intentionality?

Doing away with organization and programs does not mean that we necessarily do away with intentionality. Jesus-followers gather. They gather because they want to, and they gather because they need to in order to stay connected to God through his family.

As we walk with Jesus and look at his life, we find that he depended on others and valued the importance of gathering regularly with others.

Types of Gatherings

Three types of gatherings seemed to be the norm in the life of Jesus as well as those who were led by the Holy Spirit in the early church times:

1. Spiritual friends. Gathering with one, two, or three others was highly valued in the New Testament and provides a unique opportunity for high level sharing and inter-relating to take place.
2. Spiritual family. Gathering regularly with an extended-family-sized group (7-20) also seemed to be a New Testament norm providing a community of believers to grow with, exercise spiritual gifts with, and share life with.
3. Spiritual network. There is also benefit in gathering with larger groups for prayer, worship, or receiving input from certain ministries within the body of Christ.

In acknowledging these three types of gatherings, this is not intended to be a model for an organization. It simply points the way for Christians to gather and connect with one another in a healthy, yet organic, way. It provides us with some guidance in seeking out a way to regularly relate with the body of Christ that is balanced and growth-producing.

Followers of Jesus become responsible themselves to find these three levels of connectedness. We do not need to provide an organization or program for this to happen. We simply need to encourage one another to live life with Jesus and gather regularly with others as he leads.

What Do We Do When We Gather?

Coming together, for Jesus-followers, is really as easy as, well, coming together. The Bible does not provide us with an outline or order of service because we are his people, coming together with his love and purposes on his heart, for his glory, and with his leading. As such, times together can involve anything and everything from eating to praying, from sharing life’s journeys to crying with each other, from studying scripture to listening in silence, from laughing together to ministering in spiritual gifts, from talking and more eating to prophesying and teaching.

When people ask this question, “what do we do when we get together?” I like to encourage them to think through two scriptures, initially, that speak to this question.

The first has already been mentioned: 1 Corinthians 14:26 says “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.”

The second is Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Notice, again, this is not an order of service, simply a broad record of what God’s people tend to do when they gather. The four elements of Acts 2:42 provide some guidelines for gatherings, but the Holy Spirit wants to be the one leading and controlling our agenda. When we get together, it is a supernatural gathering with God in our midst.

As Felicity Dale said, “If we will learn to hear and follow His promptings, we will never have a boring meeting.”

Because we have learned, in the past, to have certain people lead our gatherings, moving into Spirit-led, participatory gatherings can be a daunting endeavor. The way to learn is to do it. Make mistakes. Learn some more. Don’t give up. Every person is a minister, and when we capture that in our times together it is incredibly rewarding. The body of Christ can reflect him in wonderful and varied ways when fully unleashed to do so.

SATAN'S MEETING

A close friend of mine shared this message which reminded me that the devil is doing everything to confuse God's people .Kindly read & pass it on to all the people you care for.

God bless u,

Kind regards
Linah

SATAN'S MEETING: (Read even if you're busy)


Satan called a worldwide convention of demons.

In his opening address he said,

"We can't keep Christians from going to church."

"We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth."

"We can't even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their saviour."

"Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken."

"So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, BUT steal their time, so they don't have time to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ.."

"This is what I want you to do," said the devil:

"Distract them from gaining hold of their Saviour and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"

"How shall we do this?" his demons shouted.

"Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds," he answered.

"Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow."

"Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles."

"Keep them from spending time with their children."

"As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work!"

"Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice."

"Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive." To keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly."

"This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."

"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers."

"Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day."

"Invade their driving moments with billboards."

"Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes.."

"Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so their husbands will believe that outward beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives. "

"Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night."

"Give them headaches too! "

"If they don't give their husbands the love they need, they will begin to look elsewhere."

"That will fragment their families quickly!"

"Give them Santa Claus to distract them from teaching their children the real meaning of Christmas."

"Give them an Easter bunny so they won't talk about his resurrection and power over sin and death."

"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive."

"Have them return from their recreation exhausted."

"Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on God's creation. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies instead."

"Keep them busy, busy, busy!"

"And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences."

"Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Jesus."

"Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause."

"It will work!"

"It will work!"

It was quite a plan!

The demons went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busier and more rushed, going here and there.

Having little time for their God or their families and friends.

Having no time to tell others about the power of Jesus to change lives.

I guess the question is, has the devil been successful in his schemes?

You be the judge!!!!!

Does "BUSY" mean: B-eing U-nder S-atan's Y-oke?

Please pass this on, if you aren't too BUSY!

Merry Christmas and a happy new year 2009

Merry Christmas and a happy new Year 2009. Harapan kami di malam Natal kita sekali lagi berjumpa secara pribadi dengan KRISTUS. Doa kami sekeluarga ada penghiburan dan kekuatan yang baru di malam Natal ini.

We that love and care for you,

Dave and Novie

The healthy Church

The Healthy Church



By Malcolm Webber Phd
What is the best and most biblical way to define a “healthy” church?
Should a church be considered “healthy” when it is doing well financially or when large crowds of people are coming to the meetings? Perhaps a church is “healthy” when the majority of its growth is from new converts, or when it has a strong foreign missions program? Is an effective children’s ministry or youth program the key element for “health”; or perhaps the fact that the church engages well with the culture? Clearly, there are many different things we could focus on.
Biblically, how should we define a healthy church?
In the New Testament, the church is compared to the human body (e.g., 1 Cor. 12). When a part of someone’s body is not functioning properly, that person is, by definition, sick or unhealthy. Thus, a simple definition of a “healthy” human body is one in which every member is functioning properly. In the same way, a healthy church is, quite simply, one in which every member is functioning properly.
There are many popular, and valuable, models of what constitutes a “healthy church.” For example, a healthy church will have inspiring worship, need-oriented evangelism, loving relationships, etc. If every member functions properly then the local church will have all these components.
But, what does it mean to “function properly”? In Ephesians, Paul shares a clear revelation of this:
From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Eph. 4:16)
There are three things that each member must do in order for him or her to be considered “functioning properly.”
First, each member must “grow.” Personally and directly connected to the life of the Head (“from Him the whole body…”) each member of the church must grow in spiritual maturity. In the church around the world, we’re not doing too badly in this regard. Many Christians do take personal responsibility for their own spiritual lives. They know that God has called them to grow, and not to remain spiritual babies.
Second, each member must serve, or “do its work.” Every member of the church is a “minister”; we all have a calling from God and the corresponding gifting. For the last couple of decades, there has been much teaching on “finding your gifting,” etc., and the church has improved considerably in this regard. Many believers now have a clear vision for their own personal involvement in the ministry of their local churches. Of course, “serving” does not only involve “official ministry activity” but, even more importantly, also serving one another in the broad, practical context of daily life and relationships.
Third, each member must “build” others: “the body builds itself up.” This has been the critical missing element in many churches. We have not taken deliberate, personal responsibility for building others. Usually we “delegate” that responsibility to others. So, for example, the children are taught spiritually at Sunday School, the new believers go to discipleship class on Tuesday night, the emerging leaders are sent off to Bible school, etc.
However, biblically, we all have responsibility to build others. Parents are responsible to build their children (Eph. 6:4; Deut. 6:4-9; 11:18-21). Existing believers are responsible to build the new disciples (Matt. 28:19-20). The older women are responsible to build the younger ones (Tit. 2:3-5). The mature men teach the younger men (2 Tim. 2:2).
A healthy church is one in which every member grows, serves and builds others. We must have all three. And all three must come from life – the indwelling life of Christ in each believer’s life (John 15:4-5; Eph. 4:16) as he or she grows, serves and builds.
This is a profound paradigm shift for many believers and churches. It is a shift away from a program mentality to a people mentality. However, if we can create a church culture in which every believer takes responsibility to grow, serve and build, our churches will transform their worlds!

Getting Loose From A Religious Mind

GETTING LOOSE FROM A RELIGIOUS MIND
A few years ago I worked closely in ministry with a young man named George Johnson. George had only been converted for a short time when he received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and began to move freely in spiritual gifts. He soon became an ardent soul winner and an effective minister of the Gospel.
One thing that caught my attention was his absolute freedom from religion. He didn't use the "churchy" phrases or the King James English. He didn't weigh everything to see if it fit into his denomination's doctrinal statement. He never attended Bible school or seminary. He didn't change the tone of his voice when he prayed in public, but talked to God with honor and respect just as he would talk to a close friend. He had more liberty and power in his ministry than I did in mine and I had been a minister for 20 years before he ever became a Christian!
Over a period of time I became aware of many areas of my life in which I had become "religious minded." It had built so slowly and subtly within me that I had not realized what was happening to me.
I had been a Baptist for many years but I had always seen myself as being more open-minded than most of my brother pastors. However, I soon discovered that I had a Baptist mind. I looked at things as a Baptist does and not necessarily as God does.
As I sought the Lord in prayer and in His Word, He began to teach me about the perils of a religious mind.
It was a religious mind that blinded the Pharisees and made it impossible for them to recognize God when they came face to face with Him in the person of Jesus Christ.
It was religion that drove Saul of Tarsus to persecute the very God he was seeking to serve.
It was in the name of religion that Jesus was crucified; "Blasphemy!" cried the religious leaders, "Crucify Him!!"
It was the religious mind that was disturbed and angered when Jesus healed a woman on the Sabbath Day, whom Satan had bound for 18 years.
King Saul became religious when he spared King Agag and the fattest of the cattle. The prophet thundered his disapproval, "Does God have as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as He does in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than to sacrifice and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry." (I Sam. 15:22-23)
We can never substitute religious works for simple obedience. To God there is no difference between "religious things" and "secular things" because "all things" concerning our daily lives are naked and open to Him, and at every moment we are either in the center of his will or we are doing our own thing in the strength of the flesh.
The brazen serpent which was at one time an instrument of God's deliverance, became a snare to the people when they lifted it up and burned incense to it. (II Kings 13:4) If we try to program the present move of God or reduce it to a formula to use later, we are lifting up a brazen serpent. We must flow with what God is doing now! He has not led us to burn incense to memories of the past, but continue to flow with the River of Life that is flowing now!
Man tends to build monuments to spiritual experiences and deify doctrine rather than to feel comfortable with a simple walk with God in the Spirit.
On the Mt. of Transfiguration after a tremendous spiritual experience, Peter said, "Let us build three tabernacles!" God rebuked Peter's "good idea" and then underscored the one thing that is needful: "THIS IS MY BELOVED SON . . . HEAR HIM!"
Don't marry your church, your denomination, your Bible, your books, your tapes, your orthodoxy, your own understanding! Your Husband is Jesus! Worship Him!
Suppose I got all enamored with my wife's letters, her pictures, her clothes, her cooking, her sewing, and never spent time with her? We must never lift up a brazen serpent of worship, prayer, fasting, church attendance, tithing, witnessing, giving, or working. These are only channels of deliverance and communion. They are not God!
The spiritual mind is God's answer to the religious mind. "He that has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches."
"Corban" was a religious word in the time of Jesus. It meant "An offering to God, in fulfillment of a vow." The phrase was often used to avoid fulfilling the obligation of children to their parents. If a person said "Corban", it meant that he was no longer obligated by law to help his parents because he had dedicated his material wealth to God. Jesus said to the religious leaders of his day, "And many things like this you are doing." (Mark 7:11-13)
Peter' s religious observance of a past word from God would have made it impossible for him to go to the home of Cornelius if he had not changed his mind and said "Yes" to present guidance. (Acts 10)
God is shaking me loose from strictly formulated doctrinal positions, neat formulas, air­ tight theologies, iron-clad rules, rituals, laws, and principles, and is crowding me into a corner. And when I get fully and completely and helplessly crowded into that corner there will be nothing there except . . . me and Jesus!


--
A Declaration of Unity
I belong to everything that belongs to Jesus and everything that belongs to Jesus belongs to me! It's not us and them. It's just us! There's only one Body of Christ, and the problems of the church, the whole church, are our problems, for we are the church and we can do more united than we can do divided! So let's unify, simplify, and multiply!

Divine Appointment Prayer
Father, give me a divine appointment today with someone who is hungry for God, or sick, or in need, and give me grace to minister the love of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Living to Give
Father, make me a generous giver today! Show me where to give, what to give, how much to give, and let all my giving bring glory to the name of Jesus.

The law demands, demands demands, but gives me neither feet nor hands
Now Grace and Truth are better things, they bid me fly and give me wings!