Let The River Flow
An Introductory House Church Equipping Handbook
The Parousia Network
of House & Cell Churches
www.parousianetwork.com
© Copyright 2002 Maurice Smith
© Copyright 2002, Maurice Smith All rights reserved.
Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this work in
any form except where quotations are accompanied by a full and accurate recitation of the work’s full
title, the publisher, and the publisher’s address. Additional copies of this publication, along with a list
of all other publications and services offered by the publisher, are available from the address given
below:
Published and distributed by:
The Parousia Network of House & Cell Churches
P. O. Box 18793
Spokane, WA 99228
www.parousianetwork.com
All Scripture quotations from The New American Standard Bible (Copyright The Lockman Foundation,
La Habra, California) unless otherwise indicated. The Four Spiritual Laws courtesy of Campus
Crusade For Christ International.
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
What Difference Does It Make? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Prepare to Have Your Paradigm Shaken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Let The River Flow! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Your House Could Change The World! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Our Home & Cell Church Philosophy
(or A Tale Of Riding Dead Horses) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
A Tale of Riding Dead Horses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Are You Tired of Trying To Ride A Dead Horse? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Is Your Church A Mule Or A Rabbit? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
What Is a House Church or a Cell Church? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Are House Churches A Threat To The "Local Church?" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
What Is The Parousia Network Of House & Cell Churches? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
What Are The Unique Emphases Of The Parousia Network? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
What About This Notebook? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Worldview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
How Should We Then Live?: The Church In A Post-Christian Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Once Upon A Revival? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Background of A Collapse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
We’ve Been Overwhelmed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Revival or Anarchy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Schaeffer’s Five Pressures & The Rise of New Age Globalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
1. Economic Breakdown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2. War or the serious threat of war. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3. The chaos of violence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4. The radical redistribution of the wealth of the world. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5. A growing shortage of food and other natural resources in the world. . . 26
How Should We Then Live? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
“And If Not . . .”: A Christian Manifesto For The 21st Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Abandon Ship: How Spiritual Hodge Podge and Minimalist Christianity are Sinking The
Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
“And If Not . . .” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
What We Need: A New Christian Manifesto For The 21st Century . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Terrorism, Transformation & The River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Ancient Terrorism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
When Worldviews Collide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Transformation Or Judgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Preparing A Channel For The River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Introduction to House Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
House To House: The Underground Church of the New Testament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
A Counter Cultural Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
First Century Background & Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
House Churches In The New Testament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
The Early Underground House Church Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
The Decline of the House Church and The Rise of the Church Building . . . . . . . 44
Deja vu All Over Again? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
8 Characteristics Of New Testament House Churches (Acts 2:41-47) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Characteristic # 1: Perseverance (vs. 42, 46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Characteristic # 2: Awe/fear (vs. 43) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Characteristic # 3: Uncommon Community (vs. 44, 45) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Characteristic # 4: One-Mindedness (v. 46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Characteristic # 5: House-To-House Ministry (v. 46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Characteristic # 6: Eschatological Joy (vs. 46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Characteristic # 7: Grace (vs. 47). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Characteristic # 8: God-Inspired Evangelistic Growth (vs. 47) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
O. K., Let’s Do House Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Pliny’s Problem With A Simple Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Samuel Wesley Had A Problem (Just Ask His Wife!) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
How John Wesley Solved Samuel’s Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Enter The Nike Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Baggage Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
When and Where Should We Meet? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Keeping The Main Thing The Main Thing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
The Message of The Early Church In The Book of Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Tossed Salad Christianity - Mixing It Up Over A Meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Leadership: Who’s In Charge Here Anyway? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Skin Like A Rhinoceros? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Absolute Truth Vs. Absolute Judgmentalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
That’s Almost Music! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Spectator Christianity vs Mutual Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Here I Stand: Taking Our Place In The Drama (or, Does Doctrine Matter?) . . . . . 65
Who Do I Make My Check Out To? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
The Role of Teaching In House Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Let’s Talk About That . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Growing Your House Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
You Can’t Get There From Here
(Or “When Do We Go From Addition To Multiplication?”) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
From The Mouths of Babes & Secular Historians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
What’s It All About, Alfie? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Structure, The Great Commission & The Problem of Basic Math . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
You Can’t Get There From Here - Reprise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Strategy # 1: A Place To Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
A “Multiplying Group of Eight” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Strategy # 2: Reaching Beyond Your House Church & Into Your Neighborhood
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Why Some House Churches Multiply While Others Don’t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Those Factors That DO NOT Affect Church Multiplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Those Factors That DO Affect Church Multiplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Praying & Interceding For Your House Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Praying & Interceding For Your House Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Is Your House A House Of Prayer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Make a Fasting & Prayer Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
The Fasting Covenant of The Reverend James McGready . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
The Parousia Network Friday Fasting Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
The Relationship Between Fasting And Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
God Looks For Intercessors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Three Examples of Intercession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
What Intercessors Believe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Seeking God With A Whole Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Revitalizing Our Prayer Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Principle of Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Prayer of Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Preparing To Fast & Pray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Why Are We Fasting & Praying? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
What Are We Fasting & Praying For? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Prayer, Fasting and The Seasons of Our Lives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
A Perspective on Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Times and Seasons In Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
God’s Seasons of the Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Who Are You Praying For? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
People & Situations You Are Praying For . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
“Preparing To Fast” Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Eleven Biblical Reasons Why Christians Should Fast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Personal Discipleship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Hushed Was The Evening Hymn
by James D Burns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
The Cost of Discipleship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
The Practicalities of Personal DIscipleship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Directions Given To “The Band Societies” by John Wesley (1744) . . . . . 109
Start With The Three “Pillars of Piety” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Daily Bible Reading & Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Regular Devotional Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Personal Introspection & Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
During the past week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Personal Devotional Journaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Teaching & Study Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Song Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Let’s Be Legal About This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Parousia Helps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Affiliating Your House Church With The Parousia Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Why You Should Affiliate W ith The Parousia Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Affiliation Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Become A Student Of House Church Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
The Gospel: The First Step In House Church Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
What Do We Believe? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
The Lausanne Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
1. The Purpose of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
2. The Authority and Power of the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
3. The Uniqueness and Universality of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
4. The Nature of Evangelism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
5. Christian Social Responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
6. The Church and Evangelism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
7. Co-operation in Evangelism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
8. Churches in Evangelistic Partnership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
9. The Urgency of the Evangelistic Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
10. Evangelism and Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
11. Education and Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
12. Spiritual Conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
13. Freedom and Persecution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
14. The Power of the Holy Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
15. The Return of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Introduction
“Objective and relevance - these are the crucial issues of our work. Both are interrelated, and the
measure by which they are made compatible will largely determine the significance of all our
activity. Merely because we are busy, or even skilled, doing something does not necessarily mean
that we are getting anything accomplished.
The question must always be asked.
Is it worth doing?
And does it get the job done?”
Robert Coleman
The Master Plan of Evangelism
Introduction : Page 8
Welcome
Welcome to The Parousia Network of House & Cell Churches, and to our Introductory House
Church Equipping Handbook. The purpose of this Handbook is to encourage, to inform and to
equip you to become the Church that meets in your house. This Handbook is not a “house church
‘how-to’ manual.” If you want a genuine and authoritative manual on “how-to-do” house church, then
read the New Testament! Nearly every book of the New Testament, with a few possible exceptions,
was originally written either to early house churches or to individuals who were either leading or were
otherwise involved in house churches. Dr. Tony Dale of House2House magazine has rightly
observed that much of the New Testament can only be properly understood within the context of
small groups of believers meeting in such house churches. In the House Church movement, we don’t
“do church.” We don’t “go to church.” According to the New Testament, we are the church. The
purpose of this Handbook is to encourage you and to equip you to be the church that meets in your
house.
I recently had a conversation with an internationally known Bible teacher who has begun encouraging
his ministry audiences to start meeting in house churches. He observed that, in his opinion, the house
church movement was facing two challenges. The first is the need for networking among house
churches. The second is the need for equipped and trained leaders. I agree. This handbook,
combined with the overall ministry of The Parousia Network, is intended to begin addressing these
two critical issues. I believe that, ultimately, house churches that are not networked with other house
churches and that are not consciously training and equipping their people to be leaders will not
survive or prosper long-term, and we must be consciously in this for the long term. I also believe that
God is calling out, raising up and equipping a new generation of house church leaders who will, in
their turn, train more leaders, who will train more leaders, etc. This was the plan of Jesus; it was the
plan of Paul, and it must be our plan as well. It is, I believe, “the Master’s plan of evangelism.”
It is my personal conviction that we must become very intentional in these two goals - networking our
house churches and training leaders. These are two of the goals and purposes of The Parousia
Network. While the information presented in this Handbook is useful and relevant to house church
in general, it has been designed and intended for use by those individuals and house churches
seeking to affiliate with The Parousia Network for purposes of networking, equipping, encouragement,
covering and accountability. You will find information on affiliating with The Parousia Network in
Section 8 of this Handbook.
What Difference Does It Make?
When we look at the current state of the traditional church in America (and Europe) we are forced
to ask a very simple yet profound question: What difference does it make? Or in the words of
evangelism expert Robert Coleman, when measured by our objective (discipling the nations, Matthew
18:28-29) and by relevance (are our activities relevant to our stated objective) we must painfully
conclude that the Church in America (and the West) is floundering badly and is making very little
difference. We are a church full of activities (something for every age group. A virtual “Wal-Mart” of
Christian activity!). This is not so much a criticism as an observation of the times. The Church today
is better funded, its leadership better educated and its programs better produced than at any time in
its history. But answer a simple question: Is America (& the West) “more Christian” today than it was
100 years ago (or even 50 years ago)? If our stated objective, as given by Christ Himself, is to
disciple our nation, then, by all measures of our impact upon our culture and its people, the Church
has failed at its primary task. And that means that all of our activities, which contributed to that failure,
Introduction : Page 9
are apparently irrelevant, for they have done little or nothing to achieve our stated objective.
Contrary to much popular opinion, the Christian life is not a “zero sum game” (where everything adds
up to “zero” in the end with no winners or losers). Consider the following passage: “Therefore also
we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body,
according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Therefore knowing the fear of the Lord, we
persuade men. . .” (2 Corinthians 5:9-11), Here the Apostle Paul acknowledges that life is not a “zero
sum” game where, regardless of what we did as Christians in this life, everything “zeros out” in the
end. Instead, Paul declares that His ambition is to please God. Why? Because, Paul argues, we
must (it isn’t optional) all (no exceptions) make an appearance before the judgment seat of Christ.
For what purpose? “That each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body,” declares Paul.
Commentators have labored over the years to explain exactly what this passage means for the
believer. The usual conclusion is that it has to do with our rewards, and that some Christians will
receive more while others receive less (See also Colossians 3:25). Whether or not this is the correct
interpretation we won’t know until that Day. But what we do know is this: Paul’s understanding of this
“event” struck fear into his heart, because in the next verse Paul declares, “Therefore, knowing the
fear of the Lord, we persuade men. . .”
The Christian life and ministry are not a “zero sum” game. A day of reckoning is approaching for the
Church as a whole and for each of us individually when all of our work and efforts will be tested by
fire (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). Now is the time to ask ourselves, while there is still time to “please the
Lord,” whether or not what we are doing is worth the reckoning that will eventually take place.
Prepare to Have Your Paradigm Shaken
Our English word “paradigm” comes from the Greek word paradeigma (paradeigma) meaning “model”
or “pattern” (used in classical Greek to refer to an architect’s blueprint). The word is curiously absent
from the New Testament. Perhaps there is a lesson here. Men create paradigms, models and
patterns. It is God who shakes them. If we try to put God into a fixed paradigm, model or pattern (i.e.,
“put God in a box”), God will shake or destroy our box. He wants us to be flexible and willing to
change and adjust. His Spirit is a river that is ever moving, ever flowing; not a lake or a pond, and not
a man made swimming pool where the filling can be trapped and collected in a box.
Some 100 years ago a powerful movement of the Spirit of God swept around the world, shaking old
paradigms and raising up new ones. This worldwide movement of the Spirit between 1904 to 1907
gave birth to a new paradigm that found expression in the Welsh Revival of 1904 (an "Evangelical-
Pentecostal" revival without "tongues") and the modern day Pentecostal movement. Then, it was a
new paradigm for a new day. But people and movements eventually get trapped in their boxes and
become the prisoners of their paradigms. The paradigms become institutionalized, trapping its
members inside and fending off outsiders who might bring change. When that happens it isn't long
(and 100 years isn't long in God's sight!) before God moves in a fresh way, challenging and shattering
"once new/now old" paradigms, whether Evangelical or Pentecostal, and bringing in new paradigms
for a new day. What does it mean? It means that God will not allow Himself , His Spirit or His
Kingdom to become trapped in anyone’s box, model, pattern or paradigm. It also means that God
isn't done yet. He has more to teach us. And it means that He fully intends to accomplish His original
stated goal of empowering and equipping us, His Church, to be His witnesses "even to the remotest
part of the earth" irrespective of any humanly crated box.
I believe that house churches (and their cousins the cell church) represent one of God's new
Introduction : Page 10
paradigms for this time. And I believe the River of Ezekiel 47, the River of the Water of Life, is
another of God's new paradigms for His people. The paradigm itself is not new. Christians have been
writing and singing about the River for some time. Pentecostalism was not unknown before Azusa
Street (April, 1906). Evan Roberts, one of the instruments of the Welsh Revival of 1904, told his
biographer (D.M.Phillips) that, not only had he prayed 11 years for revival, but he had prayed for 13
years for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Roberts experienced his personal baptism on Thursday,
September 29th, 1904 at a little after 9:00 AM in the morning (but that's another story!). What do the
Welsh Revival of 1904 and the Azusa outpouring of 1906 share in common? Both were
manifestations of the River of Ezekiel 47, the River of the Water of Life.
Let The River Flow!
I believe that God is about to bring these two new paradigms together in these last days, and in a way
that is more powerful than we, our fathers or our grand-fathers ever imagined. While there is
increasing turmoil in the world around us, and while men's hearts fail them for fear, I believe that the
River of Ezekiel 47, the River of the Water of Life is about to flow in unprecedented power through
a new paradigm of networking house churches, resulting in renewal, revival, awakening,
empowerment and a great harvest. The issues will not be baptism, tongues, healings or any one
experience or gifting. The question of the day will be, "Are you standing in the River?" Why? Because
everything else the people of God so earnestly seek (revival, cleansing, healing, empowering, gifts,
evangelism, etc.) is a by-product of The River. And when this River begins to flow, the safest place
to be is to be found standing in the dry river bed awaiting the coming of The River. And when this
River of God’s Power and Presence truly begins to flow through our homes, our families and
our house churches, our houses will begin to change the world!
Your House Could Change The World!
“These men who have upset the world have come here also.” (Acts 17:6)
When was the last time anyone accused you, as a Christian, of turning your world upside down?
When was the last time they accused your Church of turning your community upside down? Today,
many Christians (an estimated 10 million) have dropped out of traditional churches because they feel
personally ineffective and powerless to change the world around them, and they feel that the
traditional institutional church no longer works like it should. As a result, many Christians today have
lost any vision or sense of calling that they can (or should) change the world or have any serious longterm
impact on their community. And without such a vision, people perish, and Christians lead silent
lives of frustration and disillusionment.
But what about those early Christians of Acts 17:6 who were accused of upsetting the whole world
(literally, “men who have thrown the inhabited earth into an uproar”)? What did they do to change
their world, while we seem so powerless and ineffective? They met together in one another’s homes.
They devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, sharing meals together, and prayer. They rejoiced
together and suffered together. They shared their lives with one another and met one another’s
needs. They didn’t simply believe the truth, they lived the truth authentically in a way that changed
the world. Their homes became hotbeds of God’s absolute truth that God’s Messiah, Jesus of
Nazareth, had lived, died, been raised from the dead and ascended into heaven and that God was
now calling all men everywhere to repent and believe.
This message had converted a Roman Centurian in Caesarea, won over the Roman Governor of
Cyprus, confounded Greek philosophers in Athens, disturbed the religious status quo in
Introduction : Page 11
Thessalonica, caused lawsuits in Corinth and economic riots in Ephesus. It moved quietly from one
house to the next in silent triumph. The home of a Roman Centurian. The home of a woman fabric
merchant in Philippi. The home of Aquila and his wife Priscilla, Jewish-Christian refugees from
Rome. The home of a Gentile God-fearer named Titius Justus and the home of Crispus, the
synagogue leader in Corinth. All of these, and more, were now part of a growing list of homes and
families conquered by the gospel and now part of the Kingdom of God. For the next 250 years these
networks of house churches would serve as God’s vessels and instruments to turn the ancient world
upside down and to bring the Roman Empire to its knees.
In a day when traditional church attendance is declining and Christians are feeling powerless and
frustrated it should come as no surprise that God is again raising up thousands of networking house
churches!
Isn’t it time that you became the church that meets in your house?
Isn’t it time that your house changed the world?!
Introduction : Page 12
Our Home & Cell Church Philosophy
(or A Tale Of Riding Dead Horses)
Introduction
Some twenty-five years ago theologian and philosopher Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer wrote a book
documenting "The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture." The title of his work was taken
from Ezekiel 33:10, How Should We Then Live? Ezekiel 33 is, of course, the great "watchman"
passage in which the Prophet Ezekiel is warned of God’s impending judgment if Israel does not
repent of its sin. The culmination of the passage comes in verse 10 where Israel declares, "If our
transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?" While
this may sound like a lifestyle question, it is not. Rather, it is a survival question. The Israelites were
wondering, if everything Ezekiel had said was true, how could they possibly survive the pending
judgment of God. In the end, Israel did not survive. She did not repent. The nation was taken into
captivity by the Babylonians and Jerusalem was destroyed.
Twenty-five years ago Dr. Schaeffer wrote his book in the hopeful prayer that the coming generation
(in which we now live) "may get its feet out of the paths of death and may live" (Schaeffer, page 258).
Unfortunately, the decline which Dr. Schaeffer so ably analyzed and documented has continued,
even accelerated, during the intervening years. And in the ensuing struggle the organized and
institutional Church as most Christians have known and experienced it has become caught up in and
overwhelmed by this cultural collapse of historic proportions.
Now, chances are that you are reading this introduction for one of two reasons, out of either curiosity
or frustration. You may simply be curious concerning what home or cell churches are all about. You
may even have had some experience (good or bad) with a home or cell church. After all, the concept
is not new (as we shall see) and it is growing.
But then you may be among the growing number of Christians who sense that something is
desperately wrong both in our culture and in the Church, and who are increasingly frustrated (some
would say they are "burned out" or "fed up") with the institutional/denominational Church as most of
us have known it. In a word, you are tired of "trying to ride a dead horse."
A Tale of Riding Dead Horses
In an article for Focal Point, a publication of Denver Seminary, Dr. Haddon Robinson gave an
illustration regarding organizations and dead horses. One bit of wisdom addressed to organizations
is "When the horse you are riding dies, dismount."That sounds like keen insight into the obvious.
Unfortunately, many organizations refuse to embrace it. Writer Karen Peterson came up with some
alternative strategies that organizations often use to deal with the problem of dead horses (the
comments in parenthesis are mine, not hers):
Change riders (If you can't do the job of riding this horse we'll find someone who can!).
Appoint a committee to study the horse (After all, we mustn't rush to judgment. Perhaps the horse
isn't really dead, but sleeping).
Attend a seminar to increase riding ability (When in doubt, blame the rider and question his
abilities).
Introduction : Page 13
Get a stronger whip (even if this doesn't motivate the horse, it will make the rider feel better!).
Enroll in a seminar to learn how others ride dead horses (Perhaps if you improve your technique
no one will notice that you lack substance).
When there is nothing else to do, remember, the time honored wisdom of desperate
organizations: "No horse is too dead to beat!"
Dr. Robinson added a couple of ways that churches and other Christian organizations handle dead
horses:
Preach a series of sermons assuring listeners that "this horse is not dead!"
Keep reminding people of how strong the horse looked when it was alive and hope that they won't
notice that it has died.
Pray that the dead horse will be resurrected.
Move the dead horse to a new location.
Label anyone who points out that the horse is dead a "heretic" (or a person of "no faith").
Are You Tired of Trying To Ride A Dead Horse?
So let me ask you: Are you trying to ride a dead horse? In recent years many committed Christians
have become tired, frustrated and disillusioned with the institutional, organizational and
denominational structure of the Church as they have traditionally known it. As one ministry friend of
mine declared with a note of frustration, "If Moses had relied on a committee he’d still be wandering
around in the wilderness!" Many of those Christians who are disillusioned with the Church as it exists
today are among the 20% who have been doing 80% of the work of the ministry. They are tired of
trying to ride a dead horse!
The traditional institutional church seems to have lost its Kingdom vision and has replaced it with a
committee or a program. The church has lost its power. This powerlessness in the face of a wave of
cultural collapse has taken its toll. According to Christian Sociologist and trend-watcher Dr. George
Barna, his research has revealed that:
O Our evangelism is ineffective. A majority of the people who made a "decision" for Christ in one
of our evangelical churches "were no longer to be found in a church context within eight weeks
of having made such a decision." Indeed, a study conducted by the Southern Baptists
discovered that out of every 10 converts who professed faith in a Southern Baptist Church,
only 1 was still active in the church one year later.
O We have evangelized for decisions rather than conversions. But conviction is not conversion
and a decision does not produce a disciple. Our evangelism has degenerated to little more
than a slick ad-marketing campaign, so we shouldn’t be surprised that the commitment of the
average "convert" is about as deep and authentic as a celebrity commercial endorsement.
O We close more churches each year in America than we open, and some 5,000 pastors leave
the ministry every month. I was recently stunned to hear that the evangelical denomination
Introduction : Page 14
from whose seminary I graduated recently declared that it was closing some 50 churches in
the Northwestern United States. Across America we are closing down more churches each
year than we are starting. In Scotland, the Church of Scotland recently announced that it will
close 600 of its 1,400 fellowships. Dead horses litter the landscape.
O A minority of born again adults (only 32%) are certain of the existence of absolute moral truth!
O In a typical week, 41% of the adults attending Christian churches are not born again!
O Four out of ten born again Christians do not attend Church, and there are more than 10 million
born again Christians who are not attending Church.
As a result of this collapse of our culture and its impact upon the church, many institutional churches
are looking (and praying) for revival in the hope that God will somehow revive and breathe new life
into their dying institutions and programs; in other words, they are asking God to resurrect their dead
horses. But the history of revival demonstrates that God revives and breathes new life into people,
not buildings, institutions or programs.
With precious few exceptions the institutional church structure is inefficient and inflexible for the times
in which we live, and for the difficult times that may soon be coming. The Church seems equally
unprepared for either revival or for difficult times.
Is Your Church A Mule Or A Rabbit?
A mule is a creature that has been bred for extinction. A mule is created when you breed a male
donkey with a female horse. The resulting creature is a prized work animal. It will work hard as a
beast of burden and will live out its life with no particular ill effects, other than a complete inability to
reproduce. A mule will never produce another mule. It is that simple.
Rabbits on the other hand are legendary for their ability to reproduce and to produce more rabbits.
It comes natural. They just can't help themselves!
Most churches today are mules. Whether by design and intent or by accident and inability, they never
reproduce. In America today we close more churches than we start, like mules incapable of
reproducing themselves.
There is an important movement underway today which I believe is a genuine movement of God.
Thousands of Christians are moving out of traditional, institutional and denominational churches and
are beginning to meet as house churches and cell churches. This phenomenon is widespread and
it is growing! In order to meet the challenges of the 21st Century I believe that God is raising up
thousands, even tens of thousands of house churches & cell churches, prepared to provide the
needed leadership for the times in which we live. I believe He is raising up thousands of house
churches & cell churches which will be vehicles for the new wine of the coming revival, and to disciple
the tens of thousands of new converts who will be the fruit of that revival. And I believe He is raising
up thousands of house churches & cell churches which will be havens of shelter and preparedness
during the difficult and turbulent times that I believe may lay just ahead. Yes! God is raising up His
end-time church(es), and He is preparing and equipping them for effective ministry during the difficult
times that may soon come upon both the Church and the world.
Introduction : Page 15
1Wolfgang Sims on, Houses That Change The World: Towards a Re-Incarnation of Church. Probably the best
sing le book on House Church ministry available to-date. Every House Church library s hould hav e a we ll-wor n cop y of this
book. Published by Dawn International Network, PF 212, 8212 Neuhausen 2, Switzerland, available thru Amazon.com or
from Hou se2House ministries at www.house2hou se.tv.
2Ralph W. Neighbou r, Jr., Where Do We Go From Here?: A Guidebook for the Cell Group Church (10th
Anniversary Edition). This is the book that effectively launched Cell Churches to an American audience. A must read. ISBN
1880828170. Touch Publications, P.O. Box 19888, Houston, TX 77224-9888; Telephone: (800) 735-5865; FAX (281) 497-
0904; W ebsite: w ww.tou chusa .org.
What Is a House Church or a Cell Church?
We need to clarify some basic definitional understandings. There are several types or levels of homegroup
meetings, including:
Home fellowship groups - these are usually extensions of an on-going institutional ("bricks &
mortar") Church ministry which meets in the homes of individual members. It may meet for prayer,
for fellowship, for bible study or for any number of other reasons. Generally speaking they are not led
by elders and the Lord’s Supper is not celebrated. They can be very popular and very successful,
depending upon the group and the church of which they are a part.
A House Church - This is different from a home fellowship in that it is a self-contained Church
meeting in the homes of individual believers. It has clearly defined leadership (what we would call
"elders" and perhaps even "deacons") and meets regularly for all of the functions normally associated
with "Church" including fellowship, prayer, worship, instruction & the Lord's table. The Church will vary
in size, and it may or may not be related to any other house Church. This is what I call the "Wolfgang
Simson Model," as described in his excellent book Houses That Change The World.1
The house church is based upon the model of the church in the New Testament. The home was a
central meeting place for the early church. The gospel was preached in homes (see Acts 5:42 &
20:20) and the Lord's supper was celebrated in homes (Acts 2:46). The creation of these churches-inhouses
was of the greatest significance for the spreading of the Gospel. By means of its network of
house churches the early church personalized its ministry and placed the gospel at the center of the
natural order of life. This became the regular pattern of the early church for the next 200 years.
A house church is a body or group of believers (a "church"), consisting of 4-to-6 families (around 15-
to-20 adults), usually led by an elder (one or more) that meets in the home of one of its members for
fellowship, prayer, encouragement, study of the word, and ministry. It is within this group and context
that the primary ministry of the church takes place. These individual house churches may meet
together with other house churches in their area for corporate worship and celebration of what God
is doing.
A Cell Church - A Cell Church is much like a house church, the primary difference being that it is
usually organized into a hierarchy structure and is related to other cell Churches through a structure
of supervision and accountability. This is what I call the "Ralph Neighbor Model." 2
I believe that the house church & cell church movement is the "new wineskin" that God is preparing
to receive the new wine of renewal and revival, and to serve as a support and ministry network during
the difficult times which may soon come upon the world and the Church. At The Parousia Network
we don't take sides on which is better or "more biblical," a cell church or a house church. Our goal
Introduction : Page 16
and vision is to encourage Christians to network in house churches and/or cell churches, thereby
becoming “the Church that meets in your house.”
Are House Churches A Threat To The "Local Church?"
No, because the house church is the local church. If the "local church" is defined as a body of
believers meeting together for fellowship, prayer, encouragement, study of the word, and ministry,
then thehouse church is the local church in its purest and simplest form! Also, any institutional
Church could re-orient its ministry around a house church or cell church structure. Their refusal to do
so may demonstrate a failure to acknowledge that the horse they are riding on has died! We need
to stop defending institutions and invest our time and resources into advancing the Kingdom of God!
What Is The Parousia Network Of House & Cell Churches?
The Parousia Network is a ministry dedicated to encouraging believers to become “the Church that
meets in their house.”
O We are a body of believers committed to prayer & fasting for revival in our generation.
O We are a ministry committed to building strong families because we believe that families are
the basic building block of God’s Church and of His social order and structure, and House
Churches are a corporate manifestation of this family structure as it seeks to worship God
along with other like-minded families.
O We are a Church that is committed to the practical manifestation and expression of “the
priesthood of all believers.” In House Church we teach and practice the biblical idea that every
person is responsible for approaching God in worship, in mutual ministry to one another in the
power of the Holy Spirit and the gifts He bestows, and in practical service both to the body of
Christ and to the world.
O We are a Church that believes in the importance of Christian education, beginning in the
home, as the responsibility of parents to model Christ in family worship and to teach Christ
in all areas of education. For this reason we see a natural and spiritual relationship between
House Church and home schooling and other forms of direct Christian education.
O We work to provide individual believers and families with the training and equipping they need
to accomplish God’s Kingdom purposes for themselves and for the Church that meets in their
home.
O We are laboring and praying towards a goal of building a network of house and cell churches
which have chosen to affiliate with us for purposes of spiritual covering, accountability,
instruction and networking with other like-minded house and cell Churches.
What Are The Unique Emphases Of The Parousia Network?
1. Networking - We believe that the building of reliable networks of believers by means of networking
house churches and cell churches is critical for the ministry of the Church in these last days (We
discuss the importance of this in greater detail in Chapter 16 of our book The Parousia Strategy).
For this reason we have created an Affiliation procedure whereby you and your house church can
affiliate with The Parousia Network to begin this process of building of reliable networks of House
Introduction : Page 17
Churches. You will find an Affiliation Application in Section 8 of this Handbook.
2. A Parousia Strategy of Personal Preparedness - At The Parousia Network we believe that the
world (and therefore the Church) is on the verge of some challenging and difficult times. If we are truly
living in those days prior to the End of The Age then we must be prepared to live and minister in
difficult times. We have prepared a detailed response for living in such times which we call The
Parousia Strategy, our 350+ page (81/2X11) book and manual for dynamic living during difficult
times. It forms an important part of our over all ministry.
3. Fasting & Intercession For Revival & Renewal - At The Parousia Network we believe in a
coming revival when the River of Ezekiel 47, the River of the Spirit of God, is going to flow in
unprecedented power through the Church, and overflow into the world, renewing the Church and
sweeping millions into the Kingdom of God. We believe that home & cell churches are going to play
an important role in channeling that River of God's power and providing a biblical environment where
young believers can be nurtured, encouraged and discipled for Kingdom ministry. We also believe
that fervent fasting and intercession will play a key role in this revival. We believe that our homes and
our house churches need to become houses of prayer where fasting & prayer for God’s Kingdom
purposes is a way of life. Section 4 of this Handbook deals specifically with prayer. In addition, we
have prepared a 300+ page manual for fasting and prayer entitled Proclaim A Fast! We explain the
nature, role and purpose of biblical fasting, and we provide a "Fasting & Prayer Devotional Guide and
Journal" to assist individuals and groups in studying every major biblical passage on fasting (broken
down into 41 daily devotionals). Also, to encourage you in praying for revival we have posted on our
site a complete copy of our book, When The Fire Fell: The Great Welsh Revival of 1904 And Its
Meaning For Revival Today. You can read a thoroughly documented history of one of the greatest
revivals of the 20th Century!
4. Training & Equipping For House Church & Cell Church Ministry - We believe in training and
equipping our house church & cell church groups for effective total Kingdom ministry (as described
in Matthew Chapter 10 and Luke Chapter 10) in these last days. That is the purpose of this Equipping
Handbook, and we are continually producing additional material to assist believers in effective house
church & cell church ministry with a practical goal of "reproducibility." To sum it up in a thought: We
want a growing network of home and cell churches that multiply and reproduce themselves like
rabbits ! We want to create a pattern for house churches & cell churches that is easily reproduced
and duplicated, and we believe that organization is one of the keys to easily and quickly multiplying
house & cell churches.
What About This Notebook?
So, what about this notebook? Is this notebook a “House Church ‘How To’ Manual”? No. Successful
house church or cell church is not based upon any “How To” manual. Each house church is unique,
and that uniqueness is a reflection of the people in that particular church. The purpose of this
notebook is not to tell you how to do house church. Its purpose is to equip you to understand and be
a part of God’s plan and purpose for house churches in our day. Our goal is to equip you for
contemporary house church ministry in eight specific ways.
1. Weltanschaunng - Worldview: There is a reason why “church as usual,” that is, church as we, our
fathers and our grand-fathers have traditionally known it, no longer “works” for us as it did for them.
Western society has become a Post-Christian culture. And that culture has consciously rejected
traditional institutional church structures, along with our message of absolute moral and religious
truth. The purpose of this first section is to explain the rise of this Post-Christian/Post-Modern
Introduction : Page 18
“weltanschaunng” or worldview. A worldview is a “way of seeing” life & the world. It is how we view
reality. We all have a worldview, and today’s contemporary worldview is predominantly Post-Christian.
The Church (defined as the visible body of professing believers wherever they meet) has now
become a counter-cultural witness to a Post-Christian culture in decline.
2. Ekklhsia - Introduction to House Church: In the N.T. the Ekklhsia (ekklesia - usually translated
“church”) is literally “the assembly of those who have been called out.” The N.T. church consisted of
believers who met “house-to-house.” In this section we equip you to understand the N.T. concept of
house church, to identify some of its key characteristics, and then to begin the process of becoming
“the church that meets in your house” by helping you think through some of the basic issues that
confront “newcomers” to the house church movement.
3. Plhqunw - Growing Your House Church: The Greek word plhqunw (plethuno - “to increase
greatly” hence “to multiply”) is the word used in the book of Acts to describe the exponential growth
of the early church. One of the greatest dangers of the house church movement is the danger of
developing an inward focus that results in its becoming ingrown and losing sight of its primary calling,
which is to fulfill Christ’s Great Commission to disciple the nations (and just how do you “disciple” a
“nation”?). In this section we seek to challenge you with a vision for the need to become a network
of multiplying house churches. We demonstrate the difference between church addition and church
multiplication. We show you a model for transforming your house church into a multiplying house
church that grows 8-fold! And we offer you two simple strategies for building your house church by
mapping your neighborhood and starting the process of becoming the house church that transforms
your extended neighborhood.
4. Entugcanw - Praying & Interceding For Your House Church: The Greek word entugcanw
(entugchano) is the N.T. word used for the intercession of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:27) and of Jesus
Christ (Hebrews 7:25) as they intercede on behalf of believers. Oswald Chambers once observed that
“Prayer does not prepare us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work.” No house church
ministry will succeed that is not founded upon and bathed in and covered by consistent and fervent
prayer and intercession. The purpose of this section is to encourage and to equip you in the ministry
of praying, fasting (yes, that’s right, fasting) and interceding with and for your house church.
5. Maqhths - Personal Discipleship: In the New Testament, a maqhths, the Greek word we translate
“disciple,” was a pupil, a learner, the close follower of a teacher. In the House Church personal
discipleship is more important than ever, because there are no passive participants in House Church
ministry. Everyone must come prepared to participate, which means that each person must be
pursuing their individual personal discipleship during the week.
6. Didach - Bible Study Notes: It should not be the purpose of House Church to become another
“Bible study club” (there are enough of those already). Rather, it is our goal to study and know the
Word of God in such a way that it equips us to become the Church that meets in our homes, and
equips us live godly lives in our Post-Christian culture.
7. Yalmos - Song Sheets: Our goal here is to equip our house churches in practical aspects of
worship by providing a legal covering for song sheets that you may want to reproduce and use as part
of your worship experience in house church. The song sheets included here are covered under our
CCLI License and you are free to use them under the guidelines we provide in this section.
8. Peripatew - Additional Helps: The goal of this section is to provide you with additional house
church resources and helps. This includes a presentation of the gospel (The Four Spiritual Laws by
Introduction : Page 19
Campus Crusade for Christ), a bibliography of some important house church & cell church books &
materials, a doctrinal statement (The Lusanne Covenant) that we use among our affiliated house
churches, and an Affiliation Application for individuals and house churches seeking to affiliate with
The Parousia Network.
Worldview
“There is a flow to history and culture. This flow is rooted and has its wellspring in the thoughts of
people. People are unique in the inner life of the mind - what they are in their thought world
determines how they act. This is true of their value systems and it is true of their creativity. It is true
of their corporate actions, such as political decisions, and it is true of their personal lives. The results
of their thought world flow through their fingers or from their tongues into the external world. This is
true of Michaelangelo’s chisel, and it is true of a dictator’s sword.”
Francis A. Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live
Section 1 : Page 21
How Should We Then Live?: The Church In A Post-Christian Age
Once Upon A Revival?
In the year 1904 a revival broke out in the tiny nation of Wales on the southwest coast of Great
Britain. Within six months of its outbreak some 100,000 persons had professed Christ as Savior and
joined the Church for the first time. By the time the revival had run its course roughly 5% of the
population of Wales had done the same.
When the revival spread to America the effect was profound and widespread. In Denver, the Mayor
declared Friday, January 20, 1905 a day of prayer. At 11:30 nearly every business and every school
in Denver was closed, and the Colorado Legislature voted to postpone business in order to attend
city-wide prayer meetings. Similar scenes were repeated in Atlanta where, on November 2nd factories,
stores and offices closed at mid-day for prayer and the Supreme Court of Georgia adjourned in order
to attend prayer meetings. In Portland, Oregon some 241 businesses signed an agreement to close
for three hours between 11 and 2 p.m. in order to allow their customers and employees to attend
prayer meetings.
Can anyone imagine similar scenes today? Can anyone seriously imagine Michael Eisner closing
down Disneyland so patrons and employees could go to Church? Not likely. Businesses would be
afraid to close for such “religious reasons” for fear of offending non-believing customers and
employees. And cries of “separation of Church and State” would ring in the media if Legislatures and
Courts were to close or postpone business because of a revival.
Background of A Collapse
How did a century that began with such spiritual life and promise end with such spiritual and moral
darkness that Christian thinkers now refer to our present day as a “post-Christian” era and “the New
Dark Ages.” In many ways the Church today is awakening Rip van Winkle-like to find itself in a world
it scarcely recognizes. How did we get here? How did this happen?
It happened because the Church has never really understood or appreciated the long-term impact
of ideas. Ideas are like raindrops. Taken individually they appear insignificant and easy to ignore. But
over time these raindrops collect and combine to form streams of thought which in turn combine to
form rivers of life and culture. For the past 250 years (although we could go back further to the time
of the Italian Renaissance of the 1600s) Christianity and western culture have been subjected to a
constant rainfall of anti- Christian ideas. From the ridicule of a Voltaire and the skepticism of a David
Hume, to the denial of absolute knowledge by an Immanuel Kant, the evolution of a Charles Darwin,
the dialectical materialism of a Karl Marx and the undermining influence of biblical criticism,
Christianity has been ceaselessly pummeled by a constant rain of anti-biblical ideas that have
combined to form a river of doubt and skepticism.
By the opening of the 20th century this river of doubt, skepticism and rebellion filled the wells from
which Western Civilization drew its drinking water. According to Dr. Carl F. H. Henry (the founding
editor of Christianity Today magazine) the 20th century witnessed the most radical reversal of ideas
and ideals in human history. Dr. Henry observed that at the beginning of the 20th century textbooks
referred to the God of the Bible, and the 10 commandments. There was an emphasis upon revealed
values, upon the need for an internal change within man in order to achieve “Utopia.” But by W orld
War 2 something had happened. References suddenly changed from the God of the Bible to
Section 1 : Page 22
“Nature’s God” or “God” in general. Rather than revealed values, the new emphasis was upon shared
values. And rather than a change needed in man, the emphasis was placed upon change through
education. Finally, in the last half of the 20th century all theistic aspects and references to God had
been eliminated. God now counted for nothing in education or in public life. Instead of shared values,
the emphasis of the late 20th century was upon the tolerance of diverse values. Instead of change
by education and legislation, the emphasis was upon change through revolution and violence.
The shift from a Judeo-Christian understanding of the world to an essentially pagan one was relatively
swift. But it did not arrive unannounced. In 1960 Gabriel Vahanian published his book, The Death
of God: The Culture of Our Post-Christian Era. It represented an intellectual and theological
thunderstorm which served to swell a growing torrent of unbelief. In his “Introduction” to Vahanian’s
work, Professor Paul Ramsey of Princeton boldly announced, “Ours is the first attempt in recorded
history to build a culture upon the premise that God is dead. Confirming Dr. Henry’s observation
regarding the watershed years between World Wars, Dr. Ramsey wrote, “The period post mortem
Dei divides into two distinct eras, roughly at some point between the World Wars. Until that time, the
cultural death of God meant something anti-Christian; after it and until now, the death of God means
something entirely post-Christian.”
With a stroke of the writer’s pen and a wave of the philosopher’s wand Vahanian ushered in a Post-
Christian era, “The fundamentals of modern culture are neither non-Christian nor anti-Christian; they
are post-Christian. They are derived from Christianity, yet in them Christianity suffers ‘not a torture
death but a quiet euthanasia.’ It may be that our age still is religious. But it is certainly post-Christian.”
Today, some 40 years after the announcement, the Church is still reeling from the impact of these
ideas. The Death of God announced in the previous generation has resulted in the death of moral
absolutes in the following generation. Gone is the Judeo-Christian commitment to absolute truth
which provided the moral compass for an entire culture. For if God is truly dead, then the heavens
are silent and there is no divine voice to tell man what is morally right or morally wrong. Now, because
all morals are relative and none are absolute, all arguments and discussions regarding right versus
wrong (including such issues as homosexuality, abortion, pornography, pedophilia, human stem cell
research, euthanasia, race relations, etc.) are a matter of opinion, and all opinions are equally valid
(because the passionate holding and voicing of an opinion on any topic now becomes a selfvalidating
act). Because there is no absolute truth by which to demonstrate that one moral opinion
is valid over another, the result is the current politically correct philosophy of “tolerance.” Tolerance
is the admission that there are no rights or wrongs, no absolute truth by which arguments can be
resolved. The Absolute Truth of God’s moral requirements and expectations has been replaced by
the new truth of “tolerance.” And those dissenting voices who proclaim absolute truth and the need
for personal repentance and internal change (such as homosexuals repenting of their sin and
experiencing a new birth) are regarded as “intolerant.” Intolerance has become the new “cardinal sin”
of our politically correct post-Christian age.
We’ve Been Overwhelmed
Certainly the Church was not completely silent or inactive while all of this was occurring, but it’s
responses were often late in coming. In the words of Charles Colson, too many churchmen sport
theological bellbottoms. The late 1970s witnessed the formation of the “Moral Majority” and the rise
of the “conservative religious right” in an attempt to rally the Church both to engage the political
process and to stem the tide of moral decay that was now apparent. In other words, it was a
declaration that the Church and its “allies” (i.e., those individuals who were “conservative” in their
morals, even if they were not “Christian” in their convictions) were prepared to wage a cultural “war
Section 1 : Page 23
3Fran cis A. Scha effer, A Christian Man ifesto (Westchester, Illino is: Cr ossway Book s, 19 81). D r. Sch aeff er’s
treatment of this issue is contained in Chapter 6, pp. 73ff.
4The September 6, 19 99 is sue of Christianity Today magazine repr inted Mr. W eyrich’s letter, alo ng with
responses by six leading evangelicals, including Ralph Reed, Cal Thomas, Jerry Falwell, Don Eberly (his resp onse is
particularly go od), Jam es Do bson a nd Ch arles Co lson. Th ese are a “mu st read.”
of attrition” against the rising neo-paganism of contemporary American culture.
The result was the election of Ronald Reagan in what was hailed as the “conservative revolution.”
But shortly after the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan for his first term as President, Dr. Francis
Schaeffer wrote a book entitled A Christian Manifesto. In this much-neglected book Dr. Schaeffer,
reflecting on the “conservative landslide” which ushered Reagan into office, warned that, in reality,
the landslide was probably a vote for better economic numbers, not a vote for Christian values or
conservative policies. In the event those better economic numbers should fail to materialize, Dr.
Schaeffer warned that we could see a dramatic reversal in voter attitudes.3 Dr. Schaeffer’s prophetic
warning was realized in the1992 election of Bill Clinton.
The intellectual father of the Moral Majority, and a “founding father” of the “conservative religious
right,” was a man by the name of Paul Weyrich, now President of the Free Congress Foundation.
In February of 1999, shortly after the United States Senate failed to convict and impeach President
Bill Clinton, Weyrich sent an open letter to his constituents announcing that, in his opinion, we had
lost our “cultural war of attrition” which he had helped launch some twenty years earlier:
“In looking at the long history of conservative politics, from the defeat of Robert Taft in 1952, to the
nomination of Barry Goldwater, to the takeover of the Republican Party in 1994, I think it is fair to say
that conservatives have learned to succeed in politics. That is, we got our people elected. But that
did not result in the adoption of our agenda. The reason, I think, is that politics itself has failed. And
politics has failed because of the collapse of the culture. The culture we are living in becomes an
ever-wider sewer. In truth, I think we are caught up in a cultural collapse of historic proportions,
a collapse so great that it simply overwhelms politics.”4
Like those Churchmen who sport theological bellbottoms in an age of Italian silk suits, Mr. Weyrich,
the Christian right and much of the evangelical Church discovered themselves out of touch with a
generation that had drunk deeply at tainted wells, polluted by a river of moral doubt and skepticism
born of intellectual rainstorms from decades past. In a Christian version of Rip van Winkle, we had
fallen asleep in Church and awoke one day to find ourselves in a post-Christian culture that no longer
recognizes the values and principles that we were taught to live by. “Let me be perfectly frank about
it,” Mr Weyrich confessed, “If there really were a moral majority out there, Bill Clinton would have
been driven out of office months ago. What Americans would have found absolutely intolerable only
a few years ago, a majority now not only tolerates but celebrates.” Mr. Weyrich’s conclusion came
as a bitter (but professors Ramsey and Vahanian would have said “inevitable”) pill to swallow, “I no
longer believe that there is a moral majority. I believe that we probably have lost the culture war. That
doesn’t mean the war is not going to continue and that it isn’t going to be fought on other fronts. But
in terms of society in general, we have lost. This is why, even when we win in politics, our victories
fail to translate into the kind of policies we believe are important.”
As Mr. Weyrich and the Church have belatedly discovered the tainted wells of our Post-Christian
culture have had a dramatic effect upon the Church itself. Today only 32% of born again adults (and
9% of born again teenagers) claim to be certain of absolute moral truth. Not surprisingly in the light
Section 1 : Page 24
of this moral collapse, born again adults are more likely to experience a divorce (27%) than are nonborn
again adults (24%). In a nationwide survey of born again adults, none of those interviewed said
that the single most important goal in their life is to be a committed follower of Jesus Christ. In year
2000 Presidential Election, 43% of born again voters voted for Al Gore, while 46% voted for George
W. Bush.
In short, while 4 out of 10 adults(or 41%) in our Post-Christian culture profess to be born-again, and
while many of these claim to be conservative, they are not walking it out in any way that meaningfully
affects the surrounding society. For example, in a recent story on pop stars and their faith, "The St.
Petersburg Times" noted that in their sexually suggestive videos and latest single, "Bootylicious,"
popular R&B trio Destiny's Child, who declare their Christianity in nearly every interview, contradict
all the talk about God. "Christians who happen to be bootylicious," the newspaper observed. "Nope.
No matter how you work it, these two words don't sound right together." Besides Destiny's Child,
Lauryn Hill, R. Kelly, Britney Spears, DMX and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs are other secular artists who
frequently voice their religious convictions in public. But the "Times" observed that "their lyrics and
public lifestyles don't always jibe with traditional religious beliefs of right and wrong."
Commenting on the apparent inability of contemporary Christians to meaningfully affect their culture,
Christian trend watcher George Barna recently observed, “believers think of themselves as individuals
first, Americans second, and Christians third. Until that prioritization is rearranged, the Church will
continue to lose influence, and biblical principles will represent simply one more option among the
numerous worldviews that Americans may choose from.”
Revival or Anarchy?
In his book The Second Coming of the Church, Christian sociologist George Barna described the
state of the American church in terms of two potential outcomes:
“In fact, having spent the last two decades studying our culture, the American people and Christian
churches across the nation, I believe that within the next few years America will experience one of
two outcomes that will dictate the course of events and the tenor of life for at least the next half
century.
“One of these possible outcomes is massive spiritual revival. People are desperately seeking
meaning and purpose in life. They have tried materialism, sexual promiscuity, careerism, drugs, pop
psychology and hyper-leisure, but none of these pursuits have filled their inner void. Now, millions
are exploring spirituality to see if perhaps the faith realm holds the key to satisfying their needs.
“The other highly possible outcome in our society is moral anarchy. This means that America would
devolve into a society in which people refuse to recognize or live in obedience to any laws, rules,
regulations, customs, traditions, courtesies or norms unless they feel like doing so”
“ As a committed Christian, I am urgently praying for revival. As a rational social scientist confronted
with a warehouse of behavioral and attitudinal data, I am expecting moral anarchy.”
“At the risk of sounding like an alarmist, I believe the Church in America has no more than five years -
Section 1 : Page 25
5George Barna, The Second Coming of the Church (Wo rd Publishing, 1998). You can visit Dr. Barna’s website
on the inter net at www.barna.org/.
6See Press Release of April 16, 2001, “Researcher Predicts mounting challenges to Christian Church,” posted
on the internet at www.barna.org
probably less - to turn itself and this culture around.5
But in his most recent book, Boiling Point, Dr. Barna, along with co-author Mark Hatch, flatly states
that moral anarchy has arrived and now rules our present culture. He argues that the United States
is now in a state of spiritual anarchy.6
Schaeffer’s Five Pressures & The Rise of New Age Globalism
Reflecting upon the post-Christian landscape of the late 20th century Christian philosopher Francis
Schaeffer observed that after the death of God and the resulting loss of absolute truth and moral
values, modern society would be left with only the two terrible “values” of “personal peace and
personal prosperity.” With only 22% (or 2 out of 10) of all adults today acknowledging the existence
of absolute moral truth, it appears that the day predicted by Dr. Schaeffer has arrived. This was
confirmed in a survey following the year 2000 Presidential elections which showed that for most
Christian voters, their votes were influenced more by their economic self interest than by their spiritual
and moral values. Even the Christian community of our post-Christian age had voted for personal
peace and prosperity, rather than for moral absolutes. In words which today (25 years later) seem
prophetic Dr. Schaeffer observed that:
“Overwhelming pressures are being brought to bear on people who have no absolutes, but only have
the impoverished values of personal peace and prosperity. The pressures are progressively preparing
modern people to accept a manipulative, authoritarian government.”
This is the “dark side” of our post-Christian culture. If there is no God in heaven to establish law and
to provide a moral compass for human behavior, then there must eventually be a god on earth to fill
those roles left vacant. The moral anarchy described by Dr. Barna, combined with the “two terrible
values” of “personal peace and personal prosperity described by Dr. Schaeffer places the government
of our post-Christian culture in the god-like position of making wide-ranging moral decisions for our
self-absorbed culture, without the direction of any clear moral compass. Dr. Schaeffer stated it
succinctly as follows: “If there is no absolute (or Law of God) by which to judge the State, then the
State has become absolute” (God). All that now remains to bring about a draconian shift of power to
the government is a crisis of sufficient magnitude that it threatens our peace and prosperity, and
demands decisive action by a powerful and authoritarian government for its solution. Dr. Schaeffer
went on to list five specific pressures which, individually or collectively, could result in the rise of a
manipulative, authoritarian government. Those five specific pressures were:
1. Economic Breakdown. While inflation was the economic concern of the 1970s reflected in Dr.
Schaeffer’s analysis, his point went far beyond inflation. Dr. Schaeffer observed that, from a political
perspective, “with most people dominated by the concept of an ever-expanding affluence, it is difficult
or impossible to face the danger of economic recession.” Dr. Schaeffer then drew an historical
parallel and lesson from history regarding the social and political dangers of economic upheaval
among a people who have exchanged moral courage for comfortable affluence. “History indicates
that at a certain point of economic breakdown people cease being concerned with individual liberties
and are ready to accept regimentation. The danger is obviously even greater when the two main
Section 1 : Page 26
values so many people have are personal peace and affluence.” If the danger of economic
breakdown was significant when Dr. Schaeffer wrote those words, then it is even greater today. The
intervening 25 years have seen the accumulation and growth of the greatest debt pyramid in the
history of the world, accompanied by the greatest boom in personal prosperity that mankind has ever
witnessed. But recent economic events, including but not limited to the collapse of the dot.com
market and the precipitous decline of high tech stocks, have raised the specter of a serious economic
recession that could trigger a collapse of our debt-supported prosperity. And this possibility raises the
question of what individual freedoms and what remaining Judeo-Christian values might our post-
Christian society be willing to sacrifice in order to maintain the fleeting illusion of personal peace and
personal prosperity.
2. War or the serious threat of war. When Dr. Schaeffer wrote in the mid-1970s, the greatest threat
of war came from the Soviet Union and its allies in Eastern Europe. The intervening years have
witnessed the collapse of the Soviet Union, the tearing down of the Iron Curtain, and the substantial
reduction of the threat of war from those nations. But new threats of conflict have arisen in the
Persian Gulf, the Middle East, the Balkans, North Korea and from the rising power of Communist
China. Regarding the threat of war, regardless of its origin, Dr. Schaeffer observed that the threat of
war “would cause those who have only the values of personal peace and prosperity to be ready for
almost any kind of authoritarian government which would be able to remove the threat of war,
particularly if (as Augustus did in ancient Rome) it was brought in while seemingly keeping the
outward forms of constitutionality.”
3. The chaos of violence. Here Dr. Schaeffer specifically referred to the possibility of “indiscriminate
terrorism.” The specter of terrorism has grown and become a reality in the twenty-five years since
Dr. Schaeffer sounded his warning, and we have seen his warning regarding terrorist organizations
coordinating their efforts dramatically realized in the terrible events of September 11. We in America
have yet to see what sacrifice of personal freedoms (personal privacy, financial privacy, etc.) will be
required in order to “guarantee” a return to our post-Christian lifestyles of “personal peace and
personal prosperity.”
4. The radical redistribution of the wealth of the world. Dr. Schaeffer suggested that a radical
redistribution of wealth would be accompanied by “a lowering of prosperity and affluence among
those individuals and countries which have come to take an ever-increasing level of prosperity for
granted.” This in turn, he argued, could lead to demands for an authoritarian government to preserve
the diminishing affluence. Since Dr. Schaeffer made that observation the face of world socialism has
changed from old-style communism to New Age Globalism, but this change has made it no less
authoritarian. Nor has it changed the reality that socialism is a Christian heresy that seeks to promote
a false man-made millennium or utopia on earth which seeks to benefit the masses by impoverishing
the affluent. Socialism in all its forms is an attack, whether direct or indirect, upon the 8th
commandment (Thou shalt not steal).
5. A growing shortage of food and other natural resources in the world. The resource shortages
described by Dr. Schaeffer could easily be created today by the unholy conjunction of radical
environmentalism and changes in global weather patterns (whether due to perceived global warming
or due to cyclical changes in global weather).
In the light of these dangers facing the Church in the post-Christian age the warning of Paul Weyrich
to his constituents is sobering:
“Don’t be misled by politicians who say that everything is great, that we are on the verge of this
Section 1 : Page 27
wonderful new era, thanks to technology or the stock market or whatever. These are lies. We are not
in the dawn of a new civilization, but the twilight of an old one. We will be lucky if we escape with any
remnants of the great Judeo-Christian civilization that we have known through the ages.”
How Should We Then Live?
The title of Dr. Schaeffer’s book on the decline of Christian thought was taken from Ezekiel 33:10,
How Should We Then Live? Ezekiel 33 is, of course, the great “watchman” passage in which the
Prophet Ezekiel is warned of God’s impending judgment if Israel does not repent of its sin. The
culmination of the passage comes in verse 10 where Israel declares, “If our transgressions and our
sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?” While this may sound like
a lifestyle question, it is not. Rather, it is a survival question. The Israelites were wondering, if
everything Ezekiel had said was true, how could they possibly survive the impending judgment of
God. In the end, Israel did not survive. She did not repent. Judgment fell, the nation was taken into
captivity by the Babylonians and Jerusalem was destroyed.
Twenty-five years ago Dr. Schaeffer wrote his book in the hopeful prayer that the coming generation
(in which we now live) “may get its feet out of the paths of death and may live” (Schaeffer, page 258).
Unfortunately, the decline which Dr. Schaeffer so ably analyzed and documented has continued,
even accelerated, during the intervening years. And in the ensuing struggle the traditional organized
and institutional Church as most of us have known and experienced it has been overwhelmed by a
surging tide of post-Christian paganism.
Now the Church of the 21st Century is caught between the horns of a dilemma. On the one hand, if
our sins and those of our culture overtake us, like a modern day Lot who never left Sodom, and the
judgment of God falls, how shall we escape? On the other hand, what about the possibility of a
genuine movement of the Spirit of God in revival that renews the Church and sweeps millions of new
souls into the Kingdom of God. How should the Church of Jesus Christ be responding to this dilemma
and the challenges before us? How can we shed our theological bellbottoms and respond in a
manner that is appropriate to our times, and even anticipatory of what may yet be coming? How can
we become a prophetic counter-cultural witness to (and at times against) our post-Christian and
increasingly pagan culture?
Many Christians today are looking to the possibility of widespread revival as a quick and easy solution
to the problem of long-term cultural decay. But neither history nor Scripture offer any guarantee that
revival will bring social and cultural transformation and the reversal of long-term decay. While the
Evangelical Awakening in England in the 1700s transformed English Society, it was a process that
unfolded over a period of 100 years. Are we prepared to take a long-term view of renewal,
transformation and the long-term impact of biblical ideals. Are we willing to commit ourselves to
lifestyles of personal discipleship, regular fasting and fervent intercession for revival? And as we pray
and plan for the possibility of a new movement of the Spirit of God in revival (yes, even in the midst
of a collapsing post-Christian culture) are we prepared to radically re-think our failed institutional and
organizational structures and to implement new ones. We need new structures which can absorb,
encourage and equip the fruit of revival (young believers who need fellowship, encouragement and
instruction) and which provides for the meeting of individual needs during difficult times (including
persecution). I believe that the next great movement of God’s Spirit in power and revival will manifest
itself in and through small groups of believers meeting as home/cell churches or fellowships. While
many traditional churches are looking to revival in the hope that God will renew failed programs or
dying institutions, history tells us that this seldom happens. God seldom “revives” institutions or
Section 1 : Page 28
structures. As Jesus warned us, new wine tends to destroy old wineskins (institutions or structures).
New wine calls for new wineskins, and I believe that networking home/cell churches will be the new
wineskin of the next great outpouring of God’s Spirit in revival and renewal.
Section 1 : Page 29
“And If Not . . .”: A Christian Manifesto For The 21st Century
Introduction
In the first lesson (“How Should We Then Live?: The Church In A Post-Christian Age”) of this 12 part
series we examined the rise of our post-Christian culture and the need for the Church to respond as
a counter-cultural witness. Based upon what we saw in that lesson I am convinced that the Church
cannot expect to fight and win a “war of attrition” against our post-Christian culture in such areas as
politics, economics, philosophy and the arts. In the words of Paul W eyrich (one of the architects of
the culture war and the ‘religious right’), “That doesn’t mean the war is not going to continue and that
it isn’t going to be fought on other fronts. But in terms of society in general, we have lost.” Those who
claim that we can win the cultural war are more provocateurs of other agendas than they are agents
of genuine spiritual change (which is what we eventually want to see take place).
One of the problems with waging a war of worldviews against our culture is that not only has our
culture become post-Christian, but many of our Churches and denominations have become post-
Christian as well. The “barbarians” are no longer outside the gates of our “castle churches.” As we
will see, they are in the pews and on the boards, and, sometimes, they are even in the pulpit.
Our loss of the culture war in the public arena has left many Christians disillusioned, angry and bitter.
Then, to see a similar moral and spiritual collapse occur within the Church has only intensified our
disillusionment and our anger. But here’s the rub. You and I cannot build a new work or movement
of God on a foundation of disillusionment, anger or bitterness. God doesn’t want a disillusioned and
angry people. That’s a formula ripe for the Enemy and his spiritual and human provocateurs to
exploit. God wants us to move from disillusionment and anger to brokenness and humility, because
in the soil of broken and humble hearts He can plant the seed of a new vision. When we read or hear
about the moral and spiritual collapse of our culture, or about the failings of our traditional church
structures, our hearts should be broken and we should grieve like those who are reading the obituary
of an old and dear friend.
Abandon Ship: How Spiritual Hodge Podge and Minimalist Christianity are Sinking The Church
The overall percentage of Americans who identify themselves as “Protestant” (as opposed to
“Catholic,” Jewish, Moslem or something else) has fallen from 61% in 1980 to 55% in 1999. Overall
church attendance in America has fallen to its lowest levels since WW2 with only 4 out of 10
American adults attending church on any given Sunday.
Surveys show that some 10 million born again believers have simply dropped out of the organized
church. I believe that Christians are leaving the traditional institutional church for the same basic
reasons they are leaving politics. They feel betrayed and let down. They don’t see the church
functioning and ministering like they envisioned that it should. They can see the difference between
life in the contemporary church and life as it is portrayed in the church of the N.T., and they can’t
understand why we have settled for a shadow of that reality. Their expectations have been
disappointed and their needs are not being met.
But the problem does not stop there. The church today appears plagued by an addiction to nominal
and minimalist Christianity that demands little and affects even less. It is a faith that seeks the lowest
common denominator for commitment by asking, ‘What is the least I must believe to be in; what is
Section 1 : Page 30
the least I must do to be included.’ It is a faith devoid of any clear theology, where opinion substitutes
for doctrine and good intentions pass for divine inspiration.
In the absence of either discipline or outward pressure to the contrary (i.e., persecution, national or
personal disaster, etc.) the tendency of Christianity is to drift toward nominalism and minimalism.
What is the least that I must do? In the generations since WW2 the Church in America (and in the
Western nations generally) sensed no immediate outward threat to its existence or freedom; nothing
out of the ordinary. We even felt somewhat encouraged by the conservative political landslide of the
1980s. We sensed the possibility of cultural “victory” and the adoption of a conservative (if not
specifically Christian) social agenda that mirrored our conservative moral commitments. But suddenly,
more suddenly than anyone expected, it vanished like winter hoar-frost caught by the rays of the sun.
We had failed to heed the warnings offered by Francis Schaeffer that the conservative landslide was
not so much a vote for Christian moral values as it was a vote for better economic numbers. When
the economic numbers turned sour the “conservative” agenda evaporated to be replaced with
paganism in the form of a virulent political correctness.
This nominalist or minimalist approach to faith has produced disappointing results in the pews. In
recent research done by George Barna and Mark Hatch they discovered that among “born-again
adults”:
O 68% believe the Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves (it doesn’t!).
O 25% believe that Jesus committed sins while on earth (He didn’t!).
O 30% believe Jesus was not physically resurrected (He was, or our faith is in vain!).
O 30% believe all religions teach the same basic truths (no, they don’t).
Based on these research results it should come as no surprise that Hatch and Barna conclude that
“the church is rotting from the inside out, crippled by a-biblical theology.”
In a separate study of “born again” Christians sociologist Wade Clark Roof (see his book, Spiritual
Marketplace) confirms that many people who describe themselves as “born again Christians” actually
hold beliefs that are in conflict with historic, biblical Christianity. According to Roof, roughly 25% of
his respondents believed in the possibility of communicating with the dead; some 30% believed in
reincarnation and astrology; 50% said they believed in psychic powers, and mirroring Barna & Hatch’s
research, some 50% believed that the various religions of the world are “equally good and true.”
In a culture people (whether Christians or not) live out what they think, and in the church individuals
live out what they profess to believe. Culture, whether in the Church or in the outside world, is an
expression of the heart and the values of a people. If we want to change the outward product then
we must labor to change the inner producer. The crippling effect of such a-biblical (or un-biblical)
theology can be readily seen in the lives of those born-again people who attend these churches. If
God helps those who help themselves, then hard work on our own behalf will come before prayer for
God’s intervention. If Jesus committed sins while on earth, how could he die for my sins or provide
forgiveness for my sins or cleansing from my guilt? And if God didn’t have the power to raise Jesus
from the dead, how could He have the power necessary to answer my prayers or heal the brokeness
of my life? And if all religions teach the same basic truths, where is the absolute truth I need to guide
me through the maze of moral and spiritual decisions I must make in my life? And if there is no
absolute truth, why should I be absolutely committed to Christianity and biblical values if the same
basic truths can be found (with less requirements) in other religions. According to Dr. Barna’s
research these theologically bewildered born again adults are more likely (27%) to experience a
divorce than are non-born again adults (24%). Only 8% of them will tithe (give 10% or more of their
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income) to their church, and 16% will give no money at all to their church during the year. Born again
adults spend 7 times as much time on entertainment as they do on spiritual activities. And in a
nationwide survey of born again adults, none of those interviewed said that the single, most
important goal in their life is to be a committed follower of Jesus Christ.
It appears that “being born again” just doesn’t mean what it used to mean. Not only has the current
generation of believers abandoned the historic Creeds and Confessions and Doctrinal Statements
which have historically set the boundaries of orthodox belief, contemporary Christianity has become
a theological “bean bag chair” that each person adjusts and reshapes until they are “comfortable” and
to fit whatever beliefs they choose to hold, regardless of how un-biblical they may be.
The purpose of good theology is not to create a theological box or straight jacket from which there
is not escape or variation, but to create a solid and lasting foundation upon which to build a house
glorifying to God, Christ Jesus being the Chief Cornerstone. And to have a practical standard by
which to judge and discern truth from error.
In 1904 during the Welsh Revival Evan Roberts said, “Bend the Church, save the world.” His meaning
was plain and simple. If the Church is bent to the will and purposes of God the result will be that God
will use such a renewed and obedient Church to redeem the world. We need to renew his cry by
declaring, “Renew the Church, transform the world.” The Church renewed in both its spirit and its
structure is the world’s only hope to avoid the judgment of God in our generation and its only hope
for cultural transformation.
“And If Not . . .”
I believe we are engaged in one of the greatest spiritual conflicts of this present age. Whether or not
this spiritual battle is preparing us for the End of The Age, only God knows. But great spiritual
conflicts tend to characterize times of great transition. If God is indeed calling out and raising up His
end-time church then we should not be surprised at the intensity of the conflict. And in the midst of
this battle we should seek to remember and to learn from great battles of the past.
In early 1940 the British and their allies sent a force of some 350,000 men into the low countries of
Europe to stem the tide of German advance into France, Belgium and Holland. Caught in a brilliant
pincer movement by the invading German forces the beleaguered British Expeditionary Force was
pushed back to the beaches of the small Belgian town of Dunkirk. To everyone’s surprise the
Germans halted their advance to regroup. As England and the world waited for what appeared to be
the sure and certain annihilation of 350,000 men a three word message was transmitted from the
besieged army at Dunkirk. It read simply, “And if not.” The British people understood the biblical
import of the cryptic message. It was a reference to the Old Testament book of Daniel, where Daniel
and his friends chose death rather than worship an image of the pagan king, “If it be so, our God
whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your
hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or
worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18). The British Expeditionary Army,
surrounded, cutoff and on the brink of destruction was declaring to Britain and to the world that even
in apparent defeat they were, in fact, victorious. The message, more eloquent than a sermon
delivered in St. Paul’s Cathedral, galvanized the British people. In a matter of hours thousands of
boats of every description headed across the dangerous waters of the English Channel and, at the
risk of their own lives from enemy fire, began the evacuation of the heroic but beleaguered army in
what historians now refer to as “the miracle of Dunkirk.”
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The situation of the present-day Church in America and the West is not unlike that of the British Army
at Dunkirk. The evangelical Church has been surrounded by a post-Christian culture bent on ridding
itself of this religious nuisance. It rejects biblical absolute truth and offers in its place an equally
absolute and politically correct ideology of tolerance toward all views, except Christian ones. Christian
values (such as abstinence and fidelity) are rejected and Christian speech (expressed through public
prayer, art, political action, etc.) is censored or deemed “unconstitutional.” And Christian “faith-based
initiatives” are welcomed only if they come wrapped in generic, non-religious packaging. You can offer
a cup of cool water, so long as you don’t offer it in the name of Jesus (it is unclear who will be
offended, the thirsty man or the government watchdog).
Many Christians today are praying and looking for revival, renewal and awakening as the solution to
church renewal and cultural transformation as happened in England in the 1700s as a result of the
Evangelical Awakening.
Perhaps God will send an awakening that will renew the church and transform our post-Christian
culture. And if not . . . ?
Perhaps God will send an awakening that restores absolute truth to a confused church and to a truthstarved
culture? And if not . . . ?
Perhaps God will send an awakening that will reverse the theological rot that eats away at the heart
of the institutional, organized church. And if not . . . ?
Perhaps God will send an awakening that transforms our culture, that puts an end to abortion,
homosexuality, racism, violence, materialism, drugs, alcoholism, internet pornography, B-grade
movies, radical environmentalism, new age globalism, UFO delusions, human cloning and a host of
other ills, and unravels the mountain of debt that threatens to collapse western economies. Perhaps.
And if not . . . ?
What We Need: A New Christian Manifesto For The 21st Century
As Christians now living in the context of a post-Christian culture that is at best tolerant of biblical
values, and at worst is openly hostile towards them, it is time for us to recognize and embrace what
we are: an underground Church and a counter-cultural witness to a formerly Christian culture, now
in the fading twilight of its former greatness. What light remains is not the dawn of a new age, but the
light thrown off by fading embers of what once burned brightly.
What is needed now is a new and strategic game plan to resist the encroaching paganism, to
organize God’s people into networks of house churches & cell churches, to encourage one another
in the long-term task of counter-cultural witness and to insightfully critique our culture and its
institutions, rather than to be critiqued and marginalized by them.
We need to become God’s confessing and underground church. As we become God’s
confessing underground Church, a counter-cultural witness to the collapsing culture around us, we
may soon find it necessary to adopt the tactics and techniques of classic underground resistance
movements. For this reason, it should come as no surprise that, in the Providence of God, the past
20 years has seen the worldwide emergence of the house church and cell church movement.
We need to re-assert our absolute dependence upon resurrection power. It was in this power
that our Lord Jesus Christ lived and ministered, that was promised by Jesus to the Church, that was
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demonstrated in the daily life of the New Testament Church and that was the life-long prayer of the
Apostle Paul. Much of the visible Church today has lost touch with the power of the Resurrection,
caught up instead in fruitless debates regarding Pentecostalism vs. non-Pentecostalism. As a result,
we’re no longer a “resurrection power people,” having come to rely instead upon methodologies,
resources and strategies. What is needed now is thousands of believers committed to fast and to
pray for the River of Ezekiel 47, the River of God’s Power and Presence to flow in renewed power
to empower and transform His Church!
We need to reaffirm our belief in the existence of absolute truth in all of its manifestations as
revealed in Scripture and as taught in the historic Creeds & Confessions of the Church, and that such
truth is not culturally limited, but is binding upon all men at all times and in all places and is the
standard by which the laws of nations and the actions of men are to be judged.
We need to recapture a biblical sense of authentic Christian community. We need to network
our families in house churches and cell churches to encourage and protect each other’s families and
marriages. We need to affirm that it is more important that we gather in our homes in groups of 10-20
to fast and pray and worship and to share our lives with one another as a witness to unbelievers, than
it is to gather 10,000 people together in an arena.
We need to recognize that we are the objects of a full-court press. There is a spiritual battle
underway in which Satan seeks to blind the minds of our generation with peace & prosperity while
bankrupting them morally and spiritually. And where he cannot bankrupt them spiritually he seeks to
delude them or dilute their testimony. This full-court press means that the Church corporately,
Christians individually, as well as every cultural manifestation of Christianity in the public square
(schools, government, etc.) Are all under relentless attack.
We need to renew our biblical commitment to fight debt and economic slavery. We have been
sold a “bill of goods” to believe that we could transform Vanity Fair (of Pilgrim’s Progress fame) into
a Christian destination resort. But we awoke one morning deeply in debt and wondering how we got
here. We need to realize that the “mark of the beast” system is here and has been for some time. It
is a system that seeks to control our thoughts and our actions. We need to reject Vanity Fair as our
operative model for Christian living or ministry.
We need to recapture our sense of being eschatological communities. These are communities
of believers who live their lives in the shadow of our Lord’s return. Churches today are increasingly
fragmented. We are no longer “eschatological communities” of like-minded and committed believers,
bound together by our commitment to the gospel and our belief in the Lord’s soon return. We need
to recapture the challenge and warning of Jesus to the Church as an eschatological community to
work for the Kingdom while it is yet day, because night is coming when no man can work (John 9:4).
We need to recognize that the promise of revival, renewal and awakening is the only hope for
the renewal of the Church and the transformation of our culture. For this reason we commit
ourselves to be a people of fervent intercession and regular fasting, imploring God that the River of
the Water of Life of Ezekiel 47 might flow in new depth and fresh power in our generation.
And if not?
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Terrorism, Transformation & The River
Ancient Terrorism
In August of the year A.D. 410 the city of Rome was besieged and sacked by Alaric I, King of the
Visigoths. A disgruntled slave opened the gate of the ancient city, the Goths poured in, and for the
first time in 800 years the great city was taken by an enemy. Rome’s fall had a devastating effect
upon Roman Christians and non-believers alike. Why, they asked, should the city whose beauty and
power men had built and admired through the many centuries, and which was now the center of
Christendom (i.e., the “kingdom of Christ”) be ravaged by the barbarians. Many Christians were
shaken in their faith. They had come to equate the stability of Christianity with the stability of Rome
(or America?). The pagans attributed the disaster to the Christians (hmm, nothing really changes
does it?!), claiming that the ancient gods had withdrawn their ancient, thousand-year protection from
Rome.
When the news of Alaric’s sack of Rome reached North Africa, Carthage to be precise, followed by
thousands of despairing refugees, St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo was moved to respond. Augustine
labored for 13 years to produce an explanation, which he titled Civitas Dei, The City of God. Rome
had been punished, argued Augustine, not for abandoning her traditional gods in favor of her new
religion (Christianity) but for her continued sins. Augustine went on to argue that, rather than looking
for and pursuing an earthly city (civitas terrena, for you Latin buffs), Christians should be pursuing
the city of God, “Mankind is divided into two sorts: such as live according to man, and such as live
according to God. These we mystically call the ‘two cities’ or societies, the one predestined to reign
eternally with God, the other condemned to perpetual torment with the Devil.”
Augustine was not a “doom-and-gloomer,” but a Christian theologian and philosopher (and a pastor)
who understood that nations and economies rise and fall, but Christians are seeking a city
unshakeable, whose founder and builder is God. Augustine understood what happens when
worldviews collide.
When Worldviews Collide
On Tuesday, September 11, America experienced more than terrorists colliding airliners into
skyscrapers. We experienced a collision of worldviews. On that day our post-Christian worldview of
personal peace and personal prosperity (see my article “How Should We Then Live: The Church In
A Post-Christian Age”) was shattered by something completely unanticipated: the reality of a religious
worldview that calls for the destruction of everything Christian, even a nominal post-Christian
civilization like our own that long ago traded its biblical, Judeo-Christian heritage for a mess of
secular, politically-correct and materialistic pottage.
B.B. Warfield in his lectures at Princeton Seminary once declared that the last great battle of this age
would be fought between the opposing forces of Calvinism and atheism, with all competing
philosophies being crushed like rotten ice between these two great colliding icebergs. Warfield
understood that ultimate battles are not between armies, but between worldviews, and world views
are ultimately religious in nature.
In the ancient world, both inside and outside of the Bible, warfare was religious in nature. In ancient
Rome, when Rome went to war the doors of the temple of Mars (the Roman god of war) were opened
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and the sacrificial fires burned continually as long as Roman armies were engaged in the field. When
victory was won and peace achieved, the sacrificial fires were extinguished and the doors of the
temple were closed. And at all times, the image of the winged goddess of victory stood in the Roman
Senate (until banned and removed by Emperor Theodosius I in A.D. 381). In the Old Testament, war
was a religious affair. The ten plagues upon Egypt represented Jehovah’s attack upon the gods of
Egypt, and the delivery of Israel from Egypt represented the victory of Jehovah over those gods.
Israel’s God was greater than the gods of Egypt.
Our rationalistic, secular and post-Christian culture tends to dismiss such “quaint superstitions.” They
don’t see a spiritual conflict, and they ridicule anyone who suggests that there might be a spiritual
significance (i.e., judgment, wake-up-call, etc.) as “un-American.” Let us be clear. This was a terrible
personal tragedy the pain of which will not go away any time soon, and the ripple effects of which will
be felt for years to come. But after our grieving, our responses, both personal and national, must be
motivated by more than a desire to return to our post-Christian values of undisturbed personal peace
and personal prosperity. Even if the threat of Islamic Fundamentalist terrorism is eventually defeated
(as everyone assumes it will be), the contest may simply exhaust what little “Christian capital” is left
in our increasingly post-Christian culture. But naked materialism is an insufficient and spiritually
bankrupt worldview upon which to build a culture, even when wrapped in patriotism and sung to the
tune of “God Bless America.”
Transformation Or Judgment
Ours is not the first generation in the history of the Church to be confronted with understanding and
responding to the collapse of existing moral, economic and geo-political structures. But we do seem
to be the first generation of believers to think that God somehow owes us an awakening and a
cultural transformation that will heal all of society’s ills and deliver us from the consequences of our
nominalistic faith and from the resurgent post-Christian paganism that seems poised to overwhelm
us like Alaric’s hordes poised at the gates of Rome.
We have already written previously about ours being a post-Christian culture and some of the
ramifications of this, but what does this mean for the future. What is God going to do in our day, to
the church and to our society? Will we have revival and cultural transformation, as in England under
John Wesley that will reverse our post-Christian decline? Or is God going to send judgment upon us,
as He did upon Rome, for the multitude of our accumulated sins. By our collective and individual
behavior we’ve certainly earned God’s judgment, or He owes Sodom & Gomorrah an apology for
acting rashly and unfairly.
There is much talk in the evangelical Church today about the possibility of cultural transformation, talk
that is spurred on by such presentations as the two “Transformations” videos produced by George
Otis, Jr. Such stories of local and regional “awakenings” from different parts of the world are
encouraging as the Christian community in America and around the world fasts and prays for genuine
spiritual renewal and awakening in our generation.
But a cautionary word is in order. History is not kind to the naive. Contemporary Christians often tend
to be naive regarding revival and its effects upon both the Church and the world. Many churches and
organizations are looking and praying for revival in the hope that its coming will revive failed programs
and resurrect dying structures and institutions. But historically, revival tends to renew people, not
buildings, structures or programs. Methodism began as a “society” within the Anglican Church, but
the fires of the Wesleyan renewal eventually forced a split which resulted in the birth of the Methodist
Church. In the Second Great Awakening of 1799-1811 similar struggles occurred. The Presbyterian
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Church attempted to try two of its revival leaders, James McGready and Barton Stone, for heresy
stemming from their involvement in the revival. McGready reconciled with the Church, but Stone
withdrew to form the Cumberland Presbytery, which continues today as the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church. The “new wine” of revival tends to wreak havoc on the old wine skins of the Church, and it
is naive to expect otherwise.
We also tend to be naive regarding the effects of revival upon the surrounding culture, what today
is referred to as “transformation.” The Wesleyan revival had a profound effect upon the social
structure of 18th century England, with ripple effects which lasted for 100 years, leading eventually
to the non-violent banishment of slavery from England in the early 1800s. In the Welsh Revival of
1904 the immediate effects were equally profound. Taverns went bankrupt, stocks of bibles sold out
and crime nearly vanished in south Wales. County judges were issued white gloves signifying no
cases to try, and in one county precinct the policemen, having no crimes to investigate, turned their
energies to forming four men’s singing quartets to perform in area churches.
But there were other aftereffects. The Wesleyan renewal served to prepare England for the upheaval
of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars which would follow. In America, the Great
Awakening of the 1740s prepared the colonies for the coming trial of the War for Independence and
the spiritual decline that it entailed. The 2nd Great Awakening of 1799-1811 was followed and
effectively ended by the War of 1812-14. The Manhattan Prayer Revival of 1857-58 was followed
three years later by the terrible upheaval of the Civil War. The great Welsh Revival of 1904 swept
around the world, giving birth to the modern Pentecostal movement before blazing forth in Korea in
1907. But this worldwide outpouring was followed within seven years by the “guns of August, 1914"
and the great bloodletting of the First World War.
Perhaps the lesson here was best summarized by Ford C. Ottman in his biography of Presbyterian
evangelist J. Wilbur Chapman. Writing in the 1920s, and reflecting back over the history of modern
revivals Ottman made the following observation:
“As we look back over these extra-ordinary religious awakenings which . . . so quickened the
churches and so effectively pressed the claims of God upon the consciences of multitudes, we cannot
escape the conviction that God in gracious providence was reaping a spiritual harvest before he
permitted the outburst of revolutionary forces that have overwhelmed the world, impoverished almost
every nation, produced economic and social chaos, and stained with dishonor the pride of Christian
civilization. In the history of revivals, it has often been noted that such restoral periods are a warning
of, and synchronize with, impending judgment. The harvest is gathered before the field is doomed
to death.”
Predicting and prophesying a coming revival (and the hoped for transformation) has become
somewhat of a “cottage industry” in the Church today (probably second only to predicting the endtimes).
I, too, genuinely believe that we are on the verge of another great “high tide” of God’s
movement in our generation. I have felt this and prayed for this intensely for the past 5 years (and
counting). But I cannot help but ask the question that history and the experience of the Church
inevitably presents: What will be left behind this time when the tide of revival recedes? What will be
the aftereffects, and the aftermath? I genuinely believe that we cannot adequately or properly prepare
for the coming revival without asking these questions.
There are voices in the church today which argue that God needs America (her wealth, her
international power, etc.) in order to advance the Kingdom of God, so God will not judge America in
any significant way, because to do so would jeopardize His cause (the Christians of the 5th century
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probably felt the same way about Rome). The problem is that God always judges & punishes
unrepentant sin. But He reserves the right to withhold and to delay judgment to some future date,
even until eternity and The Day of Judgment itself. Judgment delayed in this world is not the same
thing as judgment denied, in either this world or in the next. God also reserves the right to be
selective, to renew one and not another, to judge one now while postponing the judgement of
another, to send renewal to His Church while at the same time sending judgment upon a rebellious
and unbelieving world. He even reserves the right, as in Jonah’s day, to proclaim judgment, to send
revival, to subsequently postpone the promised judgment based upon the response of people to the
revival, and then to chastize an obedient-but-sulking prophet who was disappointed that God had
lived up to His reputation of being merciful toward people so lost in their sins that they “do not know
the difference between their right and left hand” (Jonah 4:11). God has an unfortunate habit of being
immensely more patient with and merciful towards sinners than we are. As Jonah discovered, mercy
and compassion towards those (other than ourselves) who don’t deserve it can be one of His more
irritating attributes.
In short, He is not a tame lion, to paraphrase C.S. Lewis. He will have mercy upon whom He will have
mercy (Romans 9:18). And so it is with the issues of spiritual renewal and cultural transformation.
Whether we will or will not have spiritual awakening and cultural transformation “does not depend on
the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy” (Romans 9:16). His mercy
encourages us to fast and to pray for it, proclaiming with the prophet, “Who knows whether He will
not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him” (Joel 2:14). His holiness and His judgment of
sin warn us that neither revival nor transformation are ever guaranteed outcomes, and there are
times both personally and nationally when we are called upon to reap the bitter harvest of what we
have sown.
And Augustine would remind us that even on its best day, the earthly city which is this world system
is fundamentally opposed to God’s kingdom purposes and is ultimately doomed to judgment.
Preparing A Channel For The River
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the
earth should change, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar
and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.”
My favorite Psalm is Psalm 46, and following the events of September 11 the Lord nudged me to read
it again. The first three verses (quoted above) describe trusting God when all the world around us and
all those things in which we have trusted suddenly move and our lives are thrown into upheaval. This
is an appropriate description of what has happened to many people lately. Like those Romans who
felt their world shattered by the collapse of Rome, many people today have had their personal worlds
shaken and shattered by recent events. And there is probably more to come. The world and its
inhabitants are in turmoil; the mountains are slipping, the seas are roaring, and people’s hearts are
filled with fear and foreboding. But in the midst of this turmoil, verses 4 - 7 speak of a river which
continues to flow in spite of the surrounding turmoil. It is a river “whose streams make glad the city
of God, the holy dwelling places of the Most High.” I believe this is the River of The Spirit of God, the
River of the Water of Life.
Let me come straight to the point, a point I see reflected here in this passage. The world and our
surrounding culture is in great turmoil and consternation, just as the Psalmist describes. It will
probably get worse before it gets better. But through all of this turmoil God is preparing and building
a new channel for the flow of His River. This channel will consist of “the holy dwelling places of the
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Most High.” I believe this channel will be made up of thousands of house churches where families
& friends gather together to worship, to seek God, to minister to one another in good times and bad,
to be the Church that meets in your house, and to reach out in love and compassion to non-Christian
individuals and families around them. The importance and centrality of home and family was
touchingly illustrated in recent events as doomed passengers called home on their cell phones in
what they knew to be the closing moments of life in order to tell family and loved ones of their love
and prayers. How did we ever miss this? And how did we ever think we could build strong, vibrant,
culturally-transforming Churches upon any human foundation other than spiritually strong and vibrant
families?
If we genuinely want to witness and experience the transformation of our culture, then we must be
willing to seek and pray for the revival and transformation of ourselves, our families, our homes and
the Church that meets in our homes. I believe that God is preparing and raising up His new
underground Church for these times, composed of countless house churches where families meet
to be the Church. I believe it will occur within the context, as the Psalmist describes, of tremendous
upheaval and uncertainty in the world around us. But in the midst of this upheaval and uncertainty
God will pour out the River of The Water of Life in renewal and revival, which will “make glad the city
of God, the holy dwelling places of the Most High.”
May the River of His Spirit flow through your family, your home and the Church that meets in your
house, renewing and giving fresh life to all It touches.
Let The River Flow!