House Church and Decentralization.

I have presently been looking into the House church idea. As far as I can tell, the largest difference between a House Church and Cell Church is how centralized it is. The House Church seeks to be as decentralized as possible. Each house church functions as its own independent body. There is no group or organization over them. The leadership heirarchy is flat. They hold that the Holy Spirit is the one who leads. For the most part I think that such ideals are wonderful but impracticle.

The Cells in a cell church has a lot of similarity with a House Churches except that they have a Centralized leadership component. These cells will meet and follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit and experience deep fellowship wit those in their cell. They will also meet together with other cells together in a larger "celebration" service. Each cell is aware of its connection to the others.
I like the individuality of the House Church but it seems that when these form a Network of House Churches they in essence act like a cell church but without the permanence of a centralized structure. Even though leadership is downplayed...it is centralized when there is Networking. I think that no matter how you deal with the matter centralizing is inevitable.
I think that most of the people involved in the strictly house church movement are so put off by "institutionalism" that they fail to see some of the benefits that they have benefited through them.

How would a single house church care for the complex ministry needs of its community? I am talking about needs like feeding and clothing the poor, providing job training and placement, funerals, weddings, and other such ministries. I know that they probably have their methods of doing such ministries to those who are in their own group. Yet I wonder if they get phone calls from oustiders who need gas, their rent paid, counseling or a place to stay for the night. Do they get calls from people outside their group?

How about a soup kitchen? Such ministries require some kind of centralized leadership structure or partnership with someone else.

Again, I think that some kind of organization and structure is inevitable unless the small group wants to stay the same. Therefore I believe that the Cell Church Model is the one that enjoys the best of both worlds.

Faith

I read this thought provoking statement about from Watchman Nee the other day:
"What is faith? Faith is when you are brought to the place whereby you can claim from God that something has

Cell Church Paradigm part 2

A couple of weeks ago my family and I went to Canada for a vacation and to see a Church Planting Missionary in the Toronto area.

I saw Jeff Christopherson (in the picture on the right) at the Pastor's conference last year when he spoke about their dreams for planting churches in that region. In his sermon he encouraged us to dream dreams for God. I was really impressed with the fact that I needed to nail down this dream thing that God has placed on my heart.

Through the Annie Armstrong week of prayer Jen and I were stirred up for Canada as we read of another missionary's story. He shared in his story how he would go through town after town weeping with the realization that there was no church or bible study to share the love of Christ with those people. Canada is extremely unchurched. We began to pray about the possibility of going to Canada to scout for future either mission trips or to consider the possibilities of being church planter missionaries ourselves. We usually think of going to someplace like Mexico or some other Latin American country, but was completely oblivious to the mission opportunities that lie much closer to us to the North. It was during that time that I called up the NAMB (North American Mission Board) missionaries in Canada and Jeff was one of them.

Jeff planted a cell church called "The Sanctuary." They are successfully planting reproducing churches in an area that is quite difficult for this. All of their growth comes from new converts. In fact, in the beginning they told any possible transfer Christians that they didn't want them joining. They didn't want all that baggage that they would have brought into a new congregation. They have two things that they value which are multiplication and community transformation.

Our discussion was interesting in that I got the sense that Jeff was trying to talk us out of going. I understand the wisdom of doing that because you don't want someone coming into a situation with "pie in the sky" expectations. They will bail out on you when things get a little difficult. I appreciated his candor. He shared with us the cultural differences as well. I know that if God is calling a person to something...they wont be able to let it go. Right now, I have put the whole thing on the shelf. Yet I am praying for a city in which we can sponsor such as London, Ontario. I really want to see a church planging movement happen here.

I came away with that meeting that the strength of a cell church is its ability to mentor leaders and empower them to lead. I believe that a cell church can have great impact in the U.S. if it is done right, with no short cuts.

Cell Church Paradigm part 1

I have been reading on the Cell Church Paradigm for the last several years. Recently, I have been really honing in on whether it can be effective in this part of Illinois.
Last month in June I went to a Cell Church Symposium in Waco, Texas. I went in order to get a better grasp of cell churches. There were cell pastors from all over the world with massive churches. I believe the Pastor from the Ivory Coast in North Africa had over one hundred thousand in his congregation. There were other churches with numbers such as this.
I went to the conference with one main question on my mind: "Can this be as effective in the U.S?" They had a couple of churches that were represented there that were from the southern parts of the U.S. They seemed to be growing very well. I spoke with some of the people at the conference that were involved in cell type churches in the U.S. To my dismay, most of these churches were made up of "churched" people or transplants from other churches. Needless to say, this made me suspicious of those other churches in the South that seem to have big numbers. Transfer growth to me is not real and it is not something that is shown in the outside countries
The leader of the conference Ralph Neighbor (sometimes known as the father of the Cell Church Revolution) convened this meeting with a particular focus in mind. The focus was to ask the question, "what is the Spirit saying to the end time churches." The Christian movement in the U.S. is in some serious trouble. Also, by the way things look, we will be in for some more trouble. The thing that seemed to come forward during the conference through everything spoken is that the people in the churches of the U.S. are too much alive. They need to die...American Christianity is far too comfortable to bring the move of God into our country.
As I write this I think of the stories of living sacrifices that God used like George Elliot, William Carey, Hudson Taylor, George Whitfield, George Mueller, the Moravians and others. Pastor Dion Rober of the North African church spoke about the church being both a family and an army. He would organize it like an army ready to do battle against the enemy. Every significant work for the Lord requires that we first carry our cross.
I am very comfortable in my church. We are quite comfortable. Thats the problem. I have noticed in my experience that when everyone is working and almost to the point of burn out that God grows the church. People come to Christ, workers are empowered, new leaders are trained. The devil attacks. There are fights and squabbles along the way. It is messy. We are so afraid of burning out. So we stay safe and comfortable and do what is easy. No one is reached. I don't want to be uncomfortable, but I know that if I don't get out of my comfort zone nothing will happen!

Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters

This was a post that I put on another blogsite that I had...I post it here!
I was blessed the other day with some thoughts out of Ecclesiastes 11:1-6. Caution needs to be noted when we use Ecclesiastes because Solomon writes some of it from the perspective of excluding God hence the term "under the Sun" (1:3). By the time he gets to chapter 11, he is beginning to put God back into the equation.Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, for you do not know what evil will be on the earth. If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth; and if a tree falls to the south or the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie. He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. As you do not know what is the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, so you do not know the works of God who makes everything. In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know which will prosper, either this or that, or whether both alike will be good. (Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 NKJV)I have often wondered what the words "cast your bread upon the waters" means. I usually picture someone throwing bread out there for the birds, and seeing how the bread gets soggy. I really do not want that to come back. I learned recently what King Solomon must have had in mind when he said "cast your bread." For him bread was grain. He would send his grain out to other nations on his ships. He says to "give servings to seven and eight," signifying the sending the investment out in several ways. The nations will return with their ships of trade after they received Solomon's, thereby opening up a profitable trade relationship. He advises us not to "put all of our eggs into one basket," if something were to go wrong with that ONE ship then all would be lost.This agrees with the rest of the verses with what Solomon is trying to say. The words "you do not know" appear several times. We truly do not know which venture God will bless. In our ministry we need to diversify to allow God to bless whatever He will.I have served the Lord in ministry for 15 years and He has never told me what venture He will bless. I have had times where I have waited for things to be perfect and that never comes and so nothing happens. Beware of of sitting around waiting for God to give you what to do so that you will be guaranteed of 100% success...you will wait your life away.There are ventures that I have done that the Lord has richly blessed and there are ventures that have been dismal failures. Many would have you in these days to just focus on one spot...why? Get out there and do a variety of things for the Lord...you don't know what will produce fruit. Some will come immediately, some will not come until "after many days." If we want to reap a harvest, we need to sow our seed in the morning and not eat the bread of idleness in the evening.I will apply this to something simple like going to church. Some people go to church once a week on Sunday morning during the worship hour. What happens if the worship is bad, or the preacher is not doing well that morning? What if that person were to add another time like Sunday evening worship, Sunday School and Midweek Prayer? They can increase the rate of return by adding these to their lives. A person can increase such even more with a daily prayer time...I hope you get my meaning...I will close with a wonderful quote from Dr. Warren Wiersbe on this passage:"Life is an adventure of faith, and each of us is like a merchant investing today in taht which will pay dividends tomorrow. We are like the farmer, sowing various kinds of seeds in different soils, trusting God for the harvest."

Is God a "Nixer"?

Is God a “Nixer”?

Is God a “Nixer”? Does He somehow stand opposed to any individual expression that a person may make? In some things, God would have to be a nixer if He is a person of truth and of holiness, yet does He oppose us when we dream or seek to venture out in risk? I am not speaking of things that are clear moral or ethical violations but things that are good. I believe that our view of God in this will have a great impact on how we live. Do we see God as someone who will not permit people to actually “live”, as someone who is supportive and encouraging us to “go for it” or as someone who is a cosmic kiljoy?

James 4:13-17 says…

Listen, you who say, “today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “if it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

This passage makes is sound like God might be a nixer. The statement “IF it’s the Lord’s will,” definitely carries that implication. However, James is combating two vices with this passage…the first vice is that of boasting. This kind of boasting is evil because it doesn’t give glory to God who is ultimately responsible for all of live and the blessings that come our way. This boasting is planning that doesn’t include God’s Sovereignty in the plans. God may be a nixer in this sense, however we see the second vice that James mentions is the sin of omission. He says, “Anyone, then who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” God says no, on the one hand because He is saying yes on the other hand. If a man makes plans to do the good that he feels in his heart he ought to do, He will find that God will not nix that but will encourage it.

Herein lies an important truth to how God leads…it can be found in Philippians 2:12 and 13 “therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” God works in us to desire to do the good that he wants for us to do. We are to carry that out “with fear and trembling;” with the same attitude as if God were to hand that to you on tablets of stone. That is how God leads us today. I need to qualify the word “us”. “Us” are the people who are living in right relationship with God and desire to please Him. They are not living entirely for themselves like the boasters referred to in James. The boasters may or may not be oblivious to God’s desire, but they are definitely ignoring it.

Therefore, if our hearts are right with God and they desire to do certain good, then God will not nix the plan.

Sometimes it is difficult to discern if the heart is right…I think it is important to simply do as James says “If it is the Lord’s will, we will do this or that…” We move ahead with the acknowledgment that God is ultimately in control and we thank Him for the opportunities that He places before us.

Our hearts will often betray us though and will make us think that God doesn’t want us to go forward with something that is truly our desire.

King Solomon gave some great advice concerning this in Ecclesiastes 11: 5-6

As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.

Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.

I love this passage because it tells me that I really won’t know what God will bless. I need to make sure that I have enough pans in the fire so that He can bless one or all of them. What I do is up to me, what God blesses is up to Him. It is interesting that in the passage (Ecc. 11:9) that follows it talks about the coming of old age and gives advice there about that too.

Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.

So is God a nixer? NO…but I think that the plans and dreams need to be something that will inspire Him to bless it. He is not obligated to bless everything that I do, but I thing we have enough insight into God’s character to know what really turns Him on. Here are some cases that reveal what God found irrestible.

We see it in the healing of the paralytic in Mark 2. The text says in verse 5 “when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic”. Whose faith is this referencing? I believe that this was speaking specifically of the faith of the four men who brought him to Jesus rather than the faith of the paralytic himself. I know that this messes with our theology that a person must have faith for themselves in order to receive forgiveness of sin, but it says “see their faith”. The four men actually displayed faith in getting that paralytic to Jesus. They believed that Jesus was this guy’s answer so they came up with a lame plan of breaking though someone’s roof and lowering the man down on a palette. If these four men didn’t believe it a worthwhile venture they would not go through all the pains to go so far. Their action was motivated by their faith and everyone, including Jesus, could see it. How did these men know that Jesus would bless this? They didn’t KNOW it, but they really believed that the opportunity was there for the taking. So they took it…no prayer meeting or any other decisional making device needed. They followed their heart! Jesus was impressed so much when He saw their faith (which was displayed through the working out a crazy plan of getting the paralytic to Jesus’ feet) that He did a little extra thing and forgave the man his sins.

I like this story. These men were men who had faith, but they were also men who showed it through action. Their plans were based on what they wanted God to do. God couldn’t resist it. He condoned and backed this crazy action. What I do is up to me, what God does is up to Him. Here we find that God was inspired to bless them.

We see it in the faith of the Roman Centurion in Matthew 8:8-10

Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go’, ad he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith…”

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.

There are a couple of things worth noting in this passage. The first is that Jesus was “astonished” at seeing faith. Again, we find that this is something that greatly pleases the Lord and that it a joy for Him to bless. The second point is that Jesus was already going to go to the centurion’s place to heal him. The centurion of his own accord makes a suggestion that shows both faith and humility. The centurion displays his rational for thinking they way he does…Jesus goes along with it because it comes with faith. Jesus changes His plans of going there and adopts the centurion’s suggestion of just saying the word and staying without making the trip. I stress this point that it was a plan that was brought up by the centurion. It was his initiative and not Jesus. Jesus did not nix it because it showed faith. In fact, He was greatly pleased with it. Also, you get the sense as you read this that He would like to see more of it…especially in Israel.

We often worry specifically about the plan and whether God will bless it or not, but the issue is that whether the plan shows faith or not.

We see this when Peter walks on the water in Matthew 14:25-33

During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw Him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. There is one major point that I want to point out in this passage is that of Peter’s initiative. It was Peter’s idea to walk on the water. Of course, he saw Jesus doing it yet it was a crazy idea to think that he himself could. Would Jesus permit such an idea? Would it be considered too prideful, too risky or too presumptuous? Will God nix this one? Absolutely NOT! Jesus said “come”. This just blows my mind! Jesus goes along with Peter’s idea. None of the other disciple’s thought of it. They might have but they may have been too scared to try. Somehow Peter had enough confidence that if Jesus was in it, he could do it! I can’t get over it…it was Peter’s idea and Jesus backed it. How many crazy ideas do we get that require trust in the word of Christ that could turn to be a clear display of God’s power if we followed through on it. Keep in mind that Peter got to experience something that none of us would ever dream of experiencing. Yet had he not taken that opportunity, it would have not happened.

Yes I know that Peter lost faith and sank, and that “at least he got out of the boat,” this is not my point here. My point is that we are free to dream and plan and venture and risk and all of those things that will show faith in Christ. We can throw off our caution and place it on Him for He does care for us.

A statement that I hear a lot is…“I don’t know if the idea comes from me or if it is Him”. My response from these passages is “So what?” If the plan is full of belief and faith…GO FOR IT!

Jesus begins to prod His disciples into this type of thinking in His feeding of the multitudes in both Mark 6 and 8. In Mark 6 the disciples see the need and present their idea to Jesus (verse 35-36) and Jesus counters with a different idea, “You give them something to eat.” Of course, the disciples were completely perplexed with how they could accomplish what Jesus was asking them to do. Jesus proceeds to feed the multitudes out of the small amount that they have on hand.

Mark 8 is a similar situation, but here Jesus brings up the need to His disciples in verse 2.

I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.

Jesus brings up the need and an opportunity. The disciples have already been in a situation like this before. It is as if Jesus is presenting an opportunity for a disciple to take some initiative by faith and come up with a plan. Notice how they respond in verse4…

His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”

The disciples are still not thinking and planning by faith in the power of God. They see how impossible the task of feeding that multitude would be. It definitely is impossible without Christ. But they were forgetting that Jesus is with them and with Jesus all things are possible that are impossible with men. The nixer in this passage isn’t God, but it is His disciples. God gives an opportunity and the opportunity is missed. So Jesus feeds them like before and hopes the lesson sinks in. We learn that the lesson doesn’t sink in for a few verses later when Jesus is giving them a warning they misunderstand it in 8:16-18

They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.” Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes to see but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?

What were they to remember? They were to remember the two instances in which Jesus fed the multitudes with basically nothing. They were to apply that to the fact that the lack of bread was not an issue. This reveals that the disciples were still struggling to apply their faith into these situations.

This prompts the thought that we are often the ones that limit or nix what God wants to do. It isn’t God who limits us! He gives opportunity after opportunity and situation after situation in which we need to apply faith. This is especially true in those situations where He has proved Himself to us in a smaller matter like He did with David with the bears and lions before the Goliath opportunity. What examples has He personally given us in the past that point to a faith situation today?

We turn now to some encouragements that Jesus gives in relation to prayer. In these encouragements there is the implication that we have some initiative that God is looking for.

The first passage is Matthew 7:7-8 which says…

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

This passage tells us that God blesses a person who will ask, seek, and knock. That person comes with what he wants God to do. Jesus tells us that the person will be rewarded if he does these things. I hear Jesus as saying “Go for it”! It is not wrong to have a desire that moves us to ask, seek and knock. It is in fact good especially when it is acted upon. I rephrase this as saying “if there is something I want, I am free to pursue it.”

There is encouragement to not give up on the pursuit even when it may seem that the answer is “no”. Jesus gave the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18, and in verse one it says “Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” There are a few examples of this out of Jesus’ ministry one of which I will share here of Blind Bartimaeus. When he heard that Jesus was passing by him, he cried out for Jesus to have mercy on him. He did so in the face of obstacles and opposition as in Mark 10:48 “Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more…” He did not give up and as the story goes Jesus rewarded his perseverance by restoring his sight.

Bart was successful. He had no idea whether Jesus would respond or not, but he seized the opportunity and did the only thing that he could do. Before long there stood Jesus right in front of him with the wonderful question…”what do you want me to do for you” and Bart said “I WANT TO SEE!” Interestingly, Jesus would have passed by and this story would not have happened if Bart hadn’t taken the initiative to present to Jesus his idea!

It made no difference to all the other people that day that Jesus passed by…but it did to the one who asked, seek[ed] and knocked! The same applies to here and now. Jesus is present…what do I want Him to do for me? Is He the nixer? No…I am the nixer! Everyone else and situations may forbid, yet Jesus does not! Therefore, I must face my belief barrier about God Himself. Is He the one that holds me back or is He the one that would propel me forward. Is He eager to do something great through me or has he brought to a place where I shrivel and dry up? (Sounds like what the Israelites said in the wilderness against both Moses and God) Am I free to soar, to run, to dream to pursue greatness?

I feel that I need to include one last thing on this side of my thought today…and that is one of humility. God opposes the proud but exalts the humble. It is a fact. That is why the boastful in James is evil. In Luke 21:3-4 Jesus told His disciples about the widow who gave more from her poverty than the wealthy did out of their great wealth. He counted her two coins of greater worth than any of what the others did. Jesus is impressed more with the size of the sacrifice than with the size of the gift. This is something well worth remembering for it may seem that a person is serving under limited resources and small things and that person could be esteemed greater than the larger ones.

I need to write briefly of four things that displease God. I cannot expect God’s blessing upon these things.

1. Laziness and fear. In the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30), Jesus tells of how the man who buried his talent was treated by the owner. He was called a lazy and wicked servant. Everything was taken from him and was given to the one who proved faithful. The man simply did not venture out and take the risks necessary to increase his talent. He hid it and did nothing with it. In the parable, the decision of what to do with the talent was up to the servants and they were held accountable for it. Jesus told him that if he wanted to play it safe he should have at least put it in the bank so he could get it back with some interest.

2. Hypocrisy. Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:1 to “be careful not do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in Heaven.” God won’t bless hypocrisy.

3. Unbelief. It is recorded that Jesus would not do many mighty miracles in His own home town because of unbelief. Matthew 13:58 says “and He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.”

4. Double-minded. James tells of a person who is double-minded and unstable in all their ways. He writes referring to the one who doubts that “man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” Double-minded means a person who is always unsure. God’s answers to such a person is always “no”. So if a person feel that God is always nixing them, they need to check and see how they are under this test.

So to answer the question…is God a nixer? The answer is no! There are enough scriptures provided here to show the opposite. That God wants people to venture out and take risks for Him. If they don’t, they won’t experience much. They will be assigned to a dull and boring life that may someday be judged as a wicked and lazy one. God isn’t the one standing in our way…it is our own fears and laziness that oppose us. When we listen to these nixers we aren’t listening to the call of God!