“The Church We Forgot”

The following is an excerpt from the Preface of a book written in 1919. What is amazing about this little book is that the man who wrote it was apparently very much a part of the institutional church of his day. Yet, he took an honest look at the early church and wrote about it more as a journalist than a theologian…enjoy!

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“Sometimes we are apt to apply a modern and narrowed meaning to the broad human expressions which we find in the New Testament. A bishop was not a peer of the realm or prelate, as we put it in England, but an overseer or shepherd, who, as every man ought, looked after the interests of others, rather than his own. When Paul went about “confirming” the Churches, he strengthened them, as we all may do, with helpful words. It was service, rather than ceremony.”

“And, finally, we must get out of our minds the idea that a church in those days consisted of bricks and mortar. What the apostles meant by a church was not an edifice, with a pulpit and chancel and reredos, but a congregation or society of men and women; built together like living stones; and they were quite content to meet in some upper room, or ‘a place,’ or a private dwelling like that of Mary, mother of John Mark, where a housemaid called Rhoda acted as doorkeeper. It was not until all these early Christians, and indeed, their children after them, had been long dead, that money began to be spent on architecture. The worldwide mission was inaugurated with an open-air meeting at some street-corner in Jerusalem. Paul preached wherever he could get a hearing – in synagogues, by the riverside at Philippi, on the hill of the pagan god Mars at Athens, on the steps of the citadel in Jerusalem, in Herod’s palace, in Herod’s palace, and in a hired house under the shadow of Caesar’s throne, where he was – as he puts it – an ambassador in bonds. The energy that we devote to mortgages, debts, and bazaars was concentrated by these pioneers on the supreme task of winning men. For why should they waste their forces on material shrines? Anywhere and everywhere they expected to meet God.”

(bottom of pg 13-14)
“If then I am asked to furnish a first glimpse of these few scattered Christians, I reply that they were simple folk. Unencumbered by machinery and traditions and caste and ritual, they moved freely over the whole realm of opportunity…..No Church can grow – no country can develop – unless there be this freedom of opportunity, this simple aim, this one thing for you and for me to do. The disciples knew what the one thing was, they did it, and therefore they turned the whole world upside down.

– pp 11-14 The Church We Forgot

(A study of the life & words of the Early Church)

by Philip Whitwell Wilson, 1919

A JESUS MANIFESTO!

THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE POST BY FRANK VIOLA & LEONARD SWEET.  IT IS NOT ONLY A MUST READ, BUT IS ABSOLUTELY A TRUTH TO BELIEVE!!!

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Posted by jesusmanifesto on the June 22, 2009

A Magna Carta

for Restoring the Supremacy of

Jesus Christ

a.k.a.

A Jesus Manifesto

for the 21^st Century Church

by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola

Christians have made the gospel about so many things … things other than Christ.

Jesus Christ is the gravitational pull that brings everything together and gives them significance, reality, and meaning. Without him, all things lose their value. Without him, all things are but detached pieces floating around in space.

It is possible to emphasize a spiritual truth, value, virtue, or gift, yet miss Christ . . . who is the embodiment and incarnation of all spiritual truth, values, virtues, and gifts.

Seek a truth, a value, a virtue, or a spiritual gift, and you have obtained something dead.

Seek Christ, embrace Christ, know Christ, and you have touched him who is Life. And in him resides all Truth, Values, Virtues and Gifts in living color. Beauty has its meaning in the beauty of Christ, in whom is found all that makes us lovely and loveable.

What is Christianity? It is Christ. Nothing more. Nothing less. Christianity is not an ideology. Christianity is not a philosophy. Christianity is the “good news” that Beauty, Truth and Goodness are found in a person. Biblical community is founded and found on the connection to that person. Conversion is more than a change in direction; it’s a change in connection. Jesus’ use of the ancient Hebrew word shubh, or its Aramaic equivalent, to call for “repentance” implies not viewing God from a distance, but entering into a relationship where God is command central of the human connection.

In that regard, we feel a massive disconnection in the church today. Thus this manifesto.

We believe that the major disease of the church today is JDD: Jesus Deficit Disorder. The person of Jesus is increasingly politically incorrect, and is being replaced by the language of “justice,” “the kingdom of God,” “values,” and “leadership principles.”

In this hour, the testimony that we feel God has called us to bear centers on the primacy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Specifically . . .

1. The center and circumference of the Christian life is none other than the person of Christ. All other things, including things related to him and about him, are eclipsed by the sight of his peerless worth. Knowing Christ is Eternal Life. And knowing him profoundly, deeply, and in reality, as well as experiencing his unsearchable riches, is the chief pursuit of our lives, as it was for the first Christians. God is not so much about fixing things that have gone wrong in our lives as finding us in our brokenness and giving us Christ.

2. Jesus Christ cannot be separated from his teachings. Aristotle says to his disciples, “Follow my teachings.” Socrates says to his disciples, “Follow my teachings.” Buddha says to his disciples, “Follow my meditations.” Confucius says to his disciples, “Follow my sayings.” Muhammad says to his disciples, “Follow my noble pillars.” Jesus says to his disciples, “Follow me.” In all other religions, a follower can follow the teachings of its founder without having a relationship with that founder. Not so with Jesus Christ. The teachings of Jesus cannot be separated from Jesus himself. Jesus Christ is still alive and he embodies his teachings. It is a profound mistake, therefore, to treat Christ as simply the founder of a set of moral, ethical, or social teaching. The Lord Jesus and his teaching are one. The Medium and the Message are One. Christ is the incarnation of the Kingdom of God and the Sermon on the Mount.

3. God’s grand mission and eternal purpose in the earth and in heaven centers in Christ . . . both the individual Christ (the Head) and the corporate Christ (the Body). This universe is moving towards one final goal – the fullness of Christ where He shall fill all things with himself. To be truly missional, then, means constructing one’s life and ministry on Christ. He is both the heart and bloodstream of God’s plan. To miss this is to miss the plot; indeed, it is to miss everything.

4. Being a follower of Jesus does not involve imitation so much as it does implantation and impartation. Incarnation–the notion that God connects to us in baby form and human touch—is the most shocking doctrine of the Christian religion. The incarnation is both once-and-for-all and ongoing, as the One “who was and is to come” now is and lives his resurrection life in and through us. Incarnation doesn’t just apply to Jesus; it applies to every one of us. Of course, not in the same sacramental way. But close. We have been given God’s “Spirit” which makes Christ “real” in our lives. We have been made, as Peter puts it, “partakers of the divine nature.” How, then, in the face of so great a truth can we ask for toys and trinkets? How can we lust after lesser gifts and itch for religious and spiritual thingys? We’ve been touched from on high by the fires of the Almighty and given divine life. A life that has passed through death – the very resurrection life of the Son of God himself. How can we not be fired up?

To put it in a question: What was the engine, or the accelerator, of the Lord’s amazing life? What was the taproot or the headwaters of his outward behavior? It was this: Jesus lived by an indwelling Father. After his resurrection, the passage has now moved. What God the Father was to Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is to you and to me. He’s our indwelling Presence, and we share in the life of Jesus’ own relationship with the Father. There is a vast ocean of difference between trying to compel Christians to imitate Jesus and learning how to impart an implanted Christ. The former only ends up in failure and frustration. The latter is the gateway to life and joy in our daying and our dying. We stand with Paul: “Christ lives in me.” Our life is Christ. In him do we live, breathe, and have our being. “What would Jesus do?” is not Christianity. Christianity asks: “What is Christ doing through me … through us? And how is Jesus doing it?” Following Jesus means “trust and obey” (respond), and living by his indwelling life through the power of the Spirit.

5. The “Jesus of history” cannot be disconnected from the “Christ of faith.” The Jesus who walked the shores of Galilee is the same person who indwells the church today. There is no disconnect between the Jesus of Mark’s Gospel and the incredible, all-inclusive, cosmic Christ of Paul’s letter to the Colossians. The Christ who lived in the first century has a pre-existence before time. He also has a post-existence after time. He is Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End, A and Z, all at the same time. He stands in the future and at the end of time at the same moment that He indwells every child of God. Failure to embrace these paradoxical truths has created monumental problems and has diminished the greatness of Christ in the eyes of God’s people.

6. It’s possible to confuse “the cause” of Christ with the person of Christ. When the early church said “Jesus is Lord,” they did not mean “Jesus is my core value.” Jesus isn’t a cause; he is a real and living person who can be known, loved, experienced, enthroned and embodied. Focusing on his cause or mission doesn’t equate focusing on or following him. It’s all too possible to serve “the god” of serving Jesus as opposed to serving him out of an enraptured heart that’s been captivated by his irresistible beauty and unfathomable love. Jesus led us to think of God differently, as relationship, as the God of all relationship.

7. Jesus Christ was not a social activist nor a moral philosopher. To pitch him that way is to drain his glory and dilute his excellence. Justice apart from Christ is a dead thing. The only battering ram that can storm the gates of hell is not the cry of Justice, but the name of Jesus. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of Justice, Peace, Holiness, Righteousness. He is the sum of all spiritual things, the “strange attractor” of the cosmos. When Jesus becomes an abstraction, faith loses its reproductive power. Jesus did not come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people live.

8. It is possible to confuse an academic knowledge or theology about Jesus with a personal knowledge of the living Christ himself. These two stand as far apart as do the hundred thousand million galaxies. The fullness of Christ can never be accessed through the frontal lobe alone. Christian faith claims to be rational, but also to reach out to touch ultimate mysteries. The cure for a big head is a big heart.

Jesus does not leave his disciples with CliffsNotes for a systematic theology. He leaves his disciples with breath and body.

Jesus does not leave his disciples with a coherent and clear belief system by which to love God and others. Jesus gives his disciples wounds to touch and hands to heal.

Jesus does not leave his disciples with intellectual belief or a “Christian worldview.” He leaves his disciples with a relational faith.

Christians don’t follow a book. Christians follow a person, and this library of divinely inspired books we call “The Holy Bible” best help us follow that person. The Written Word is a map that leads us to The Living Word. Or as Jesus himself put it, “All Scripture testifies of me.” The Bible is not the destination; it’s a compass that points to Christ, heaven’s North Star.

The Bible does not offer a plan or a blueprint for living. The “good news” was not a new set of laws, or a new set of ethical injunctions, or a new and better PLAN. The “good news” was the story of a person’s life, as reflected in The Apostle’s Creed. The Mystery of Faith proclaims this narrative: “Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.” The meaning of Christianity does not come from allegiance to complex theological doctrines, but a passionate love for a way of living in the world that revolves around following Jesus, who taught that love is what makes life a success . . . not wealth or health or anything else: but love. And God is love.

9. Only Jesus can transfix and then transfigure the void at the heart of the church. Jesus Christ cannot be separated from his church. While Jesus is distinct from his Bride, he is not separate from her. She is in fact his very own Body in the earth. God has chosen to vest all of power, authority, and life in the living Christ. And God in Christ is only known fully in and through his church. (As Paul said, “The manifold wisdom of God – which is Christ – is known through the ekklesia.”)

The Christian life, therefore, is not an individual pursuit. It’s a corporate journey. Knowing Christ and making him known is not an individual prospect. Those who insist on flying life solo will be brought to earth, with a crash. Thus Christ and his church are intimately joined and connected. What God has joined together, let no person put asunder. We were made for life with God; our only happiness is found in life with God. And God’s own pleasure and delight is found therein as well.

10. In a world which sings, “Oh, who is this Jesus?” and a church which sings, “Oh, let’s all be like Jesus,” who will sing with lungs of leather, “Oh, how we love Jesus!”

If Jesus could rise from the dead, we can at least rise from our bed, get off our couches and pews, and respond to the Lord’s resurrection life within us, joining Jesus in what he’s up to in the world. We call on others to join us—not in removing ourselves from planet Earth, but to plant our feet more firmly on the Earth while our spirits soar in the heavens of God’s pleasure and purpose. We are not of this world, but we live in this world for the Lord’s rights and interests. We, collectively, as the ekklesia of God, are Christ in and to this world.

May God have a people on this earth who are a people of Christ, through Christ, and for Christ. A people of the cross. A people who are consumed with God’s eternal passion, which is to make his Son preeminent, supreme, and the head over all things visible and invisible. A people who have discovered the touch of the Almighty in the face of his glorious Son. A people who wish to know only Christ and him crucified, and to let everything else fall by the wayside. A people who are laying hold of his depths, discovering his riches, touching his life, and receiving his love, and making HIM in all of his unfathomable glory known to others.

The two of us may disagree about many things—be they ecclesiology, eschatology, soteriology, not to mention economics, globalism and politics.

But in our two most recent books—From Eternity to Here and So Beautiful—we have sounded forth a united trumpet. These books are the Manifests to this Manifesto. They each present the vision that has captured our hearts and that we wish to impart to the Body of Christ— “This ONE THING I know” (Jn.9:25) that is the ONE THING that unites us all:

Jesus the Christ.

Christians don’t follow Christianity; Christians follow Christ.

Christians don’t preach themselves; Christians proclaim Christ.

Christians don’t point people to core values; Christians point people to the cross.

Christians don’t preach about Christ: Christians preach Christ.

Over 300 years ago a German pastor wrote a hymn that built around the Name above all names:

Ask ye what great thing I know, that delights and stirs me so?
What the high reward I win? Whose the name I glory in?
Jesus Christ, the crucified.

This is that great thing I know; this delights and stirs me so:
faith in him who died to save, His who triumphed o’er the grave:
Jesus Christ, the crucified.

—

Jesus Christ – the crucified, resurrected, enthroned, triumphant, living Lord.

He is our Pursuit, our Passion, and our Life.

Amen.

Are Christians Easily Cured of Their Christianity?

Here is posted on the Voice of the Martyrs website dated June 1.  It is a fascinating look at our brothers & sisters in Christ in history:

The following is a letter from a governor named Pliny to the Roman emperor on the growth of Christianity less than one hundred years after the crucifixion of Christ:

I have never been present at any of the Christians’ trials, and I am unaware of the methods and limits used in our investigation and torture. Do we show any regard to age or gender? If a Christian repents of his religion, do we still punish him or pardon him?

Currently, I am proceeding thus—I question them as to their religion; if they state they are Christian, I repeat the questioning, adding the threat of capital punishment. If they still persist, I order them to be executed. I do not believe that their stubbornness should go unpunished.

I recently questioned a group of Christians who, after interrogation, denied their faith. From this event, I could see more than ever the importance of extracting the real truth, with the assistance of torture, from two female prisoners. But I was able to discover nothing except depraved and excessive superstition.

I therefore thought it wise to consult you before continuing with this matter. The matter is well worth referring to you, especially considering the numbers endangered. This contagious superstition is not confined to the cities only, but has also spread throughout the villages.

Nevertheless it still seems possible to cure it.

Are Christians easily “cured” of their Christianity? When push comes to shove, are most believers incurably faithful to Christ or merely running a mild fever? Persecution is one sure way to discover the truth. Only God knows a person’s heart. However, persecution introduces us to our real selves and helps determine whether we will forsake Christ or remain faithful. If we are truly committed to Christ, then he will give us the stamina we need to endure for his sake. If we are more committed to an ideology than the person of Jesus, we will find ourselves faltering under pressure. Are you an incurable case for Christ or will your beliefs turn out to be “excessive superstition” instead?

Clergy & Laity: Is this really biblical?

This is a concise yet very effective video explaining the lie of our system of clergy and laity.

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LIFE CHANGING MESSAGE!!!

I just finished listening to another life changing audio recording of another sermon by Paris Reidhead.  WOW! It and was absolutely stirred in my spirit. The message is entitled The Normal Christian Life.

I truly believe this message needs to be heard in every church in the United States.  I also believe it has the potential to be truly life changing!!!

Please….listen to this message!  I believe that if you pray before listening to it & listen with a teachable spirit, God will impact your life!  My only desire and motivation is that HIS body is edified & strengthened.

It is 1 hour in length, but as I said very, very well worth it!  The first 4 minutes & 24 seconds is nothing but a choir singing.  You can fast forward it if you desire.

Grace & Peace to You!!!

“10 SHEKELS & A SHIRT”

Below is an e-mail I sent to everyone in my address book, and I wanted to pass it on to you as well.

Greetings,
I hope your week is off to a great start!  Last night I “accidentally” came across an audio sermon entitled “10 Shekels & A Shirt“, and I wanted to pass it on to you.  It is by Paris Reidhead who lived from 1919 to 1992 and was a Christian missionary, teacher, writer, and advocate of economic development in impoverished nations.

He preached this message around 1965; 20 years after leaving the Sudan, and it is considered probably his best-known recorded teaching. This could be called one of the most influential sermons of the 20th century.

I want to strongly encourage you to prayerfully listen to this.  I prayed that you would be stirred and convicted in your heart, and that God’s “eternal purpose” might be manifested in your life.

If you’d like to check out other wonderful audio messages check out this site:
http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/

Grace & Peace to you!

DO YOU REALLY KNOW YOUR FATHER?

Yesterday, as we continued going through the book of Galatians.  I was captured by Paul’s new strategy of appealing to the Galatian believers.  Paul being as perplexed as he was at their departure from a simple life of faith and dependence on Jesus’ life in them, appeals to them emotionally if you will.

In verse 9 Paul says “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?”

Now, first of all, in vv 6-7 he just got through encouraging them that we are all “sons” of God by the same faith of Abraham.  Therefore, we can cry out “Abba, Father” or Daddy/Father! God is our Father!

The Greek word “know” and “known” in the above verse is “gnosis” and is often a Jewish idiom for sexual relations.  He’s telling them basically, “Since you already are in an intimate Father/son relationship with the Creator God why would you settle for such an empty, worthless and weak substitute like religion again?”

I truly believe that when you truly KNOW who your Daddy really is, it will radically effective how you live.  If you don’t, you can only respond to life according to what your feelings or circumstances dictate to you.

If you have come in to an intimate knowledge of Jesus, let me ask you, do you KNOW your Father? If not, let me introduce you to Him below…….

>He is the Godhead = 3 in One!	>Harmonious & orderly
>He is Love	>Tenderhearted
>Always does the right thing at the right time for the right reasons with    or for the right person(s)	>He longs to share His glory with His Bride & allows her to partner with Him in the building of His body
>Caring	>Full of grace – gracious
>Compassionate	>Rich in mercy
>He’s passionate to display His glory	>He has matchless, incomprehensible power!!!
>He is Just	>He is Holy
>Perfect	>Omniscient
>Righteous	>Omnipresent
>Forgiving heart	>Creative
>Sense of humor	> He IS Wisdom
>He’s my Lord, my Husband, my Master and friend!!!	>Generous = He loves to bless His kids & give to them
>I take His breath away at just the           sight of me!	>His mind spins wildly at the thought of me!
>Single-minded & Intentional to      fulfill His will	>He loves watching His kids enjoy HIS life in them.
>Kind	>Giving heart
>The Healer	>Faithful & True!
>Very patient or long suffering	>He is truthful (for He is Truth)
>Easy to get along with	>Always positive & confident
>Slow to anger	>Always judges righteously

May we today begin to add to this list and get to  know who are Daddy really is through Jesus.  As we “grow in the grace and in the KNOWLEDGE of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” our lives and “church” experience will radically change.  May you be blessed on this wonderful journey!

So, what is this house church movement?

This video below is a quick yet eye opening look at how Christ’s body is growing in this world.

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GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE…THAT’S IT!!!

THIS MESSAGE (BELOW) SO RESONATED WITH MY SPIRIT.  I HAVE BEEN REALIZING LATELY MORE AND MORE THIS TRUTH OF GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE!

In his last entry to his blog dated 5/26/09, Frank Viola said the following:

“Many of you have been asking me for the recording of my talk at George Fox Seminary back in February.

Also appearing at the event were Leonard Sweet, Alan Hirsch, Dan Kimball, and MaryKate Morse. Lance Ford moderated (and tried to incite a riot a few times).

In the talk, I had some weighty things to say to those who minister. Things related to God’s Eternal Purpose.

Here’s the recording of the talk: http://www.FromEternitytoHere.org/ViolaGeorgeFox.mp3 (or search for it on iTunes under my name). It’s only about 30 minutes long.”

The Holy Spirit & Church…

My Friend John sent me this quote a few minutes ago and it really moved me. I pray it blesses you as well. My response is below.

“I think there can be no doubt that the need above all other needs in the Church of God at this moment is the power of the Holy Spirit. More education, better organization, finer equipment, more advanced methods—all are unavailing. It is like bringing a better respirator after the patient is dead. Good as these are they can never give life. “It is the spirit that quickeneth” (John 6:63). Good as they are they can never bring power. “Power belongeth unto God” (Psalm 62:11). Protestantism is on the wrong road when it tries to win merely by means of a “united front.” It is not organizational unity we need most; the great need is power. The headstones in the cemetery present a united front, but they stand mute and helpless while the world passes by.

I suppose my suggestion will not receive much serious attention, but I should like to suggest that we Bible-believing Christians announce a moratorium on religious activity and set our house in order preparatory to the coming of an afflatus from above. So carnal is the body of Christians which composes the conservative wing of the Church, so shockingly irreverent are our public services in some quarters, so degraded are our religious tastes in still others that the need for power could scarcely have been greater at any time in history. I believe we should profit immensely were we to declare a period of silence and self-examination during which each one of us searched his own heart and sought to meet every condition for a real baptism of power from on high.

We may be sure of one thing, that for our deep trouble there is no cure apart from a visitation, yes, an invasion of power from above. Only the Spirit Himself can show us what is wrong with us and only the Spirit can prescribe the cure. Only the Spirit can save us from the numbing unreality of Spiritless Christianity. Only the Spirit can show us the Father and the Son. Only the in working of the Spirit’s power can discover to us the solemn majesty and the heart ravishing mystery of the Triune God.” -  Tozer, A. W. (2007).     God’s pursuit of man (93). Camp Hill, PA: Wing Spread.

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Thanks brother! This is so desperately true for us today.  I’ll take what he said a step further.  We truly need the outpouring of His Spirit indeed, but in the context of the Body….the Church and not merely upon institutions.  The lost in America aren’t coming to Christ because they simply don’t see Jesus.  They see fine buildings, fine programs, great teaching, great people, etc. but not Jesus.

I believe we need to start BEING the Body once again instead of DOING church or GOING to church and function in our giftedness. Then and only then will the world see Jesus! How? Because He will be living and being manifested through each of us.

“…it is not I who live but Christ who lives in Me.” (and YOU!)

This is not happening in the institutionalized churches of today, and I don’t see it happening any time soon. We need a revival of our spirits and a revival of the simple church of the first century; the organic church….alive and free!