CHAPTER ONE
My wife
Nancy and I recently returned from a mission trip to Central America. We stayed in San Salvador with Sam and Julie
Hawkins, who started Lovelink ten years ago.
It is a ministry to extremely malnourished babies, who are fed a high
nutritional food and loved back to life.
After staying with them a few days, Sam and I headed north to see Mike
and Rocky Beene, who started a mission a three hours drive east of Guatemala
City. The mission is located high in
the mountains north of Zacapa in incredibly demanding terrain. I met Mike in El Salvador in 1984 while on a
medical mission trip with my wife.
Mike could write a book about his many experiences of how the Lord protected
him behind the lines during the war.
As the church gathered on the Lord's day in the
village of Montasonto, some walking more than two hours to get there over
terrain not even a dirt bike could traverse, I felt directed of the Lord to
teach on the three ways God meets His children. They are 1) personally, 2)
when the small church meets and 3) when the whole church gathers. They had experienced the Lord both
personally and as a whole church, but never in homes as a small church. The main points of my teaching zeroed in on
the small church, which they had not yet experienced. Jesus set the example for us in that the first church of the New
Testament was comprised of Jesus and His disciples. Jesus was in the midst of His church, teaching them by word and
example. If we continue His example,
Jesus will be there in the midst of His church, not bodily, but through the
eighteen gifts that are available to believers when they come together.
In a house church every member is a minister. Paul encouraged the Corinthians to have everyone bring something from the Lord to the meeting. That way the meeting is not dominated by one person's gift, but instead all members edify each member. Growth in a relationship with Jesus takes place automatically as each member spends time listening and meditating in Him. I challenged that young church that the Lord would start the first of many house churches in that congregation. Two days later word came to Mike-we were going to a new home church on Friday.
The point I want to make is that, the congregation was only five years old, only a few could read, most were illiterate and had no formal education. I told these precious people, descendants of the Mayan civilization, that according to the Bible, the early church met in homes where the dynamics of community, commitment and accountability produced spiritually mature Christians. And they wanted the same.
These simple people are fortunate in that they
have no hurdles of religious tradition
to overcome as they follow the early church pattern. Those of us who have been fostered in various denominational
traditions unfortunately have such hurdles.
There are varying struggles and
difficulties ahead for almost anyone who attempts passage into the early church
pattern. More so for those who
belong to the main-line church because of its hierarchical structure, less so
for those who belong to the independent church. Nonetheless, a degree of religious tradition prevails in all, and
this tradition must be overcome. Once
we enter into the church that Christ built and experience Jesus in our midst,
we can respond to the Lord with confidence as Peter responded to Jesus when he
asked; "Will you also go away?"
Peter answered, "Lord to
whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:67-68). Those who were not in community with Jesus, as were the twelve
disciples, left Him because the teaching He gave did not find the fertile
ground of a close relationship in which to grow.
If you just think about it, Jesus did almost everything He could to provoke the religious establishment of His day. He did not worry about offending those in authority. He had only three years to change the course of history and to fulfill all of the ancient prophecies concerning the coming Messiah. All of His words were laced with the breath of His Father, and could enter the very soul of man. Nothing else can so transform a person into a new creation like the words of Jesus in the New Testament. Just follow His teachings and obey His commandments and you will be willing to suffer and even to die for Him. How fortunate are those who personally heard Jesus, recognized His divinity, believed in Him and are now with Him eternally.
After Jesus was victorious over Satan in the wilderness He went to Nazareth. In the synagogue He attended many times, He read this scripture from Isaiah:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He
has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery
of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the
Lord's favor. Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and
sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he
began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your
hearing" (Luke 4:18-19).
Jesus continued speaking for a
minute and then the people of His hometown wanted to kill Him. This was the beginning of Jesus’ effort to challenge
temple orthodoxy and priestly control.
Jesus had an entirely new design for His church and it was important for
Him to distance Himself from the old temple orthodoxy. Thus orthodoxy was about to be turned upside
down by the Savior of mankind.
All the people in the synagogue were
furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took
him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him
down the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way
(Luke 4:28-30).
Orthodoxy is the practice of
religion and in the Old Covenant it was undisputed. Its function was to maintain order and predictability with no
surprises. It became an idol and was
more important than the Creator it was meant to reveal. Orthodoxy was a product of the rigid structure of the law, but was
scheduled to diminish and disappear with the Old Covenant. “By
calling this covenant “new,” He has made the first one obsolete; and what is
obsolete and aging will soon disappear” (Hebrews 8:13). Paul convincingly gives the Coloassians the
image of Jesus nailing to the cross the rules and regulations of the law.
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Colossians 2:13-15).
Early in the history of the church, unwelcome missionaries of temple
worship, known as Judaizers, began to try to undermine the new found freedoms
of the church in Antioch and elsewhere. Their intention was to replace the
liberating Gospel of Jesus with rules and regulations and make Christianity a
sect of the Judaism. Their influence
can be found in the rituals and traditions of the modern day Roman Church, the
Eastern Orthodox Church, and various denominations of Protestantism.
For just a little evidence to support my assertion read your church
bulletin closely next Sunday. The order
of worship is predetermined and predictable. The early church was just the
opposite, no bulletin and no order of service.
The Holy Spirit was in charge of the gathering from start to
finish. What made the gathering of
Christians so exciting is that you did not know what to expect. A hymn may be first or a prayer or a
testimony or teaching or a prophecy and the occasional reading of a letter from
the apostle.
It certainly was a challenge for Jesus to stop the powerful ship of
controlling Jewish tradition and chart a new course of Spirit control. Rules and regulations would have to give way
to gifts given to men by the Holy
Spirit. Fresh instant involvement from
God is the new conduit to nourish the gatherings of Christians. The burden of order was now on the shoulders
of the holy priesthood of believers and not on an orthodox hierarchy structure.
My impression is that these seventy-two men were fervent new followers of Jesus. They were probably from different locations and after seeing and hearing the Messiah they wouldn’t go home. Jesus did have a need for someone to go before Him and prepare other towns and villages for His visit. Here is where the provocation comes in. Jesus did not ask the high priest, Sanhedrin, or anyone else for permission. Jesus did not ask the scribes, Pharisees, or students from the local seminary to go. Heaven forbid, these seventy-two men were not even Levites! The religious leaders did not give these men permission to heal the sick or have the demons submit to them in the name of Jesus.
Jesus was
deliberately making a departure, from everything spiritual coming from the orthodox
men of God, to a common holy priesthood of believers. This was unorthodox, unheard of! These men by today’s orthodox standards would have had to be
bishops or priests, with an historical, apostolic legitimacy and inheritance,
to have such a commission from Jesus. What Jesus did, changes everything as the
seventy-two proclaimed:
The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name” He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:17-20).
I once believed that Jesus was referring to the event of satan falling from heaven in the Old Testament. No longer, I now believe it is referring to the results of what the seventy-two accomplished with the new authority given to them by Jesus. Man, now newly equipped by the authority of Jesus and in faith could fight directly with satan and be victorious. His evil dominion was now greatly diminished.
At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure (Luke 10:21).
This event was so significant that it is the first time that Jesus was full of joy and openly praised the Father in front of everyone. To the little children, (seventy-two common folk) was revealed what was hidden from the wise and learned. This unorthodox conduct of Jesus would be compounded and eventually provoke the religious elite to have Jesus crucified.
There is an old saying: You can't know where you
are going if you don't know where you have been. If you are on a trip and you get lost, usually you pull out the
map and try to find out how you lost your way and how to get to your
destination. The last day church, which
will soon look like the early church, must be stimulated to read the New
Testament again, taking particular note of the simplicity of the church
government. We must read as if we have
lost our way and want to find the road back to the success of the early
church. There is a great excitement
developing among believers as we enter the third millennium. Many are saying this could be the time the
Lord will return for His bride. I
openly admit, that I embrace that possibility with great excitement.
Some Christians are content with the modern
church and have no interest in finding the road back. But there are those who are not content and who feel a stirring
in their hearts, placed there by the Holy Spirit, who is saying that "there is more for us to do." If you are in that camp, it is you I am
looking for to encourage and share the message within this book. This move of the Holy Spirit is one that
will work with any established church that is willing to get on board. The Lord will have His way, with or without
us. It is imperative that every
established church find a door and walk through the wall of tradition it has
built around its church. We are
observing the times and the reality of this Scripture, which is coming into
focus:
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 24:37-39).
Once Christians realize that the success of the
early church is available now, there is going to be a sweeping unrest in the
Church of Jesus Christ. As we get
closer to and enter into the new millennium, the status quo will not do for
many Christians. Another great move of
the Holy Spirit is on the way to touch His church from catholic to charismatic
and everything in between. Church
leaders, who sense this move of the Spirit, are going to struggle to inspire
their congregations who have settled into comfortable tradition. Believers, who sense this move of the
Spirit, are going to struggle to inspire church leadership that has settled
into their denominational positions.
Many believers will hear the call from the Holy Spirit to prepare
the way for the Lord’s Second Coming.
I encourage the body of Christ to tolerate both those who hear the call
and those who don't. Let
us build and not destroy. There isn't time for unnecessary distractions
that linger and sap our spirit.
Remember that the church belongs to Christ, and He is very capable of
leading it. Following the examples of
Jesus and Paul, they went to the local synagogue and tried to influence the
Jews first. Thank the Lord for the
provision of new wineskins for those that want to keep in step with the move of
the Holy Spirit. This freedom keeps His
church progressing until He comes back for her.
The Bible is the story of man's
salvation as well as a book about events.
The Bible is a history book!
The accuracy of its times, places, peoples and events has been reaffirmed
time and again by archaeologists. God
has built a great historical highway that spans six thousand years. We can
travel the Bible from cover to cover and get off anywhere to spend time reading
about that particular point in history.
It starts with creation and gives us an accounting of the journey
of God's chosen people and His attempts to win their hearts in the Old
Testament. The New Testament Gospels
explain the birth of Jesus and take us through His ministry, death, burial and
resurrection. The New Testament
illustrates the beginning of Christ's church and clearly points out to man his
need for a savior. It ends with John
writing the Revelation in the year 95 A.D.
Many haven't a clue as to why the modern church has evolved into its
present format. We have neglected to
study our history since the completed canon of the New Testament. We don't know how we have arrived at where
we are, and thus don't know how to solve our problems. Together we can do some research and
trouble-shooting. Perhaps we can get a
good part of this twentieth century church running once again (on all eight
cylinders) like the early church.
Nehemiah and Paul should be our examples
concerning what to do. Israel was in
captivity and in a terrible fix when Nehemiah looked back into history by
reading portions of the Old Testament.
A benevolent pagan king noticed his downcast countenance and questioned
him about it. The king allowed him his
freedom to return and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. However, only a few returned with him to trust God with their
future instead of staying in the comfort of the big city Babylon. Paul looked back into the history of the
Old Testament to explain the difference between the Old and New covenants to
the Jews and the Gentiles. History will
tell us why the modern church has lost much of her original power and
effectiveness. Let us read again the
history of the early church and also listen to the many voices the Lord is
raising up to encourage believers to do this looking back. Our prayer should be, "Lord help us
rekindle the flame of the early church, " and we must do as Paul directed
Timothy:
Study and be eager
and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a
workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately
dividing, rightly handling and skillfully teaching the Word of Truth", (AMT 2 Tim. 2:15 emphasis added).
Many of us experienced small groups in the
seventies. Some of them were not
successful for various reasons; legalism, excessive control, novice leadership
and discipleship gone awry. I agree with
what my friend Howie Bolten said, "That move was an Ishmael
effort." As well intended as it
was, what was needed was to learn how to wait on the Holy Spirit for the
knowledge to interpret the Holy Scriptures correctly and not run ahead of Him
to take charge of things. Most small
groups became holding patterns until there was enough membership to start a
traditional church. Hopefully, lessons
have been learned and the Body of Christ is ready for the Lord's original
design.
The thing that will stifle experiencing what the early
church offered is the hierarchical control given to the clergy, which is common
today. It is normal for a pastor in the
modern church to take control because he has been given the authority to do so. "If I don't control things someone else
will, and things might get out of hand" is the rationale. After all, I was hired to control things,
and develop a vision for this church, which includes expanding the membership,
buying more land and then building larger buildings.
Leadership and pastoring are necessary in the
house church movement but must come from the root of service and not from fear. It is dramatic when a pastor changes to
become rooted in service. It is like a
pastor going from the helm of a powerful sport fishing boat, with all the controls
and power at his fingertips, to the helm of a sailboat, where the Holy Spirit
and His wind are in charge of everything.
When all members of a house church are considered the holy priesthood,
it is a wonderful experience when Jesus takes control and sits in the midst of
His children. He speaks through the
youngest believers as well as the matured.
Thank God for inspiring many historians like Joesephus, Andrew Miller and others to document history so we can see its relevance to the church. Now let's get busy, dust off those history books and find the precise mistakes that were made that brought about the differences between the early church and the twentieth century church.