First Apostles, Second Prophets…
Today the church of Jesus Christ is going through a great transformation. My wife, Maria, and I have the privilege of first-hand awareness of these transformations on three continents! Many around the world are hearing the same call. Pastor Sung Hee Lee, a prominent Christian figure in Korea, has listed some of these transformations that we will see in the 21st century church:
from Sunday church to everyday church
from a great congregation ministry into small group ministry
from a gathering church into a sending church
from clergy centered to laity centered
from authority of the pastor into leadership of the pastor
from discipleship training into apostolic training
What I want to make special note of in this article is the last transformation listed: from discipleship training into apostolic training. In my words, recovering apostles and prophets who lay the foundation of the church, above all, where there is no church!
Google+Uncovering The Spirit of the Swiss Brethren
Four hundred and eighty years ago in the small town of Grossmuenster, Switzerland, a dozen or so men trudged through knee deep snow to the home of Felix Manz. What transpired that wintry night is called by some church historians "The most revolutionary act of the Reformation." Sadly their story lies hidden under piles and piles of eccisiological baggage. Let's give it another look, however, for therein we might find clues from the Spirit of Jesus for the church in the new millennium.
Google+How things started to unravel in the Early Church…
It may seem very presumptuous of me to write about such a theme, but I believe this is the hour when the global church of Jesus Christ is being called back to her “roots” (i.e. her "Apostolic Foundations"). To support this impression, I offer the following statistic from David Barrett, of the World Christian Encyclopedia. Barrett estimates that there are around 112 million “churchless Christians” worldwide – about 5 percent of all adherents. He projects that this number will double by 2025. (The “Out-of-Church” Christians by A. Strom 2004)
Google+Discerning the Seasons and Times
For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up
that which is planted… Ecc 3: 1-2
In this text from the wisest man on earth– King Solomon– the Hebrew word for season is translated more precisely as an “appointed time”. There is an appointed time (or fixed time!) for everything: every purpose and longing under heaven. I believe, with all my heart, we are in a season, a “fixed time” for the church of Jesus Christ on the earth to uproot what has been improperly planted in her over the last 1900 years and plant anew. This has been my singular passion for the past five years: seeing the church return to its apostolic pattern.
Google+A brief look at leadership in the NT church: “Who’s in Charge?”
In my last few newsletters I have tried to depict an ideal of the church as seen through the lens of the NT alone. I am deeply convinced that if we see “the Bride” living and functioning as she was intended to be – which I am confident means meeting in homes – we will be utterly captivated! What Elton Trueblood has written in regards to depicting the Christian family motivates me to keep writing about the true, hidden, biblical NT church: “The intention is to depict an enduring ideal which is practically realisable and which, we believe, has such inherent attractiveness that its very depiction becomes a factor in the recovery and development of what is most precious in our civilisation as well as an antidote to some of our most distressing ills." (E. Trueblood)
Google+“Now we know in part…”
“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face…”
Perhaps no message is more needed today than the realization that “for now we see in a mirror dimly”. We know in part, we prophesy in part, we function (as the body) in part, BUT someday this “partial living” will be done away!! Someday we, indeed, all creation, will cease “groaning” and be set free from our “slavery to corruption”, anxiously awaiting the redemption of our bodies! (Rom 8). In the meantime, brothers and sisters, we must know – in our heads and our hearts – that in our weaknesses (ie. knowing in part, seeing dimly, etc.) the Holy Spirit proves His power. As Jesus declared to Paul: “My power is perfected in weakness!”
Google+Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century
This Spring I spent 2 days with the authors of The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century (by Australians Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch). A couple of major things stand out for me that I wanted to pass on.
Google+ONE BODY, MANY PARTS
Living with chronic back pain is a real pain! My life has been one continual struggle of pain management since re-injuring my back in November of 2003. Maria and I have learned a lot about the causes and prevention of back pain over these last few months.
Google+The Forum for Uniting and Equipping the Church for Spontaneous Expansion
Dear Friends, This is a web site we can recommend:
http://xsorbit28.com/users5/spontaneousexpansion/index.php
The way of spontaneous expansion is not easy for such as we are. This does not justify us in rejecting it; neither does it justify us in saying that we are doing everything in our power to encourage it if we have not faced and overcome this difficulty in ourselves. Roland Allen
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