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rorichts Member
Joined: 2011/2/7 Posts: 47 Central Iowa
| Re: | | As a true disciple of Christ it is no longer about me and my rights, preferences and ideas. Decisions are made based on what the Lord has commanded me and not on whether it suits me or not. Sherid, you can not change them but you can intercede for them. Start with yourself to make sure you have surrendered all to Him and then pray for the others specifically and expectantly.
well said _________________ Robert Richtsmeier
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2011/9/21 9:36 | Profile |
| Re: | | We used to be a part of a network of house churches. Over time what we discovered is that there is an undercurrent of both rebellion and pride in many who are part of that movement. I am NOT saying everyone, but a lot. I dare say most. There are those who are not going to be told what to do, so they house church to get away from what they perceive as rules and regulations
and there are those who consider themselves too spiritually mature for a regular church
i.e. pride.
We can not throw out the house church movement all together, but at the same time I perceive some very serious problems with it, at least in America. In China they have no choice but to meet in homes/caves.
The Bible is VERY clear about the governmental structure the local assembly is to have. Most of Pauls letters address it, but particularly the letters to Timothy and Titus. My experience is that most house churches reject this. There are no elders
deacons
the pastor (if there is one) is not expected to spend his time in prayer and study, etc etc
A lot of the books I have read promoting the house church movement have a very definite rebellious feel to them. Not rebelliousness against God necessarily, but a looking down their nose at what they deem the institutional church. And there is a very real us against them mentality
when we are not struggling against flesh and blood.
Again
I am NOT against churches that meet in homes. I am against what generally passes for house churches when they are not in line with the Bibles guidelines for church structure. And in America most are not.
Krispy
former house church proponent
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2011/9/21 15:38 | |
PaulWest Member
Joined: 2006/6/28 Posts: 3405 Dallas, Texas
| Re: | | Steve, I found your last post to be very balanced and fair. Great job brother.
Paul _________________ Paul Frederick West
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2011/9/21 20:26 | Profile |
| Re: | | lol... it happens now and then!
Krispy |
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2011/9/21 21:09 | |
carters Member
Joined: 2011/5/24 Posts: 138 Australia
| Re: | | _________________ Mrs Carter
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2011/9/21 21:15 | Profile |
carters Member
Joined: 2011/5/24 Posts: 138 Australia
| Re: | | Krispy,
I agree with you wholeheartedly! This group was only formed out of desperation...
If there was biblical church here we would attend in a heartbeat.
This is really what I want help with.
Where do we go from here? I am extremely unhappy with the non-authority structure. BUT where and what do we attend? - is it better to attend a church that has authority, even if they have CRAZY doctrines?
Does God honour if we attend a church that has bad teaching, but at least it is under authority - VERSUS our home church with no authority and no willingness of anyone to serve.
Through Him only
_________________ Mrs Carter
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2011/9/21 21:20 | Profile |
nizero Member
Joined: 2006/5/17 Posts: 38
| Re: | | Carters,
As a current house churcher I would recommend a couple of things.
In any house church setting there will always be some sense of disagreement in expectations of what individuals should and should not do, especially with a lack of elders / deacons. I would recommend ensuring your body recognizes that there are mature believers (elders) ready to step up and loving admonish / correct / teach and lead. They are also able to make difficult calls for the benefit of the body. They are also to protect the body from false teaching. False teaching abundant in house church settings due to the many "unhappy" traditional church members.
Next recommendation is Grace. In a small setting there will be alot of toes stepped on and hurt feelings more often than a traditional setting. I think this is good because it causes us to learn to love people unconditionally such as Jesus did. I would recommend being open and honest in such matters. Make sure they know that you would like a sense of true kononia fellowship between the house church members. However, it is important to recognize some people do not have the gift of shepherding/pastoring. Some are better at serving and being hospitable or teaching. A good elder would recognize these gifts and build up your body in such things.
Finally, I would recommend that your church go outside of the house setting and do kingdom minded work. I would make this a weekly activity outside of the house church meeting. Our house church just decided to adopt a refugee family from Eratria and it has done the members well. It has given us stronger bind to one another. It has also given us the opportunity to serve and share the gospel.
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2011/9/22 3:10 | Profile |
| Re: | | Quote:
This group was only formed out of desperation...
And thats legitimate! We live in an area where there are churches on every block. The buckle of the Bible Belt... but most of the churches are either very worldly or very legalistic. We just wanted a church that taught the Bible and lived by it.
God has blessed our family this year in that He set us down right smack in the middle of the true "church family", and it happens to be a "regular" church. Regular in the sense that we meet in a building. We are irregular in the sense that the pastor preaches a hard message. A true message. A "no compromise" message.
And the people wrapped their arms around us and I can not imagine life without this church now.
When I got laid off a few months ago (I'm working again now) my first thought was that we would have to move in order to find work. My wife and I prayed about it and knew with certainty after a couple days of praying that no, we were to stay right where we are. The main reason? Our church.
I know not everyone can find a church like we have, but I want everyone to know that we searched for this church for TWELVE YEARS. Let me repeat that: TWELVE YEARS.
Krispy |
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2011/9/22 5:30 | |
twayneb Member
Joined: 2009/4/5 Posts: 2256 Joplin, Missouri
| Re: Problems with Home Church | | I will try to be brief as I don't have a lot of time to post. I have had my paradigm rearranged in the past few years about the nature of the church. Really there is only one local church on the island. It sounds to me as if God has placed you in this church as elders. This is not a prestigious position or one that bears a fancy title, but rather one that entails care and concern (grave responsibility and servanthood) for and to the body in that place and oversight of that body. If another couple do not carry that burden and are not desiring to carry the load of care and concern for the body it is an indication to me anyway that they are not called to be elders. I really don't make any distinction between "home church" or "institutional church" The church is the body of believers on the island. If you meet in your home once a week then you are simply the church coming together to worship and be built up. You are obeying scripture by not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together. Krispy makes a good point but I think it is carnality in general rather than home church specifically. No segment of the body can begin to think they have ascendency or supremacy over any other segment. If the established institutional churches in that place are in error, then we love them, pray for them, acknowledge the error, but realize that we too are susceptible to the same error or to other errors just as bad and humbly seek to restore or correct only as God leads us to do it. Meet not to have a "mini-institutionalized church in a home" meeting but rather to pray, study, worship, fellowship, and encourage one another in your walk with the Lord.
Nizero: I appreciate the post. good advice. _________________ Travis
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2011/9/22 10:04 | Profile |
| Re: | | So Krispy are you saying I have 8 more years! Yikes
thats great that you found a church like that we are still searching a little. Everything around here is cookie cutter style. Even house churches are non existent here. But at least there is hope for us to find something. |
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2011/9/24 8:16 | |