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Churches missing the mark? |
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Written by Craig Wilson
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 Critics of house churches often say that they can be (and many times are) weak in the areas of doctrine and clear exposition of the Scriptures.
In our house church we work very hard to make sure that we are not guilty on either count. We take the time to explain Bible doctrine as we work our way exposistionally through the passage of Scripture we are studying that week.
For the summer our church has undertaken a study of the book of Philippians. For the past three weeks we have been looking closely at Paul's instruction to the church in 1:27 where he charges them to live a manner of life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Each week as we have studied this passage together I have realized some things that I find to be unsettling, unsettling because I see how so many churches are missing the mark that God has clearly defined for them.
First of all one of the themes of the book of Philippians is the subject of unity. Anyone who has been associated with the church for any length of time will know that the unity of the church is a very fragile thing and can be easily shattered. That is why Paul tells the church at Philippi that must have the same mind, and that they must be striving together for the sake of unity. He encourages them to have the mind of Christ in their dealings both with those inside the church and those outside the church. He gives them and us the example of Jesus Christ and the mind that he displayed where he always put the interest of others before his own. I came to the conclusion that if churches would truly take these words to heart it would overnight solve most if not all of the internal battles that characterize far too many churches.
Paul goes to say in verse 12 that they are to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling and then he goes on to explain exactly what that means. To work our their own salvation (again these words are written to the church) means that they would do "all things without grumbling or questioning". What would be the result if they obeyed these commands? They would "shine as lights in the world", in other words their testimony, their lifestyle would stand out in stark contrast to the darkness of the world around them. The gospel would clearly stand out! The difference the gospel makes would shine brightly! The power of the gospel would blaze brightly through the darkness of this world that is characterized by fighting and strife on every hand!
That's why I say many churches are missing the mark. They are not striving together for the sake of unity, they do not exhibit the mind of Christ and they do everything with grumbling and complaining! Is it any wonder then that so few churches are shining brightly in the darkness of this world? |
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House Church A Unique Place of Worship |
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Written by Craig Wilson
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I've pretty busy the past few months and haven't taken the time to post many updates, but hopefully I will be able to publish a post at least once a week.
Our church has now been meeting in a home for almost a year now. In fact it will be a year in less than four weeks. Our church has seen it's share of high's and lows during that time. We have had members who have had to be away from their family and their church family for months at a time. We have had others who have been out of work. One of our college students spent four months in Scotland to study abroad. We have seen the birth of a new baby along with the other normal highs and lows of life.
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Read more... [House Church A Unique Place of Worship]
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Written by Craig Wilson
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A few months ago I signed up for a facebook account after all it was all the rage and it seemed like everybody was doing it so why not me? I even read some blog posts encouraging pastors to sign up for a facebook account and what a great tool it would be for communication.
Last week I deactivated my facebook account and I'm going to tell you why. I could start with the obvious reason to get rid of facebook - it was just another way to waste my time. If you want to spend your time on facebook that is your decision and I'm not saying that everyone who is on facebook is wasting their time you have to decide if the time you spend on facebook is time wasted or time redeemed.
I know that facebook is supposed to be a great way to stay in touch, but for me that's not the way that I want to communicate with people, in particular it's not the way I want to communicate with people in our church.
I see some dangers - yes I said dangers in using facebook. Let me give you just a couple.
1. It can rob us of one another ministry.
I'm amazed at some of the information that is shared on facebook. Frankly most of it is trivial and unimportant. But what bothers me more is when people use facebook to share information that they won't share with their church family. If you have something that you would like us to pray about, please bring it up during our weekly prayer times at church. Posting it on facebook is not only a poor substitute I also believe it robs other believers who may not be on facebook of the blessing and the privilege of praying for you. It robs the church family of the opportunity of ministering to each other corporately. If it's important enough to share it with your facebook family then surely it's important enough to share it with your church family - in the right setting!
2. It can be an incredible waste of time
I don't know how many times I've been told by someone that that don't have time to do a particular task, only to find that those same people post on facebook numerous times a day. The reality is that they make the choice to make facebook the priority. Just ask yourself how many times a day do you check facebook? How much time do you spend on facebook a day? You may be surprised. You may want to do a little test and download something like
Time Tracker to see just how much time you spend on facebook or other internet sites.
Those are just a couple of reasons that I've decided not to use facebook. Obviously you have to make your own decision. Yes you can be a good steward of your time and have a facebook account, and yes you can still communicate properly with your church family if you have a facebook account. But for me, I'm trying to simplify my life and how I spend my time so for now I've decided to leave facebook behind!
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Written by Craig Wilson
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I read a recent blog post with the title Baptists Point To Faults of Home Churching. When I first read the headline I thought here we go again, somebody else taking shots at something that's a little different, something that is non traditional!
But as I read the complete article I found myself agreeing with much of what was being said. The opening line of the article was "Home Churching is growing phenomenon that has some Christians worried." What exactly was it that had some Christians worried?
The issue was that many home churches or as they are also called simple churches are in reality not a church at all. As I read the article I had to agree, that many who claim to be a church are not a church at all. Far too many who are involved in the growing home church movement believe that any gathering of believers constitutes a church. If two believers meet together for lunch then that gathering could be considered a church.
The problem is that the New Testament is clear on what constitutes the church. The article summarized the elements that must be present to constitute a church. Here is what they said.
What constitutes a biblical church, the Baptist elders and ministry leaders asserted, is: biblical preaching, church governance (including qualified elders), church discipline, the sharing of spiritual gifts for the edification of the body of Christ, and sanctification through relationships in the church community.
Of course many in the home church movement would be quick to disagree with those assertions but how can they? In my opinion of one of the major weaknesses of the home church movement is a very weak and in some cases non-existent theology of the church. Many in the movement think that they can redefine church to be whatever they want it to be with little or no serious regard for what the Scriptures teach about the church.
The Home Church movement is a growing one, but it needs to be built on the right foundation. It needs to start with the right understanding of the clear guidelines that are given to us in the New Testament. Anything else will be a gross distortion of what Jesus Christ died for.
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Written by Craig Wilson
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 I had a dream last night. I don't usually remember anything about the dreams I have. Maybe that's because I don't dream very often. But for some unexplainable reason I vividly remember this dream, in fact I'm sure that I had the same dream twice.
What was in my dream? I dreamed that I was teaching the Scriptures and people were actually listening, no they were doing more than listening, they were listening with rapt attention, it was if they were mesmerized by what they were hearing.
Now, before you jump to any conclusions, it wasn't the teacher that was creating their response. No, it was that they had a hunger to hear what God had to say. They were acting liking thirsty people who were finally able to get a cool drink of water and after being thirsty for so long they couldn't get enough.
I think I know why I had this dream. As I write this it is the day before Easter 2010. I follow a decent amount of people on Facebook and Twitter so I get to see what a lot of people say their churches are doing for Easter. I have to admit that what I'm seeing from so many is really discouraging to me. I have yet to read of one church, one individual who has really put the focus of Easter where it should be. The focus of Easter must be the resurrection of Jesus Christ! Not the Jonas Brothers singing, not the powerful music your church is going to have and certainly not your Easter egg hunt you're going to have after the service. Let me be perfectly clear, because the Bible is very clear on this subject: "Without the Resurrection there is no gospel and if there is no gospel, there is no salvation, there is no hope, there is no forgiveness, there is no grace!
Many Christians lament that the world doesn't take the church seriously, that they don't see the church as relevant. Well hello! Whose fault is that? It's our fault! It's our fault when we have the Jonas Brothers sing at the highest of our Holy days! It's our fault when we sprinkle eggs throughout the church yard and send mixed signals about what we are celebrating!
Oh when will we Christians wake up and restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ to it's rightufl position?
When will I wake up from this nightmare?
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