House churches/Organic church, your opinion?

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by AtlantaBishop

Uhhhh...Do you mean the Church of God is NOT the Church of God and the Assembly of God is NOT the Assembly of God and the Church of Jesus Christ is not really (according to our brilliant Houser's) the Church of Jesus Christ and the "churches" are emptying out and going to peoples houses to sing Kumbya, drink coffee and have Yankee Casseroles and Goulash? WOW!
Amazing that we are having to add 2000 more seats to our already 3800 seat auditorium that we pack out every Sunday with two (9AM & 11AM) services & Wednesdays and any other special services we have are packed to the walls in a little town in North GA - Gainesville.
But - I guess in Montana and Utah - people are running to the Houser's. Interesting! Maybe Barna needs to take a look in Gainesville, GA & Orange County, CA, Houston & Dallas and I could give you at least 20 churches near me in Metro ATL that have over 2000 each service and some have over 10,000 and over 20,000 every Sunday!
Poor deceived "Church" people!
And would somebody tell that Bishop Jakes with over 30,000 each Sunday and that Joel Osteen with over 45,000 that their numbers MUST be wrong because everybody's going to the HOUSER'S!

The numbers don't lie. In fact... even with growth in "pop-star" mega Wal-Mart churches, the vast majority of Americans worship at home. And growing numbers are gathering to fellowship in less formal settings.

Please understand, Paul wrote what our gatherings should be like....

The Bible (I Corinthians 14:26-38) illustrates that our meetings should have the following elements and guiding principles:

- Everyone being able to bring a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.
- Gift of tongues coupled with interpretation, two or at most three.
- Two or three anointed teachers speak and guide the meeting.
- If a saint attending has a revelation or something to share, whoever is speaking must stop and give them the floor so that all might be able to prophesy, learn, and be encouraged. Meetings are to be discussion based.
- Those who address the group must realize that their spirits are subject to the anointed teachers guiding the group.
- Women (or anyone for that matter) are not to use the time for socializing.
- Those who think they are spiritual Christians should acknowledge that this order of service is a command from the Lord.

If our "form of church" will not allow for these kinds of meetings... we are failing to meet as the Apostle Paul admonished us to meet. It doesn't matter if it's in a house, a park, a coffee shop, a library, a book store, a bus stop, a town square, church building or wherever. The point is that the above elements should be present. They are to be elder guided and interactive meetings where anyone present can address the group by sharing a song, a hymn, a poem, a passage, a testimony, or whatever the Lord leads. If a meeting is too big to facilitate this, it fails to allow for the "body ministry" Paul admonishes us to have because it is a "command from the Lord" (I Corinthians 14:37).

For example, on any given Sunday when a given pastor is speaking... could I ask to speak and share a word that the Lord has placed on my heart? Could you in turn share what passage has been ministering to you and what the Lord put on your heart? If I had a question could I interrupt the pastor's sermon to seek an answer? Could the entire congregation do any of this? Or would the pastor be upset because he was interrupted and he didn't get to "preach a sermon"? Would there by too many people to allow for such an open and interactive meeting? Would we be relegated to being relatively passive spectators who hopefully learn something? If so... your church is most likely too big to abide by I Corinthians 14:26-38. I believe that home fellowship groups (or house churches) fulfill this calling of Scripture.

It's the BIBLICAL way to do church.

We've had house church (simple church) gatherings at coffee shops (Tim Horton's, Higher Grounds, and Boston Stoker's) in the Dayton Ohio, Tipp City area. Place and building don't matter. The fuction of our gatherings is what matters. Do our gatherings fulfill the BIBLICAL mandate regarding what we are supposed to do when we come together??? If the congregation is too big to do the above... it's too large.

Two questions:

1.) What do you do with these commandments from Scripture above? We're told that the Bible doesn't tell us how to conduct church, but that's incorrect. It does.

2.) In these massive churches... does the pastor know the names and families of the members... or are they merely faceless "members" providing revenue to keep the massive operation (including salaries) alive?

My house church elder knows all of us very intimately. Ryan knows our names, our struggles, our families, our dreams, our callings, our gifts, our children, how they are doing in school, how our marriages are doing, how our careers are doing, etc. You can't beat that. I've been to massive churches. I attended one of nearly 500 for a long time. I know what it's like to go to church and be lost in the crowd. I know what it's like to maybe know a hand full of people scattered throughout the crowd in a massive sanctuary where we're told we're "fellowshipping", watching the Sunday show.

After house churching regularly for over a year... I can testify that it can't be beaten if done right. No one is lost in the crowd. The intimacy is very close. There is transparency. Your gifts are discovered and used. Lives are shared. No one dies with their music still inside them.

House churches can be scary too. The elder can look at you and interrupt the meeting and ask, "Brother, you seem to be struggling. Is the problem a sin? C'mon, open up. Get it in the light. Let's talk about it as a body and get this thing off your chest so you can spiritually breathe." And then the entire group is transfixed on you, a few silently praying. Your sin gathers in your throat, you don't know if you can admit it out loud. But the Holy Ghost prompts you and it begins to pour out like a flowing river. The fellowship gathers around you and prayers are made for you, each speaking in turn. It's POWERFUL. No dressing up, finding a pew, and hiding the pain. You can't hide in a house church as easily as you can in a massive mega church.

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

Personally I prefer the larger "corporate" church model coupled with a home group of some kind

That's not bad. Like I said, the church I attend is a network of house churches that meet on Sunday at a large campus outside of Centerville Ohio. However, not everyone chooses to attend. It's not manditory either. Each house church is a church. Each house church elder baptizes, counsels, disciplines, disciples, burries, and marries. Some house churches are Reformed... some are Arminian. It's a very loving community of Jesus disciples.

[Aquila]

Let's also not forget that nearly every great revival has begun in the private quarters of a private home, only to be rejected by the institutional church of it's day.

[ThePastorsCoach]

I just love you guys! ;-)

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by AtlantaBishop

I just love you guys! ;-)

Love you too AB!

[Aquila]

And I love this verse... it's in my signature:

"For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ." ~ Acts 28:30-31

Paul simply rented a residence and opened it up as a spiritual way station for fellow travelers on their journey into eternity.

Humility
Simplicity
Anointing

[Truthseeker]

Originally Posted by Aquila

And I love this verse... it's in my signature:

"For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ." ~ Acts 28:30-31

Paul simply rented a residence and opened it up as a spiritual way station for fellow travelers on their journey into eternity.

Humility
Simplicity
Anointing

He was an apostle, maybe by joining an assemble it woulf take away from elders of such?

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by Truthseeker

He was an apostle, maybe by joining an assemble it woulf take away from elders of such?

Maybe he had a disassociative disorder?
Maybe he had bad gas?

The point is... this was Paul's chosen path.

It's a beautiful thing.

[Aquila]

Hey guys... NOBODY has attempted to address the following post:

The Bible (I Corinthians 14:26-38) illustrates that our meetings should have the following elements and guiding principles:

- Everyone being able to bring a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.
- Gift of tongues coupled with interpretation, two or at most three.
- Two or three anointed teachers speak and guide the meeting.
- If a saint attending has a revelation or something to share, whoever is speaking must stop and give them the floor so that all might be able to prophesy, learn, and be encouraged. Meetings are to be discussion based.
- Those who address the group must realize that their spirits are subject to the anointed teachers guiding the group.
- Women (or anyone for that matter) are not to use the time for socializing.
- Those who think they are spiritual Christians should acknowledge that this order of service is a command from the Lord.

If our "form of church" will not allow for these kinds of meetings... we are failing to meet as the Apostle Paul admonished us to meet. It doesn't matter if it's in a house, a park, a coffee shop, a library, a book store, a bus stop, a town square, church building or wherever. The point is that the above elements should be present. They are to be elder guided and interactive meetings where anyone present can address the group by sharing a song, a hymn, a poem, a passage, a testimony, or whatever the Lord leads. If a meeting is too big to facilitate this, it fails to allow for the "body ministry" Paul admonishes us to have because it is a "command from the Lord" (I Corinthians 14:37).

For example, on any given Sunday when a given pastor is speaking... could I ask to speak and share a word that the Lord has placed on my heart? Could you in turn share what passage has been ministering to you and what the Lord put on your heart? If I had a question could I interrupt the pastor's sermon to seek an answer? Could the entire congregation do any of this? Or would the pastor be upset because he was interrupted and he didn't get to "preach a sermon"? Would there by too many people to allow for such an open and interactive meeting? Would we be relegated to being relatively passive spectators who hopefully learn something? If so... your church is most likely too big to abide by I Corinthians 14:26-38. I believe that home fellowship groups (or house churches) fulfill this calling of Scripture.

It's the BIBLICAL way to do church.

We've had house church (simple church) gatherings at coffee shops (Tim Horton's, Higher Grounds, and Boston Stoker's) in the Dayton Ohio, Tipp City area. Place and building don't matter. The fuction of our gatherings is what matters. Do our gatherings fulfill the BIBLICAL mandate regarding what we are supposed to do when we come together??? If the congregation is too big to do the above... it's too large.

We are bantering about how to do church like it's optional. Most are IGNORING what Paul tells the Corinthians regarding how their meetings were to be conducted. And we fail to see that what Paul writes is a "commandment of the Lord".

Coming together for a larger gathering isn't forbidden... but it's clear that close intimate fellowship and mutual participation, so that all may prophesy, is a commandment issued through Paul by God Himself. This is facilitated in the house church.... not the Sunday Show.

[Truthseeker]

Originally Posted by Aquila

Maybe he had a disassociative disorder?
Maybe he had bad gas?

The point is... this was Paul's chosen path.

It's a beautiful thing.

Maybe your nuts! lol.