VeggieTales...You Gotta Love 'em!

I just got through watching the Veggie Tales movie, “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything”. It was hilarious and very well done. Three wimpy and cowardly busboys in a pirate-themed restaurant who are transported to a real swashbuckling world and called to be heroes in an adventure to rescue a princess from a terrifying pirate avoiding walking mountains of rock and man-eating cheese curls…now that’s an awesome movie right there! I remember seeing complaints on their website by parents who didn’t like that it wasn’t based on a biblical story. The fact that they were dense enough to miss the amazing spiritual message is unreal. It was incredible and just what I needed to hear.

The message was in-your-face saying that God calls everyday “busboys” to be heroes…and what are heroes? Ordinary people who do what is right no matter what the cost. I think Pa Grape had the best line in the whole film (non-comedic line, that is). He was a father who’s son, it was said, thinks he is such a loser he doesn’t want to hang out with him. Pa Grape says, “maybe the reason my son doesn’t look up to me is because I haven’t given him much to look up to”. Wow, how many fathers (including me) would be challenged by that line.

Then come Mr. Lunt who is completely lazy and always stops when he sees the road ahead might be too difficult or energy consuming. And Larry the cucumber who is very cowardly always talking about his list of things that scare him.

I am all three of these characters. I’ve given in to temptation so many times that I have often made myself a loser like Pa Grape. Even now I look at the monumental tasks that are in front of me and sigh thinking that the glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel is too faint to be real like Mr. Lunt. I ask, "Can I really take care of my family? Can I really live a pure life? Is it actually possible to be a man that is truly sold out to God?" And I constantly think of terrible things happening to me or my family living in fear like Larry. Loss of job, home catching on fire, nationwide disaster, terrorists, invading armies on our shores, or just someone breaking into my home and harming my family when I am at work. I can think up any number of tragedies that probably will never happen.

But the truly sobering part of the message of this movie is that when God calls you, he gives you everything you need to complete the task. Everything you need…wow. I remember once scene when the danger was great and the little gizmo that brought them to the adventure was blinking its blue light. That meant that they could push the button and go home or stay and continue to try to save the princess. Of course, they chose to stay but later found out it was just a test to see if they would make the right decision. How many times have I failed the test? I want to pass it next time!

In the end, as they prepared to leave they were invited to stay and remain as heroes in the days of sail and adventure. Pa Grape says, “no thanks, life is enough of a great adventure for us”. When God calls, He doesn’t call to a mundane boring existence but to a great adventure. We are on that now and when danger lurks, tragedy strikes or the task seems too monumental to overcome, that’s when the adventure becomes the greatest. AND that’s when we (I) need to remember that God has given us ALL we need to succeed…In His eyes!

God has called us to do something amazing. To be a house church. I can’t say I am sure what that is except that we are to be a representation of the Body of Christ in our home and community. What else will happen? Well, I don’t really know…it’s an adventure. But God has given us everything we need to accomplish that task. Our job is to do what is right…no matter what the cost!

"Group" -What Church is Suppose To Be

A Sabbath Day In House Church

Whenever you talk about "house church" the first question others ask is, "so what does a house church service look like?". Well the answer is probably as varied as the number of house churches in the world. Like any church service, the characteristics are as unique as the people that make up the congregation. We are still in the transitional stage of our house church and our gathering involves our own family at this point (we are still "nucleic"). We have tried many different things for our times of worship together from worship on hiking trails in the Smoky Mountains that involved a scripture study, singing as we walked and spontaneous discussion. We tried using printed Bible-study materials to help guide our discussions at home (more like a traditional Bible-study)which was probably the least liked of anything we have attempted. The more we drifted into the "old" way of doing church the less effective our service was.

Saturday Evening

The way we "do" church now has sort of evolved from our times of Bible reading and talking around the dinner table. On Saturday evening we started having a time of singing and playing instruments together. This has come from many times of spontaneous singing that occurs in our house. Dad plays guitar and Mom sings and this usually attracts the kids who sing along or drag out the hand-drums or many other percussion type instruments laying around the house.

Sunday Afternoon

On Sunday afternoon we have lunch together sometimes beginning with the breaking of bread and cups of juice and have a more "formal" communion time. Although we consider every meal we eat together to be communion. As we finish our meal we have a scripture reading (at the moment we are reading through the book of Acts). At the conclusion of the reading usually all I have to do is wait. The kids often have a boat-load of questions. The discussion is spontaneous sometimes sticking with the passage read and often drifting to other topics. Almost always we learn and discuss much deeper truths and dig-in fairly well to the scripture passage. We then pray around the table as each person suggests prayer requests within our family or involving friends or more distant family members. The kids (6 and soon-to-be 8 years old)are always ready to share, pray and ask questions.

We do are not trying some Orthodox Jewish Saturday night-Sunday morning thing to make some sort of theological statement. It just worked out that way. The most awesome elements include the spontaneity and the relaxed atmosphere. Nothing formal and stiff, nobody waiting to see what the "leader" will do next. Our worship times are "led" but they are not dictated, it's not just our family but the family of God learning and sharing together. We are looking forward to inviting others to join us and as soon as that happens we will provide an update on how it goes:)

How Novel Is God?

I, like so much of today's American culture, become excited by the novel. I like to try new things. When I pastored in a traditional church setting the congregation never knew what to expect. I might do a skit, story (sometimes with big props), a multisensory type of activity, and on and on. I have about ten different "hobbies" that I may or may not engage in on a regular basis. The "new" gets "old" so fast that I am ready to move on to something else. I wonder, though, if church was ever meant to be novel?

It's all the rage, from the mega-church to the emerging church, to be novel and do things or even adopt philosophies or world-views that would attract the "masses". From children's programs with huge stage productions to full-blown movie theater settings with popcorn. But is this how church is supposed to be?

I think we can bring the whole intent of the Church down to one goal. To develop the individual's relationship with God and thier relationship with other believers. It's about growth in love. Now when I grow in love with my wife the novel really doesn't come into place. We like to do some new things together but that doesn't necessarily help our relationship along. What builds our relationship is doing the same "old" things over and over; communicating, sharing, resolving conflict, forgiving, learning to live together and love each other. It's hard work and rarely novel.

Maybe this infatuation America has with the novel has something to do with our horrendous divorce rate. It's easier to go on to a new and novel relationship than to deal with the "old lady" at home. And maybe that's why so few Christians have an authentic and growing relationship with Christ. Reading your Bible and praying just gets "old" and so we need books to give us new and novel ways to pray and we need "one-minute" devotionals so that, even though Bible reading may be "boring", at least we can make it short. And yet these are the things that build our relationship with God while only 2% or less of "Christians" practice them on a regular basis. Even more "laborous" is the act of (gasp!) communicating with other believers. Sure we chit-chat over potlucks and in the foyers but do we really share? Does anybody at your church really know "who" you are? Is there anyone you would call a fellow believer that you can share all your "secrets" with and are confident you could tell anything to?

If you are like 98% of Christians the answer is "no way!!".

Why do I think House Church is God's answer for us? It's hard and laborous but it brings my family and I together. It's not "novel" as we do the same things over and over, but we share and are learning and growing together like I have never experienced in any "building" that is supposed to be designed for such a purpose. You will never find anything novel in the Scriptures about the gathering of the Church. Paul never writes, "if you get bored, try this or that to liven things up a bit!" Yes, God is always up to something new but you don't find it by doing "novel" things you find it by getting into His presence through His word and in prayer and becoming intimately connected with other believers, offering yourself in sacrificial service to the needy and doing all those "old" things.

some thought provoking videos

Community Christian Church deals with being a "Christ-Follower" vs. being a "Christian"...I like the message but I think its rather ironic that the name of the church is Community Christian Church:)

Accountability For a House Church

Accountability is very important to me. I believe that every Christian should have someone that they are accountable to. I believe that every gathering of Christians should have a group or person they are accountable to. I think that we will need Biblical accountability and someone to advise on issues like how to work with tithes and offerings. I don't think that a heirarchy of Christians is Biblical but we do need accountability among the body.

I am an ordained minister of a large denomination and I have been called out of the traditional church environment into the house church. Officially I am an "unassigned" pastor, but I never intend to pastor a traditional church again. We are starting a house church and only have our family at this point. I have talked to the leaders of the church planting department of the denomination and they assume that the house church is simply a phase that a core group uses to transition to owning a building and becoming an "official" congregation. Pretty funny, huh? One thing that I have to give my denomination is that they are very open to diverse forms of church and have welcomed (carefully) some groups that define themselves as part of the emergent church movement. House church is just something, I suppose, our leaders have never considered. As we move forward in this journey I wonder what will happen when, and if, I decide to present the house church idea to my district leaders.

I don't have a problem with my denomination in terms of theology or, at least not necessarily, leadership. What I have been called away from is the organizational structures and forms. The new wineskins that should have contained the new wine that was poured out one hundred years ago when our denomination began. In fact, my vision is to see a house church network that is threaded throughout every district in our denomination.

My desire is to present our church as something somewhat loosely connnected to the denomination. As we grow we will, as a church, decide how this connection will develop. In the book, "Starting a House Church", the authors take great pains to drive home the point that they believe that God will use all current forms to reach the world for Christ. This includes house church, of course, traditional churches, and mega churches. So is it possible to add house church to an existing denomination and not comprimise the effort to return to a New Testament model of community?

Recognizing Gifts Among The Body...Even The Five Year-Olds!

My son seems always interested in who knows Jesus and who doesn't. "Does Granny know Jesus? Does the Lion King know Jesus? Does Kermit the Frog know Jesus?" We just sort of laughed these questions off shaking our heads in wonder until this past weekend. We visited my in-laws in Alabama for a long weekend trip. My Brother in-law wanted to go on a fishing trip taking our two kids and his three year-old son. We all piled into his truck and I buckled my son into his booster seat, as I closed the door I heard my son ask his uncle who was in the driver's seat, "Uncle John, do you know Jesus?" I didn't hear the answer though I can imagine it, John is active in his church. But I laughed and explained when I got in the passenger seat what my son has been doing.

It wasn't until I was at work two days later that I realized what had happened. My son, who is shy and intimidated especially by men he admires, asked with frankness and boldness whether or not his Uncle was saved. Could this be a budding gift of evangelism emerging within our church family?

My son had avoided dealing with salvation until last year (he took this kind of thing pretty seriously, even for a toddler) though his earliest religious experiences had been in traditional churches; Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, etc.. Its in these program environments where every kid goes down to the altar to accept Christ about ten times a year. Then last year we decided to make the break from traditional church and go where God called us. We started with having a hike out in the Smoky Mountains national park and tying the experience to a Bible study. The first week we were out the Holy Spirit began dealing with my son. Right after returning home my son asked his mother to pray with him while he kneeled by his bedside. How awesome is that? The first "service" in our house church and my son gets saved.

Now we are starting to wonder, "is our son demonstrating a spiritual gift this early in his Christian walk?" I remember reading that God provides what is needed for a house church no matter how small the gathering may be.

Guidelines from Christian Home Church Network

I think that these guidelines for doing a house church are a really good place to start. Especially interesting are some of the issues I have been struggling with. Things that I have felt for some time are wrong about our traditional churches. One is the idea that "everyone is welcome at our church". The Body of Christ is just that, the gathering of believers in Jesus. Evangelism should take place outside the church not in its walls. I heard someone say that a big problem with today's church is that what should be the biggest force for evangelism has turned into the biggest field for evangelism. For example, I can't imagine trying to grow as a Christian while listening to endless arguments for a subject like the existence of God. That type of topic should be settled long before entering into a gathering of Christians. Would you go to a meeting of American Athiests posing as a potential member and then argue the existence of God during thier meetings? I don't think you would get very far. Its amazing to me that so many go to churches and have little or no interest in God.

A second point is that children should be included whenever possible. I have always had a problem with the separation of families in traditional settings. I understand if there are special teachings or subjects discussed that are not age-appropriate that we need to have something different for the children. But during regular worship (teaching, study, sacraments, music, etc.) the entire family should be included.

Finally, the admonition to avoid imitating other churches. Letting God lead and develop the community of believers is and exciting and essential process. I cannot imagine trying to do this thing and not having gone through all the stumbling, bumbeling trials and errors we have attempted.

I have only highlighted a few areas but all these guidelines are excellent. I know that sometimes what looks good on paper doesn't work out the same in real experience but, hey, we all gotta start somewhere!

This is a great video from house2house. I have read Wolfgang Simpson's book, "Houses that Change the World", finding it very informative and inspiring. Its amazing to see so many people with the same vision and understanding of scripture that has been developing in my heart over the last five years.

The People of God Searching for Substance!

A few thoughts on this video. I find the criticism of Barna by the traditional church pastor interesting. I see the house church environment as devoid of commercialism. But look at the clip of the worship service at his church...colored spot lights, worship team, hip and happening type service...totally commercial! You can't be commercial in house church. Yes, there are always those nominal "Christians" who are looking for the next best thing but I don't believe they will ever think of a house church that way. The big threat to traditional churches that house churches pose is loss of income, attendance numbers and a challenge to the idea of professional (paid) clergy.

I think the biggest message of this news story is that people of faith are walking away from traditional settings and looking for something more intimate, challenging and more authentic.