Simple Church: House Church in China

As I sit here in a little coffee shop in Wilmington, NC and reflecting on the last details to finish today for the Christmas Gathering of our House Church tomorrow evening, I am struck with a humbled sense of gratitude.  In all the business and planning we do for our churches in the West, we can lose sight or maybe never see the essence of what church really is.  We can so easily take the Church for granted when caught up in all that we do to run and maintain our traditional Church Organizations; with all the meetings, boards, committees, programs, classes, politics, and facility needs.   

According to the AP reported on November 26, 2009, “A court in northern China has sentenced five leaders of an unauthorized Protestant church to prison terms of up to seven years on charges including illegal assembly, rights groups reported Thursday.”  Among those arrested were the Pastor, his wife and three other church members.  The AP goes on to say, “The sentences are among the harshest in recent years for members of so-called “house churches” — congregations that refuse to register and accept the authority of the government’s Religious Affairs Bureau.” 

A few weeks ago I was sitting in our church gathering, a group of about 20-30 people circled up in a large room off the back of our home.  Looking around the room I was thinking about this story of a pastor and his wife who met just like we were that morning but knowing they were risking their freedom, maybe their lives and yet this did not deter them.  They were doing exactly what we were that morning; singing, reading, praying, studying, laughing, eating, loving, sharing our stories- our lives with each other, and meeting each other’s needs.  However, we were risking nothing that the death of pride wouldn’t fix.  They were risking everything.  It’s amazing how the thought of that can refocus you on what is really important and not, what the church is and not.  It makes you grateful.

According to a study done by the Barna Group, when a Chinese House Church pastor or leader is arrested or killed, the house church may disband, but out of it will form 5 other House Churches. This may explain the latest statistics reported on an article from the Seattle P-I on October 3, 2008:

Zhao Xiao, a former Communist Party official and convert to Christianity, smiles over a cup of tea and says he thinks there are up to 130 million Christians in China. This is far larger than previous estimates.  The government says there are 21 million (16 million Protestants, 5 million Catholics). Unofficial figures, such as one given by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity in Massachusetts, put the number at about 70 million.  But Zhao is not alone in his reckoning. A study of China by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, an American think tank, says indirect survey evidence suggests many unaffiliated Christians are not in the official figures.  And according to China Aid Association, a Texas-based lobby group, the director of the government body that supervises all religions in China, said privately that the figure was indeed as much as 130 million in early 2008.  If so, it would mean China contains more Christians than Communists (party membership is 74 million) and there may be more active Christians in China than in any other country.  In 1949, when the Communists took power, less than 1 percent of the population had been baptized, most of them Catholics. Now the largest, fastest-growing number of Christians belong to Protestant “house churches.”

It is clear that this incredible growth of disciples is a result of the unauthorized and uncounted House Church Movement under great persecution.  This has also served to keep Christians in House Churches focused on what is important and not hindered by Western consumer necessities.  Without our baggage, the House Churches in China have become relational not religious, flexible not rigid, creative not stagnate, inclusive not exclusive, adaptable not compromising, disciple building not building churches and giving not getting.  They are not worried about getting their church name out there.  The only name they are concerned with promoting is Jesus.  What if our Western  Pastors, Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists and Churches were more concerned with making the name of Jesus famous than the name on the sign out front.

I am not throwing stones.  I’ve been there.  This is not to say that House Churches are where it’s at or what God is doing now.  It’s really not about leaders, traditional churches, buildings, money or programs.  It’s about evaluating what we think and do as the Church and refocus on what is true and really necessary to be the Church.  It’s about shedding unnecessary baggage.  It’s about seeing through God’s eyes, getting His heart and being led by the Holy Spirit no matter what the cost, even if the cost is how we’ve always done it.  It’s about Jesus and people – all else is negotiable and subject to change.

It about being grateful.

The Vision and The Journey…

Not all journeys begin with a vision, but every vision is the beginning of a journey. 

As I mentioned in my last post, I am talking about something that originated from the heart of God, not the desires of man.  We have all felt strong desires and placing them in beautifully crafted words and called them a vision.  Church leaders are notorious for this , the proof being captured in many churches’ three part vision statements.  I’m not slamming on the desires of Godly men who want to do good things, but there is a big difference between the visions of men to do Godly things and the visions from God that only He can give and fulfill. 

“That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”  John 3:6

God fulfills His visions through us and by the resources He supplies.  We cannot see or understand the full scope of this kind of vision.  If we did, we would run away from it like Jonah or run right out thinking we can fulfill God’s vision.  A true vision from God frightens you and captures you at the same time.  You don’t go looking for it, it finds you.

It was a typical Sunday service.  We were going through the same routine we go through every Sunday.  As we came to our time of worship, I was engaged as I usually am somewhere between sorting out the last thoughts of the sermon I am about to deliver and half listening for any last minute promptings from the Holy Spirit and trying to worship.  All of a sudden I am arrested by God with a vision.  I am engulfed by what I see in the Spirit as everything in the natural fades into the backdrop till I am only aware of God and what He’s showing me.  And, this is all I see…

I was taken outside of our Church building as I watched a storm appear.  It was sudden with no time to prepare.  You could not see the storm, only it’s effects.  It was like seeing one of those storm stories about a hurricane or tornado on the Discovery Channel.  The power of the wind began to tear the building apart starting with the shingles.  Piece by piece the building tore apart, shingles, plywood, timbers and bricks, til all that was left was the concrete slab foundation.  Then as quickly as the church was torn apart and stripped away, God began to build it back.  Suddenly, I found myself back standing in our sanctuary singing our last song if worship.

I tried quickly to compose myself.  What now?  I sensed in my spirit that God was about to do what I saw, but I had no idea what that meant.  As I said before, it frightened me and captured me.  I heard the Lord say, “surrender.”

I made my way up front and stood before the people God had been so gracious to bring together as our church.  I felt compelled to share what I saw and what God said to me.  When I was done sharing the vision, I said to the church that I sensed God telling us to surrender, that if He needed to strip anything away, we needed to surrender and let Him.  If I needed to go, the building needed to go, any programs, any people, finances, ideologies about ministry or personal issues, then we needed to surrender and let Him.   I asked everyone to pray with me a prayer of consecration.

What came next, I would not have expected.  And, so the journey began…

Come along with me.

Shared life…

Today I played golf for the first time in 1 1/2 years.   I was invited by someone in my church who loves golf and lives on the 6th fairway at Beau Rivage.  My Dad was home, so the three of us hit the links.  It was the most awesome weather; great temperature with a nice breeze.  Now I’m not going to give Tiger Woods a run for his money, so I don’t take things too serious.  But, I ain’t too bad; though I will admit being last today.  A bad day on the course is still a good day.  I think I lost 6 balls and my golf shoes obviously sat too many years in my garage, because on the 5th hole the soles of my shoes literally began to come apart.  By the 8th hole I was playing with one sole.  By the 9th I felt like I was walking in mockasins with no soles.  My back was killing me by the 10th green.  What an awesome day!

Why?  We may not always think about it, but everything that is worth anything is better when shared with people we love.  Think about it.  Just about everything in life is enhanced by the presence of others we can share the experience with.  A funny movie is funnier when you can laugh with someone.  Your favorite restaurant is better when sharing it with a friend.  Golf is even better when you can play with people you care about.  Even if you play badly.

All said, this journey with Jesus is enhanced by the community of intimate friend that I get to walk with.  Love if fuller if we can share it.  I am glad that God has me on the path I find myself.  Church has taken on new meaning and new life for me.  I am breaking free from lifeless religion and institutional spirituality into the beauty of organic church, oneness with Jesus and share community.  Life and life more abundantly. 

Does something in your spirit long for something more, something different that what you are experiencing?  Is there a longing for something deeper in Jesus and others?  Ask yourself, what is keeping you from experiencing it?

Run away church…

“…and a little child shall lead them.” Isaiah 11:6

Maybe there is something to learn from this young generation about Church.  When I was a kid I didn’t like going to church but I did like seeing my friends there.  I remember the old man who used to give all us kids a stick of gum every Sunday.  Isn’t it funny the things that matter to us.  For me, the greatest memories of my childhood church experience had to do with the relationships I valued and the people who showed value to me.

It’s all about the relationships.  God living in us, us living in relationship with Him, us living in relationship with each other revealing the relationship with Him.  So as I tell the church I have the privilege of leading and loving, “when we leave the building, the church has left the building because we are the church, not the building.”

Risky Buisness…

We have been teaching a series called “Going Deep” over the last few weeks and it has been an awesome experience for me because it has been shaping me as I teach it. 

The thing I have been pondering is how we mostly present Christianity as a belief system instead of a way of life.  Our faith was intended to be a way of life.  God models this for us.  We know 1 John 4:8 says “God is love.”  This is our belief.  But, in Romans 5:8 God Gives us His way of life, “But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”   We know the bible says God is kind and we believe it but Romans 2:4 says “the kindness of God leads you to repentance.”  Our belief system has to always be fleshed out.  It has to become for us a way of life.

In our series about “Going Deep”,we looked at Acts 2:42-47 where the believer (system) devoted themselves (way of life).  They devoted themselvesto fellowship and breaking of bread which requires a great deal of humility and vulnerability.  Let’s just say this is RISKY BUSINESS.  I shared in our series how we will have fellowship to the degree that we are known.  This means the risk of exposing ourselves, being real.  It questions “If I let people know this about me, what will they think, what will they do?”

That said, I was privileged this week to be invited to lunch by a new friend.  When we settled down to eat he said the reason he wanted to have lunch with me was to expose himself.  He said he wanted to tell me about his life so we could know each other deeper.  WOW!!!  The courage it takes to let it all hang out.  My experience has been, you never know how people will react when you open up to be known.  I am so blessed, both as this persons friend and as a pastor.  I am blessed to go deeper as a friend and like most pastors, we are blessed when people “get it.”  It takes a great deal of faith to live the kind of life, but is is our reward, our inheritance in the saints.

Hang in there with me, I need to catch up the last two weeks of this series here on the blog. (Breaking Bread & Prayer)

Here are the links for the first 3 parts of this series “GOING DEEP.”

Pt. 1 GOING DEEP

Pt. 2 GOING DEEP

Pt.3 GOING DEEP

Going Deep – Pt.2 The Word

In our second week of this series we looked at Going Deep in God’s Word.

“And they devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching…”   Acts2:42

In Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, he says “One evidence of conversion is a desire to be instructed in the doctrines and duties of religion, and a willingness to attend on the preaching of the gospel.”  When we come to Jesus there is a desire stirred to know Him and our new life in a deeper way, both in knowledge and experience. 

God, from before time has been a God who reveals Himself and wants to be known, not out of His need but ours.  In this He has not left us without a way to know Him.  He has done so in His Word, both written and incarnate.

“You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness of me…”  John 5:39

In the scriptures we find the revelation of Jesus.  As we behold Him we are transformed. (2 Corinthians 3:18)  For God’s plan has always been to conform us to the image of His Son. (Romans 8:29)  

The new believers in Acts 2 were responding to this desire by devoting themselves to the Apostle to be taught.  And as a result they were experiencing the change of this new life in Christ.  They were going deeper in the Word through the Apostles’ teaching.  The word for teaching here is also the word doctrine, which is not meant to be a systematic order if information.  It is deeper than just knowledge.  Referring again to Albert Barnes Notes, Barnes says it was not to just hold or believe the doctrine of the Apostles, but to adhere to or attend on those teachings.  This was a new and deepening life in God’s Word.

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”   2 Timothy 3:16-17

To understand why and how going deeper in the Word and devoting ourselves to it’s teaching changes us, we can look at 2nd Timothy.  It says “All scripture is breathed out by God…”  In the Greek it literally means by the breath of God the Scriptures were formed.  Peter says it this way:

“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”   2 Peter 1:16-21

The Greek “carried along” actually means “borne” from the root “to bear.”  Benjamine Warfield says:

“What is “borne” is taken up by the “bearer,” and conveyed by the “bearer’s” power, not its own, to the “bearer’s” goal, not its own.  The men who spoke from God are here declared, therefore, to have been taken up by the Holy Spirit and brought by His power to the goal of His choosing.  The things which they spoke under this operation of the Holy Spirit were, therefore, His things, not theirs.”  Benjamine Warfield

This is why our human words only have power to the degree of our own limited ability and authority, but when we are borne of the Holy Spirit, we are taken up by Him andwhat we then do in Him is by Him through us.  This kindof power is supernatural.  This is the power of the Word given by these men borne of the Spirit.  This makes the Word of God powerful and as we go deeper into it, it works in us powerfully to the end and goal of the Spirit to which the Word belongs.

“And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”  1 Thessalonians 2:13

In the life of the “borne” again believer, the Word performs powerful and life changing things for those who go deeper into it and put it to practice – obey it.  This is why it says in Ephesians:

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”   Ephesians 4:11-16

No one is going to do it for us.  Our new life is a journey and the change we must experience is a process.  It is a process that is hindered if we do not go deeper in God’s Word.  It is amazing that as much as  we (believers) hold the Apostle Paul up on a pedestal, that we would fine this in his writings:

“The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Acts 17:10-11

Let me invite you to GO DEEPinto God’s Word.  Take advantage of the opportunities you have to devote yourself to Apostolic teaching.  Your pastors and spiritual leaders humbly labor to lead you into a deep and rich encounter the the Word of the Word, Jesus.  God is faithful to bring favor in your life from devotion to the teaching of His Word.

“But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who bear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”  Mark 4:20

Going Deep Pt. 1

Last week I started a new teaching series at The Dwelling Place entitled “Going Deep.”  It was prompted by something I posted a few days back where I said “Going Deep is our part, going Big is God’s part.”  As I was reflecting on Acts 2 I noticed something that jerked me back like a dog on a leash.

We have a tendency as church pastors and church planter to give in to the pressure to produce.  Much of our insecurities can be manipulated by the pressure of perceived expectation, that we must make it grow.  Since we are the experts, we must do something to make that thing get bigger.  After all it is the consumers measure for success.  If it’s not succeeding then we are not succeeding.  Let me say to all of you in ministry, “What a load of CRAP!”  Success?  I remember what my Father said to His firstborn, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased.”  This is it.  I am my Daddy’s son and He loves me.

Moving on.  After finishing a previous series where we looked at what our mission was, I was tempted to work up a mission statement, package it well, capture it in a clever statement and then….jerrrrrk.  I saw it.  

“And they devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers……praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”   Acts 2:42,47

The new believers devoted themselves……it produced favor and the Lord added to their number.

Devoted in the Greek means “to be earnest towards.”  It is a compound word for “forward” indicating a direction and movement towards; and to be strong, steadfast or endure.   In the context of verse 42 it means these new believers were moving forward in a stronger and more earnest relationship with Jesus, their leaders (Apostles) and each other.  In other word they were GOING DEEPER in Scripture and teaching of the Apostles, deeper in fellowship, deeper in the practice of faith and deeper in prayer together.

When we enter into this deeper devotion and a missional, incarnational focus on those around us, it will produce favor.  Going deeper in relationship and love with God and people is an attractive thing.  When you find something you really love, don’t you want to tell someone or share it with someone.  “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”  If you don’t want to share the experience of what you have, you might want to check and see if you had it in the first place. 

“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”      1 John 4:8

God cannot be contained.  When we try to put God in a box and contain Him, it becomes something other than God.  It just becomes religion and not good religion at that.  Life has to have room to grow or you kill it.    “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”  1 John 4:7

Next Teaching Series: Going Deep

I’m excited about what is ahead of us at The Dwelling Place.  This is our next Teaching Series:

 

 

 

So, if you are visiting in town or looking for a gathering of God’s church to connect with, come worship and fellowship with us this Sunday 10:30 am.

Me, Erwin, Jesus & Java…

Just so you know where my head is right now, I’m in my Tuesday Office meeting with Erwin McManus and Jesus.  OK, Erwin is not actually, physically here.  I am so excited about my devotional and study time.  The other day I was in the bookstore picking out a couple of things to read.  I felt really drawn to a specific author, Erwin McManus, who is the Lead Pastor of Mosaic.  Something in me got excited like me and Jesus were about to embark on a great journey.  So I am stoked.

Go pick up a copy of one of Erwin’s books.  It will bless you or maybe I’m just on my own little trip.

What good books have you read lately?