Missionary Road » Church Planting

What is your Theology of Church?

admin — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:00:20 +0000

In the last couple years, God has stirred my heart to ask questions like, “Am I really doing church the way that I see in the Scriptures?” and “Do I really live like the early church did as seen in Acts?”. This has led me on a journey to embody how Jesus lived and how the early church gathered together in community and on mission. I pray this analysis of the Early Church vs. Institutionalized Churches will awaken your heart to follow in the Way.

This chart lists differences from the New Testament Church and more Traditional Church:

The Traditional Church	The New Testament Church
1. The church meets in a special building	Churches met primarily in homes. (Acts 2:46-47; 5:42; 8:3; 12:12; 16:40; 20:7-8; 20:20; Rom.16:3-5; 1Cor.16:19; Col.4:15; Philemon 2; 2Jn.9-11)
2. New converts are added to the existing church to make it bigger.	When the number of believers outgrew a home, a new church was formed. (Rom.16:3-5; 14-15; Acts 2:41-47)
3. The Christian church is fractured into hundreds of different denominations.	There were no denominations; instead there was one church in each city, meeting in various homes. (Acts 8:1; 11:26; 18:22; Rom.16:1; 1Cor.1:2; Rev.2:1; Col.4:16; 1Thess.1:1; Rev.2:12; 3:7; 3:1; 2:8; 2:18)
4. Pastors are trained in seminaries and sent out to serve in a congregation which has no real knowledge of his life or character.	Elders were local brothers who arose from within a local church where their life and character were known. (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5)
5. The Sunday “worship service” is characterized by passivity among the laity with the Pastor or a select group of leaders doing nearly all the ministry.	Church meetings were participatory and interactive - every member had a function and contribution to make. (1Cor.12:4-27; 14:26; Eph.4:15-16; Rom.12:3-8; 1Pet.4:10-11; Heb.10:23-25; Rom.12:15; 1Cor.12:26)
6. The Sunday morning worship service is characterized by a rigid and inflexible order of service.	Church meetings were characterized by informality, flexibility, and spontaneity. (Acts 20:7-12; 1Cor.14:26-31)
7. The goal of the meeting is worship, listening to a sermon or evangelism.	The goal of the meeting was mutual edification. (1Cor.14:3,4,5,12,17,26; Eph.4:11-12,16; Heb.10:24-25)
8. The church is led by the Pastor (or Senior Pastor in a large church).	The church was led by a plurality of co-equal Elders. (Acts 14:23; 20:28; Phil.1:1; 1Tim.4:17; Heb.10:17; James 5:14; 1Pet.5:1-2)
9. The Senior Pastor is seen as set apart from and over the other pastors and elders.	The church was cared for by a team of pastors who were accountable to each other and the church; they were also known as elders or overseers. No one elder functioned as the head of the church. (Acts 20:28; Titus 1:5-7; 1Pet.5:1-2)
10. The Pastor is paid a salary by the church.	Some elders might be financially supported, but they were usually bi-vocational (1Tim.5:17-18; Acts 20:33-35)
11. The church is comprised of both clergy and laity.	There was no clergy/laity distinction in the church - all the members comprised a fully functioning priesthood. (Heb.13:15-16; 1Pet.2:5,9; Rev.1:6)
12. The Lord’s Supper is observed monthly, quarterly, or annually.	The Lord’s Supper was observed as often as the church regularly gathered and was the stated purpose for their meetings. (Acts 20:7; 1Cor.11:18-20,33)
13. The Lord’s Supper is observed with a piece of cracker and a sip of juice.	The Lord’s Supper was observed as a full meal. (Acts 2:42,46; 1Cor.11:20-21; Jude 12)
14. The Lord’s Supper is observed in a solemn funeral-like atmosphere as the worshippers reflect on Christ’s sufferings and death. The believer’s vertical relationship with Christ is emphasized.	The Lord’s Supper was observed with glad and sincere hearts as the church not only reflected on Christ’s death, but also on the future marriage supper of the Lamb which it depicted. The believer’s horizontal relationship with other believers was emphasized. (Acts 2:46; Luke 22:15-18,30; 1Cor.11:26; Acts 2:42; 1Cor.10:16)
15. A new believer must go through membership or instructional classes before he can be baptized.	New believers were baptized as soon as it was humanly possible. (Acts 2:37-41; 8:12; 8:36-38; 9:17-18; 10:45-48; 16:31-34; 19:5)
16. Baptism is performed by the clergy.	Baptism was performed by any Christian. (Jn.4:2; Acts 8:12; 8:36-39; 9:18; 22:16; 1Cor.1:17)
17. The church must be present when someone is baptized..	The church was not always present when someone was baptized. (Acts 8:12; 8:36-39; 16:31-34)
18. Pastors deliver monologue sermons with no opportunity for questions or input from the congregation.	Various brothers taught the church, and allowed the congregation the opportunity to question them and/or add their own insights. (Acts 20:7; 1Cor.14:29-35)
19. The church allocates the great majority of its finances for administrative overhead (salaries and building expenses).	The church gave primarily to relieve the poor and assist Christian workers, often beyond their means; they had very little if any administrative expenses (Acts 2:44-45; Gal.6:9-10; 1Jn.3:17; 1Tim.5:17-18; 1Cor.9:6-14; 2Cor.8:3; Phil.4:15-18; Lk.12:33-34; Eph.4:28; James 1:27)
20. Believers are often urged to tithe; that is, they are taught to give a minimum of 10% to the church.	Believers gave voluntarily as God had blessed them and they had purposed in their heart; tithing was not carried over into the NT church. (2Cor.8:3-4; 9:7)

By Brian Anderson (Simple Church)

What are your thoughts on what you see in these 2 different church models? Has God already been stirring your heart to ask these questions about how church is done?

Do you Believe in Rick Warren or Jesus Christ of Nazareth?

admin — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 06:03:20 +0000

Over the past 6 years of living in the heart of Orange County where Saddleback Church resides, I have witnessed countless OCRegister.com articles reporting on Rick Warren, ran across many people who have come to my church after attending Saddleback, and have conversed with many people who have read his bestseller “The Purpose Drive Life”. I’ve even been to Saddleback Church for a few concerts, a college worship night and even a sunday service that Mr. Warren taught at. And, I’ve read the well-known book too.

Personally, I would never encourage anyone to attend Saddleback or to read “Purpose Driven Life”. But, Mark Cahill takes it a step further in a recent video about Rick Warren, explaining that in 1993 an Agent introduced Rick Warren and said:

“You are going to hear about him because he is going to change the way that we do church.”

Should we want Rick Warren to change the way Church is done and how has this played out since 1993 with Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Church” movement?

You can watch Mark’s strong response to this comment at the video excerpt HERE. Mark Cahill was speaking at a Worldview Weekend Conference, which has a passion to see people “think and live like a Christian”. The Christtian Worldview Network features daily news, information and columns by Over 50 of America’s Premier Worldview Writers, including Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr., Norm Geisler, Brannon Howse, Alistair Begg, Os Guiness, Ken Ham, Chuck Herring, Josh McDowell, Ravi Zaccharius, Michael Youssef, D. James Kennedy, etc. It addresses the following: The importance and practical benefits of a Biblical worldview; How we know the Bible is true; How we know Jesus Christ rose from the dead; How we know Jesus Christ was God in human form; Going to college without going astray; doctrine is not boring but a strong mooring; exposing the most popular lies of today’s pop-culture world, Why are so many students leaving the church and not returning?; Understanding the dangers of today’s prevailing postmodern worldview; How to use the moral law to evangelize like Jesus did; Training the heart and mind of a child to follow Christ; Testing our worldview against the Bible; The difference between true and false converts, Building a Biblical worldview verse by verse and more.

Mark Cahill is the author of the popular books One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven, commended by Bill Bright & David Noebel, and One Heartbeat Away: Your Journey Into Eternity. Mark addresses over 45,000 people annually, equipping and challenging the saved to go out and reach the lost. His ministry has been commended by Dr. Bill Bright, Ray Comfort, Dr. David Noebel of Summit Ministries, and many other Christian leaders. Mark’s greatest passion is for the entire world to know Jesus Christ, leading him to boldly witness to everyone he encounters-including Tigers Woods, Michael Jordan, Vanilla Ice, and Geraldo Rivera. www.markcahill.org

Rick Warren founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., in 1980 with one family. Today, it is an evangelical congregation averaging 22,000 weekly attendees, a 120-acre campus, and has more than 300 community ministries to groups such as prisoners, CEOs, addicts, single parents, and those with HIV/AIDS. He also leads the Purpose Driven Network of churches, a global coalition of congregations in 162 countries. More than 400,000 ministers and priests have been trained worldwide, and almost 157,000 church leaders subscribe to Ministry Toolbox, his weekly newsletter. His previous book, The Purpose Driven Church is listed in “100 Christian Books That Changed the 20 th Century.” Forbes magazine called it, “The best book on entrepreneurship, management, and leadership in print.” http://www.rickwarren.com/

Theology

admin — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 03:53:27 +0000

This section is dedicated toward anything about theology, including church planting, community, culture, and evangelism..