The Convergent Church: Moving Toward the Unity for Which Jesus Prayed Church Research Now Available WARNING: The Convergent Church is a PhD dissertation (2012) and contains academic research. It’s made available primarily to aid others who are conducting their own research on the future of the Christian Church. If this is what you seek, here’s […]
Consider the Example of the Early Church and Then Follow It We’ve already talked about the three main ways Jesus changed our perspectives for following him when he fulfilled the Old Testament prophets. The early church applied this by meeting in homes, serving as priests, and helping those in need. As Jesus’s priests they minister […]
Bigger isn’t always better and the micro church proves this In another post we discussed the emergent church. Today we shift the discussion to micro church. Emergent church and micro church, are these alternate labels for the same thing or different? The answer is maybe. The concept of a micro church can go by different […]
Four Keys from the Early Church Just days after Pentecost, the people who follow Jesus begin to hang out. This is the first church. What did they do? In the book of Acts, Doctor Luke records four key things: In addition, they meet every day at the temple (outreach) and in homes (fellowship). They share […]
What Scripture Teaches About Meeting Together Is Far Different Than Our Sunday Services We talked about three options for a house church gathering: duplicate a typical service, participate online, or just hang out. Each of these three approaches have their strengths and weaknesses. However, in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul gives us some ideas […]
Ideas for Having a House Church Over the years there have been times when I couldn’t go to church. I’m not talking about the Sundays I was ill or traveling. Instead, I’m referring to times when the church canceled its service. These have included weather-related problems, power outages, no heat, and construction issues. Each of […]
Though We Cite Scripture When We Take Communion, We Don’t Do it in a Biblical Way Most Christian churches celebrate communion in some form in their worship practices. Though they do this in different ways and with varied frequencies, the central process is similar. As a basis for their practice of communion—also called The Lord’s […]
We Live in a World That Thinks Bigger Is Better, but That’s Not Always True Our modern-day society evaluates things based on size. We celebrate magnitude, with bigger being better. Consider the opposite. For example, do you want to shrink your church? Of course not. You want to grow it. We often assume that bigger […]
The Church in the House a Return to Simplicity By Robert Fitts (reviewed by Peter DeHaan) Robert Fitts opens The Church in the House with a mission statement for a house church. Once he has readers engaged in the subject, he then builds a biblical case for house churches, including a detailed discussion of what […]
Why Small is the New Big for Today’s Church By Tony and Felicity Dale and George Barna (reviewed by Peter DeHaan) Rabbits reproduce quickly and with abundance, while elephants do so slowly and infrequently; this is a metaphor for the church. The established institutional church is likened to the elephant, while the house church is […]