Category Archives: Home Church

October 31, 2008 · 2:28 pm

Pray For The Elijah Generation of Callings to Come Forth in America

The following comment was made by pcal7 on yesterday’s post:

Sorry to be kinda off topic, but this afternoon, after praying for our nation, I took a very brief nap. I had a very quick dream where I knew that I was supposed to light a fire, but I knew that I was supposed to use the matches that were from the 1800s…possibly late 1800s…possibly in the 1880s…that’s not quite clear, but I am at least sure about the 1800s part, and I was searching in drawers for them. I was wondering if this might have to do with prayer directives from God about how to pray for our nation. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

You know how some statements grab your attention, sort of like an ear worm, and won’t let you go, this was one of them. So, I did some research.

In the early 1800’s, most people started fires by rubbing sticks together or by using flint and a piece of metal. But in 1826, John Walker invented the first match which was a wooden stick with a glob of antimony sulfide, potassium chlorate, gum, and starch on one end. It was easy to ignite. All you had to do was strike it against a brick or something hard, and fire happened.

The disadvantage to Walker’s invention was its horrible smell.

In 1830, a French chemist, Charles Sauria, reformulated Walker’s invention by adding white phosphorous. No longer was smell a problem. Sauria’s matches instantly took over the market.

But the problem with Sauria’s matches was that they were deadly poisonous. Each pack contained enough white phosphorous to kill a person via suicide or murder. Young children suffered deformities by sucking on the match heads. Workers at the match plants came down with horrendous diseases.

So, in the late 1800’s, a safety match was invented whereby white phosphorous was eliminated and the match head had to be swiped across a strip on the box (or cover) which contained some other chemicals which caused the match to ignite. Today’s match is basically the same as the one invented in the late 1890’s.

Okay, interesting stuff, right? But why would God use matches in pcal7’s dream?

Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse. (Malichi 4:5-6)

Jesus stated that John the Baptist was a type of Elijah. But if you study all the scriptures about what the returning Elijah is supposed to do, you’ll see that John the Baptist did not fulfill all of the destiny proclaimed by Jesus and Malichi 4? So, we are still waiting for more Elijah’s to arrive on the scene.

Now, if you read the scriptures from Elijah’s arrival (1 Kings 17:1) through his departure (2 Kings 2), you will discover that Elijah had authority and miraculous power from God. And because of this, he was a fearless warrior for the Lord.

But also, Elijah was a maverick, not under any religious system and not accountable to the temple’s priesthood hierarchy of his day. Just like the matches before 1890, Elijah was a self-contained agent of fire. Explosive and dangerous.

Lord, send Your Elijahs to America. Send us Your agents of fire who will not bow down to the religious hierarchies of our day. Send them in Jesus name we pray.

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Filed under Christianity, Emergent Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Home Church, Kingdom of God, Prophecy, reformation, Religion

October 18, 2008 · 2:47 pm

If An Eight-Year Old Weeps Over Abortion, What’s Our Problem?

The following was written by my son, Scott, on a comment to an article yesterday:

Disclaimer: I am larrywho’s son, Scott, who lives in Missouri. this is my first wordpress post so hopefully I don’t mess up the links.

I am pro-life but am not overtly vocal about it…but the Lord hit me with a ton of bricks yesterday. I was picking up my 3rd grade son yesterday from school while listening to talk radio. The show was making the pro-life argument and discussing some of the gruesome details of abortion. I debated whether I would change the station once my son got in the car…I decided not to change the station.

My son knew the basic definition of abortion because he asked me about it a couple of weeks ago…the result of a curious mind that heard the word ‘abortion’ at school. But beyond that discussion, I had not given him further details about abortion. Trying to shelter him from it, I guess.

When my son got in the car, they played an audio clip of a nurse describing her experience with an aborted infant that somehow survived the process…then was taken to a room to die. She described how she held and tried to comfort the infant in its final 45 minutes of life. My son heard the entire testimony. I said nothing during the clip. I decided to let him listen and react to what he heard.

I looked back at my son after the testimony of this nurse…the tears welling up until they poured forth from his eyes. A great father/son discussion followed.

Bottom line: Even a 3rd grader, who does not understand a lot things about this world, can see with absolute clarity how detestable and horrible abortion is.

Lord, thank you for hitting me with that ton of bricks…I needed it.

If you want to hear the clip, download the podcast titled, “October 16, 2006 – Hour 2″ here.

When I read this, I cried. Half of my tears came from the pride I felt about my grandson’s reaction to abortion. But sadly, the other half came because of the shame that I felt about my lack of tears over abortion.

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Filed under Abortion, African-American, Barack Obama, black people, Christianity, Election 2008, Emergent Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Home Church, Joe Biden, John McCain, Politics, Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, Prophecy, Race, reformation, Religion, Sarah Palin

August 19, 2008 · 6:33 pm

A Book Review (Part 3): Pagan Christianity?

(Continued from Part 1 and Part 2.)

Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices

Authored by: Frank Viola and George Barna

Hardcover: 336 pages

Publisher: Barnabooks (Tyndale House)

List Price: $17.99 (Purchase for as low as $9.00 here.)

My Prophetic Revelation from Pagan Christianity?.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. (2 Corinthians 10:3-4)

There is no neutral ground in the universe; every square inch, every split second is claimed by God and counter-claimed by Satan. (C.S. Lewis)

Twenty years ago, I was working as a painter for a motel in Iowa. My life, at the time, was anything but a Norman Rockwell portrait of small town happiness. A marital separation. Two confused children. Unhappy parents. Very few friends. No car and little money. Not exactly a victorious Christian life, right?

As I was painting one morning, a divine revelation slapped me across the face. “Satan hates Christians. He and his demon horde want to destroy the Body of Christ. We need to fight.”

My mouth dropped open. I thought, oh Lord, I don’t know anything about spiritual warfare. Teach me how to fight.

I prayed. I fasted. I studied the Bible. I read books. I listened to tapes. It was slow going, but after a while, I realized that I was a member of the “Joshua Generation.” Many prophets and teachers had various revelations about fighting principalities, powers and rulers of darkness. Each confidently proclaimed that cities would soon be changed by the church’s successful spiritual warfare.

And yet, since then, little has changed. The spirit of bondage is still the ruling principality over America’s inner cities. This cruel task master has been unfazed by our spiritual warfare and intercessory prayers. Even the many ministries who have attempted outreaches into the inner cities have settled for small (if any) gains.

So, if we – the church of Jesus Christ – are the so-called “Joshua Generation”, what are we doing wrong? Why have we accomplished so little in America’s inner cities with our spiritual warfare and intercessory prayers?

Until I read Pagan Christianity?, I never asked myself, “What are we doing wrong”. I just assumed that we needed to keep plugging away. You know – more prayers, more fasting, more prophetic declarations, etc. Same-oh. Same-oh. Ho-hum!

And to be honest, I am sure that Frank Viola and George Barna did not intend Pagan Christianity? to be a spiritual warfare guide. But the light clicked on inside me anyway, and I know that I know: We are warring according to the flesh.

As most prayer warriors know, the number one guideline for spiritual warfare is to get rid of whatever you are fighting against in your own lives first before you begin any spiritual warfare. For example, if you are praying and fighting against a spirit of lust in a neighborhood, you need to repent and get rid of the sin of lust in your own lives first. Spiritual authority is dependent on holiness and clean hearts.

Now, consider this: we are attempting to fight the spirit of bondage in America’s inner cities with an army modeled after the institutional church. And guess what? 99% of the army is made up of Christians who are unable to walk in their royal priestly callings because of the traditions placed on them by the institutional church system.

So, in effect, we are fighting the spirit of bondage with Christians who are themselves in spiritual bondage. It is no wonder that we continue to suffer defeat after defeat in the inner cities.

Our only hope is to change the way we do church. And do it now.

A Book Review (Part 2): Pagan Christianity?

(Continued from Part 1)

Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices

Authored by: Frank Viola and George Barna

Hardcover: 336 pages

Publisher: Barnabooks (Tyndale House)

List Price: $17.99 (Purchase for as low as $9.00 here.)

BOOK REVIEW.

As startling as it may seem, almost everything that is done in our contemporary churches has no basis in the Bible. As pastors preach from their pulpits about being “biblical” and following the “pure Word of God,” their words betray them. The truth is that precious little that is observed today in contemporary Christianity maps to anything found in the New Testament Church. (Pagan Christianity?, pp. 4)

Smack! The above words slapped my face with their in-your-face gist.

What? I thought. How can this be? Certainly, Viola and Barna must be talking about the snakehandling assembly on the other side of town, and not my church. Especially, not my church.

But soon, I felt a sharp ache in my toes as I continued reading. The pain was excruciating. Viola and Barna were stepping all over my comfort zones. I wanted to put the book down, but a quote floated across my mind:

Every man has a right to be wrong in his opinions. But no man has a right to be wrong in his facts. (Bernard M. Baruch)

I trudged onward. I read the authors’ study on the history of church buildings, pulpits, steeples, architecture, pews and balconies. At the end of the second chapter, the authors wrote:

Somehow, we have been taught to feel holier when we are in “the house of God” and have inherited a pathological dependency upon an edifice to carry out our worship to God. At bottom, the church building has taught us badly about what church is and what it does. The building is a denial of the priesthood of all believers. It is a contradiction of the very nature of the ekklesia – which is a countercultural community. (Pagan Christianity?, pp. 42)

Sweat formed under my armpits. My mouth was dry, but I kept at it. I was looking for a chink in their logic, but hundreds of footnotes and pages of bibliography support their findings.

The two authors also chip away at the icons of Protestant order of worship, the sermon, the pastor, Sunday morning dress, the Worship team, tithing, clergy salaries, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and Christian education. Very few sacred cows are left untouched by this book.

What is the authors’ hope for Pagan Christianity?:

First, we hope that you will begin asking questions about church as you presently know it. How much of it is truly biblical? How much of it expresses the absolute headship of Jesus Christ? How much of it allows the members of His body the freedom to function? Second, we hope that you will share this book with every Christian you know so that they too will be challenged by its message. And third, we hope you will pray seriously about what your response should be for this message. (Pagan Christianity?, pp. 250)

And what’s my opinion of the book? I truly believe that it is an apostolic work which helps to lay a strong foundation for reformation of the American Church. A reformation which will put Jesus back where He belongs as Head of His church.

But hey, don’t just take my word, check it out here. And then buy it.

(To be continued in Part 3.)

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Filed under African-American, black people, Christianity, Emergent Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Home Church, Kingdom of God, Prophecy, Race, reformation, Religion, Uncategorized

August 17, 2008 · 12:30 am

A Book Review (Part 1): Pagan Christianity?

Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices

Authored by: Frank Viola and George Barna

Hardcover: 336 pages

Publisher: Barnabooks (Tyndale House)

List Price: $17.99 (Purchase for as low as $9.00 here.)

In February, 2002, I attended my first home church seminar in Oxnard, California. Tony and Felicity Dale were the speakers. The man, sitting next to me, was a disgruntled denominational pastor. As time progressed, he asked, “Why did you come to this meeting?”

“I read some books by Frank Viola,” I said.

He removed his glasses and stared at me. “You know, he’s a radical,” he replied as if the word “radical” was a poison to be avoided at all costs.

I did not reply. But I thought, hmm! Radical – that’s my type of Christian. I better read all of his stuff.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS.

Frank Viola is a Christian author and speaker. He graduated from the University of South Florida (Tampa, Florida) with a degree in social science education. For 15 years, he taught in the public school system.

In 1988, Frank left the institutional church. Since that time, he has been gathering in organic churches in the United States. He has also been active in planting, aiding, and encouraging organic churches since the late 90s. In 2003, he began authoring books full time. On occasion, Frank speaks at house church, simple church, organic church, and emerging church conferences. His public speaking covers a wide range of topics including the all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ, the deepening of the spiritual life, Christian community, church planting, and radical church restoration.

Frank’s books include: Pagan Christianity, Reimagining Church, Bethany, The Untold Story of the New Testament Church, Gathering in Homes, Rethinking the Will of God.

Frank’s website. Frank’s blog. Frank’s MySpace.

George Barna founded the Barna Research Group (now The Barna Group) in 1984 and helped it become the nation’s leading marketing research firm focused on the intersection of faith and culture. The company has served several hundred parachurch ministries and thousands of Christian churches throughout the country. It has also supplied research to numerous corporations and non-profit organizations, as well as the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army.

To date, Barna has written 39 books, mostly addressing leadership, trends, church health and spiritual development. They include best-sellers such as Revolution, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions, The Frog in the Kettle, and The Power of Vision. His most recent book is Revolutionary Parenting. His work is frequently cited as an authoritative source by the media. He has been hailed as “the most quoted person in the Christian Church today” and has been named by various media as one of the nation’s most influential Christian leaders.

George’s website.

(To be continued in Part 2)

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Filed under African-American, black people, Christianity, Emergent Church, Gifts of the Spirit, Home Church, Kingdom of God, Prophecy, Race, reformation, Religion