As I’ve been looking into short term mission opportunities, one thought I’ve had is, “How best could I be used to serve and support the full time workers I’ll be visiting?” This in turn led to the question, “What is it missionaries even do in the first place?” Looking at the big picture, it seems …
Category Archives: Church
7 Stages Out of Traditional Church
Roger is the author of the blog, Simple Church Journal. Last Fall, he wrote a post listing the stages he sees people go through in their journey towards a more simple house church meeting. These stages resonated with me – some of which hit close to home! With his permission I’m reprinting his post below. …
The Church: Traveling Light
Traveling light. The very phrase conjures images of camel-laden nomads crossing the Sahara, an Alpinist scaling Mt. Kilimanjaro, or (slightly less romantic), a homeless man walking down Main Street. Jesus traveled light. For at least part of his life, Jesus was homeless. ”Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son …
When the Church was Young
Last week I read When the Church was Young, it Did Not Look Anything Like it Does Today by Ernest Loosley. At only 77 pages, it was a quick read. Not a new work, (written in 1935) I still found it applicable. Very clear in layout, it compares some features of the early church with …
38,000 Denominations… plus House Churches
When delving into the study of how Christians should structure their meetings – particularly in respect to modeling closely after New Testament principles – it doesn’t take long before one stumbles across the “House Church Movement.” I do know I’m supposed to Love God and Love my Neighbor (and admit to frequently failing there at …
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What makes a Church a Church? Part 2: Who Are the Church?
continued from Part 1… The title of this post may sound wierd: “Who are the Church?” What kind of grammar is that??! But this is because we are conditioned to thinking of the word church as meaning a building instead of a collective group of “called out ones.” The more I examine the scriptures, the …
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What makes a Church a Church? Part 1 – Ekklesia
Recently there has been discussion among my friends as to what makes a Christian gathering an official “church meeting.” What makes a church, church? A bit tongue-in-cheek, the following quote may be a good place to start: “The image of much of contemporary Christianity can be summarized, a bit euphemistically, as holy people coming regularly …
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Elders, Deacons, & Church Leadership
How many leadership offices were there in the 1st century church? How were these offices appointed? What were the differences in duties and qualifications of these offices? And what’s more Biblical anyways: Pastors or Elders? These were only some of the questions we looked at in a recent Bible Study I attended on “Leadership Within …
Do I Have to Pay Attention at Church?
So while listening to a sermon at church, is it ok to… …eat candy? (as long as it’s not crunchy?) …send text message? (as long as nobody notices?) …snuggle with my true love? (if nobody is behind me?) …sleep? (if it’s just during the prayers and other boring parts?) …slouch? (when my butt hurts too …
Too Small to Ignore – Community
Dr. Wess Stafford writes, “…let’s consider the church, which we fondly refer to as ‘the family of God.’ It is a place meant for inclusion and nurture, we tell ourselves. Then why do the various ages scatter in opposite directions the minute we pull into the parking lot?” Wess admits the value in age-grade curriculum …