I was reading this morning an account from a friend’s friend who has left the church after 20 years of serving in ministry and is near leaving his Christian faith. He spoke sincerely and vulnerably regarding the process of his deconversion from Chaplain to agnostic. His reasons for change are: 1) inside knowledge of the awful condition of local church, 2) no clear examples in his life of pure, supernatural moves of God that couldn’t in some way be explained in humanist terms—that is, nothing separating what a Christian can do from what the non-Christian can do, 3) too many clear examples of wickedness being done in the name of Christ, and 4) the hypocrisy and fear-based/brain-washed commitment of the Christians around him. I really enjoyed his perspective so I hope I am relaying this accurately.

It’s my opinion that the large majority of Christians (in the States) are not practicing Christianity. I have seen first hand the sort of situation this man describes: the structure of religion and the academic declarations of theology (as good as this can be) without the supernatural power of a living and loving God (not to mention the rest of it..). But didn’t Paul the Apostle say, “my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit in power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God” (1 Cor 2:4-5)? And isn’t the New Testament full of supernatural accounts done by the Spirit through Jesus’ followers?! God has not changed (Mal 3:6, Heb 13:8). The purpose of the believer on the earth hasn’t changed—we are still strengthening the ‘bride’ and collecting the harvest until the day of our Lord’s return. Jesus is alive, and so is His Spirit!

When Jesus died on the cross, He paid the sacrifice of our sins once and for all. Every hurt, every pain, every struggle; everything that’s been done to you, and everything you’ve done that has brought destruction to yourself or someone else—it died with Jesus on the cross. He was resurrected, and the sin wasn’t; the bondage of sin has been taken care of. To become a Christian means to surrender to God and accept the free gift of perfect freedom, love, joy, peace, and so forth. He already bought the gift of freedom—for the whole world. It’s an acceptance of that gift to the point of full re-birth. People don’t go to Hell because they don’t believe in God, but because they’ve rejected Him. Everyone at some point has the choice to accept or reject Him; it’s a serious decision. When we choose Him we get to walk out of the bondage and straight into the Kingdom. Don’t you know, the Kingdom is at hand!?! And in the Kingdom are miracles galore! We are new creations, equipped with supernatural gifts. We do heal the sick and cast out demons and prophesy and do miracles, just as His first disciples did. We love God to such an extent that we can’t help show His love in demonstrations to everyone we meet. Heaven is a party and it starts now! And that’s GOOD NEWS! When Jesus returns to be King the party is only going to get bigger! YAY!!

There was a moment in my life (quite a ways after my decision to be saved, repentance, and water baptism) where God in His supernatural power and grace, immersed me with His Spirit and, in a moment, re-birthed me into perfect freedom. None of my old self was there. I became completely new. My thoughts changed, my moods changed, I stopped taking medication for my various psychological disorders because they were gone, I didn’t have to pretend to be happy because I really truly was (to an even greater extent today!), even many of my interests changed! I cannot describe the peace that’s in my spirit. Fear is gone!

If you haven’t experienced this level of joy, and peace—whether you’ve been a Christian for years or if you identify with a different religion all together—I want to say a short prayer for you:

May you encounter the very presence and being of God Himself through Jesus Christ the Lord, the people who live in His Kingdom, and the mighty restoration of the grace of His salvation!

Genre: Church Planting and Growth/House Churches

Recommended.

Originally published as The Rabbit and the Elephant, this book is now updated and expanded. What makes Small is Big special are the personal stories of various simple (house) churches: how they were started, how they worked, how they expanded, and so forth. It’s also about evangelism and outreach, since most of the churches are started among non-Christians outside of church culture.

It is more balanced than many other house church books in that it speaks positively regarding both “simple” (organic) and “legacy” (traditional) churches. The benefit of this is that the pastor/leader of a traditional church could easily glean from the information given without necessarily reforming all of church structure. It’s also informative regarding the predominate move toward house and non-conventional churches, even in the Western world. Examples are taken from diverse movements within the church body, ranging from Iris Ministries in Mozambique (very organic and charismatic) to Saddleback Church (a program-lead mega church). It is a unifying resource.

On the other hand, it’s not as specific or detailed regarding the “theology” of house churches so to speak. For the reader who has specific questions regarding communion, giving, five-fold ministry, and so on, I recommend: The House Church Book by Wolfgang Simson, and Corinthian Elders by Jack Fortenberry. Small is Big is an encouraging and simple book about simple church, not a complete work on the ins and outs of the house church movement.

I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of the Tyndale Blog Network.

Recommended: A call to reinstate the biblical structure by putting Jesus as the head of His church.

Corinthian Elders focuses on the role of elders in the church, especially in the context of Paul’s letters to the Corinthians.  There’s a lot in this book because as we talk about changing the church structurally, many more issues arise, including the topics of money, leadership and authority, and accountability. Fortenberry does not neglect to mention these important questions, all the while calling the body of Christ to focus on the larger picture: focusing less on individual leaders and instead being taught by the Lord Himself that we may experience a more dynamic church as each member of the body becomes active.

It’s is a short book, but not one to read quickly.  I took my time with it so that I could place each scripture reference in context of entire books.  And though I didn’t agree with every detail and found some arguments weak, I gained a lot from this book.  I was also pleased that some of what the Holy Spirit has revealed to my husband and I personally, was also revealed and expressed by the author.  It is challenging, thought-provoking, and most importantly, stirred in me a hunger to read my Bible and seek out wisdom—any book that can do that is worth the read!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author, Jack Fortenberry.