Archive for February, 2007

Mainline or house?

February 27, 2007 at 7:35 pm · Filed under church growth, house church, mainline churches

As promised last blog, I offer some differences between mainline churches and house churches. 

I believe God intended people to be gathered in small groups where people can search scripture together, develop deep and life-long relationships, nurture each other to love and good works, encourage spontaneous and daily worship and jointly serve the people around them.  I believe the model of church that is most popular in our culture is so different from what God intends.  House churches pervade the New Testament. 

Regardless of the many good things that come from mainline churches, they are generally a perversion of God’s plan, incapable of fully functioning according to God’s ideal.  Yet, God has worked his will through the ages even within the flawed structure we know as church.  In fact, one could easily be blinded by the many good aspects and fail to see what might be possible if every Christian were to see him/herself as a missionary in their own neighborhood.

For those who think I have an axe to grind with the mainline church, I’m sorry to disappoint you.  I sincerely believe my observations come from pure motives, as one who truly wants to see God’s people live up to our calling of imitating Jesus in this dark world.  Just as we can’t serve both God and money, we can not serve both God and religion.  And that’s what is happening today.

Please receive these observations in the spirit they are offered—as encouragement to God’s people to return to the model of church He outlined in scripture.  We owe it to the Father to get this as right as we can.   

  • Mainline churches (just churches from here on) focus on “attracting” and “doing” rather than “going” and “being.” This is an important difference.  Churches spend lots of resources attracting adherents to their buildings, assemblies and programs.  Yet, churches generally reach only those who are willing to “come” (to church or church activities) and who are willing to conform their lives to the rituals and practices of that church.   House churches put no such burden on seekers.   House churches meet any place and any time people want to meet (sometimes “daily”.  Now, that’s a novel idea).
  • Churches plan everything to be comfortable first for the community of believers. House churches strive to make life safe and fulfilling for the “not-yet-believers.”
  • Churches require “all or nothing.” You’re either in or you’re out—no gray area. Many of those involved in house church have not yet made a commitment of faith but share fully in the life of that small community while continually refining their faith. (Jesus attracted many people in the “gray area” and allowed them to participate in his life despite their level of faith or lack of.) In house church, people don’t have to be at a certain level to participate in the life of that community. We are all on a journey, and we are not absorbed with who’s in and who’s out.
  • Churches have to be the center of all activities. House churches promote the neighborhood (board room, emergency room or school room) as the center of activity.
  • Churches demand to receive a portion of benevolent resources from members. House churches trust participants to use their resources to help people, not maintain buildings, salaries or programs.  At times, participants in a particular house church decide to pool their resources for a special project.  In those cases, everyone has a say in how corporate funds will be used.
  • Churches tend to create weak, dependent members who rely too much on what church leaders tell them. Mainline church members are generally handed a theology and expected to adhere. In house churches, there is no hierarchy; all members are peers and search scripture together to uncover truth.  Differences of opinion can co-exist peacefully in a house church.
  • Churches focus on peripheral matters. Being truly on the “front lines,” house church members don’t have time to focus on such less vital issues (i.e. forms of music, facility maintenance, what other religious groups believe, politics, etc.), but are consumed instead with each other’s well being, love for “not-yets”, social issues (poverty, discrimination, human suffering), and environmental concerns. These are issues that spring from the very heart of God.

Now, in all honesty, some house churches can (and do) look and act more like a mainline church as described above.  When that happens, it too becomes a perversion of God’ plan for his people.  But the chances of that happening are lessened when participants in the group take personal responsibility for holding on to God’s model of church.

I would truly like to know your thoughts.  If you are in a house church, tell us about it and how it fulfills you.  And those in a mainline church, if you take issue with what you read above say so, and share why you are involved.  If you have experienced any of the above where you go to church, we’d like to hear about it.

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Why house church?

February 23, 2007 at 9:30 pm · Filed under Jesus, Luke 10, church growth, house church

( We’re really getting off the truckin’ trail this week!)

For the third week in a row, we are saying good-bye to loved ones.  This week, it’s “Mama” Sherrill Lynn and Flora McCaster.  Both of these Christian women touched my life in different ways and at different times—Sherrill, three decades ago at Highland Street church, and Flora, within the past year as a part of our house church.

Sherrill’s passing has brought together friends and family from years past who have gathered to pay her tribute and comfort her family.  I have seen people this week that I have not seen in thirty years! 

I have also heard from many this question, “Where are you worshipping now?”  (I’m tempted to answer, “Anywhere I happen to be when I remember God’s goodness.”  But I don’t.)  I simply say that Lynn and I worship in a house church in Midtown.  Some, thankfully not all, ask why a house church.  I give some quick, surfacy answer that’s meant to avoid the real answer.  That usually works.

But the question remains among those who know us.  Why a house church?  Isn’t one of the many fine congregations in town good enough?  What do you get out of house church that you couldn’t get in a mainline congregation?  I guess it’s time to answer those questions.  (This may take a while…you’re welcome to stop reading now.)

Deciding to leave a mainline church was not an overnight decision; it’s been a long time coming.  When we did make the break and associated ourselves with a house church, several circumstances aligned to make it the right time.  Those circumstances are irrelevant to the question, why house church?  So, let me try to capture the root reasons.

Many months ago, someone showed me Luke 10 (specifically verses 1-12).  I re-read it with new eyes.   (You might want to get your Bible and follow along.)

Jesus has charged 72 people to go out and spread the news about the “new” Kingdom that has arrived with his ministry.  With this charge, he gives specific instructions on how that is to be done.  In short, I think his charge to the 72 is still in effect, i.e.  believers today are to spread the news of his Kingdom.  And I think his method of how this is to be done is still good today. 

In short, here’s Jesus’ way:

1-Focus on people who are open (Jesus calls these “people of peace”, vs. 5), and don’t spend much time with those who aren’t.  That doesn’t mean that the others are not important, but there are far too many people to get to (white harvest), and far too few people who are willing to go tell them (few workers). 

2-Stay (vs. 7).  Effective mission work takes time.  Don’t move from town to town, house to house, person to person.  Find some people and stay with them.  Anchor your life in their life.  Take them in as a member of your family—not too many, just enough with whom you can make a difference over time.  Nothing they do will run you off; you are with them through thick ‘n thin, good times and bad.  

3-Adopt their practices, habits and rituals (vs. 8).  Eat what they eat, drink what they drink.  Listen to their stories.  Find out their history.  Ooh and aah over their family pictures.  Embrace their pets.  See them as something much more than a “project” or “strategy.”  Truly meet them where they are, no matter where they are.

4-Serve them (vs. 9).  Become so much a part of their lives that you are indispensable to them.  When issues arise, you are there.  When their loved ones die, you go to comfort.  When they become sick, they ask for you.  You lift them daily in prayer.  You rake their leaves.  Clean their gutters.  Babysit their kids. 

Finally, Jesus seems to say, “Don’t get distracted.”  I think that’s what all that last part (vs. 10ff) is about.  Don’t get in a huff.  Don’t try to take revenge.  Simply move on; God will deal with those who don’t welcome the message in his time and way, so you don’t have to.

It would be a mistake to call the above a “strategy;” i.e. a way to get people into church.  It’s simply a way of life for those who call him Lord.  Live your life as he lived his and you will make an impact on those you encounter.

A house church offers the best way to fulfill Jesus’ charge (maybe that’s why house churches dominated the landscape in NT times).  “Mainline churches,” on the other hand (born out in my 30+ years of experience), provide a sharp contrast to Jesus’ way.  In the next blog I’ll give you my thoughts on how traditional or mainline church conflicts with Jesus’ way as prescribed in Luke 10 and how house churches facilitate what God is doing in the world today.

Got any thoughts on what you’ve read so far? 

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Now hear this…

February 20, 2007 at 7:10 pm · Filed under Steve Jr.'s blog

I unabashedly interrupt this blog to direct your attention to the following for an important…no, astounding message. 

Check out http://www.harvestboston.net/ (Tues, 2/20).  Watch the video then read Steve Jr’s comments about our changing world.  When you have finished there, come back here and leave your thoughts (or leave them on his blog).

It’s a new day for the people of God.

By the way, if you read this blog but don’t read the comments, you are missing so much.  Click “comments” at the end of each blog to see what others are saying about the issue of the day.  Some are inspired, I know.

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HAH, 1911-1993

February 14, 2007 at 1:52 pm · Filed under Homer A. Holt Sr., charity, compassion, integrity

Today, Valentine’s Day, Homer Anthony Holt Sr., my dad, would have been 96.  And today would have been his and Mom’s 71st (I think) wedding anniversary.  They both passed on in the mid-90s, Dad first, then Mom two years later.  I still miss them…Mom more than Dad, but that’s usual, I think. 

Still, I miss Dad, a man of much wisdom.  Among the many things he taught me was the importance of sending cards.  I don’t think I ever had a birthday when I didn’t receive a card from him.  (Sometimes “Get Well” was scratched out and “Happy Birthday” written in to save money on a greeting card he didn’t have on hand.)  I still try my best to send cards on birthdays and anniversaries…even get well and sympathy cards…although I buy new ones that are appropriate for the occasion.

He taught me the importance of good vacations.  Seems he never spared any expense when we vacationed as a family.  I remember regular trips to Miami Beach over Christmas.  And I remember such places as Dallas, Denver, Washington, DC and Gatlinburg.

And perhaps, most valuable, he taught me the importance of giving to those who were not as financially fortunate as we were.  One of the men who worked for my Dad in his construction business told me that Dad would fix bags of food and then anonymously leave them on doorsteps of the people he knew in our little town who needed some help.   Dad taught me a whole lot more, but those are the highlights.

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You can get used to anything except a rock in your shoe.                       

That was one saying I heard from my Dad a lot when I was growing up.  If I complained about something, Dad would roll out that adage.  Well, as usual, he was right.  You really can get used to anything (except a rock in your shoe).

I’ve gotten quite used to driving a truck.  What for a while was a laborious, tedious task has become second nature.  I seldom think about shifting, turning, even backing.  At least the anticipation of having to do one or the other doesn’t terrorize me any more like it once did.  Mark up another lesson from Dad.

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Share with us something you learned from someone you love.  Maybe it’s a practice.  Or maybe an adage.  Oh, and by the way, I would have sent you a Valentine’s Day card, but I lost your address.  Consider this a greeting from someone who loves you. 

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Ice and John

February 9, 2007 at 8:32 pm · Filed under John Scott

So weird, how similar this week’s blog will be to last week’s.  We had ice again today which shut down bridges and highways all over town.  In fact, for the first time people here can remember, both bridges across the Mississippi River to Arkansas were closed in both directions.  You couldn’t get into Arkansas or out.

My deliveries to Jonesboro, AR were in doubt from 6:00 this morning until they were finally canceled at 10:00 AM.  I am scheduled to take them tomorrow (Saturday).   But the change in my day allowed me to attend the funeral of another influential person in my life.  Last week I told you about Verla Howard.  This week I tell you about John Scott who died on his birthday, February 6, at age 82.

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John Scott was an elder at White Station church when I began as a janitor there back in 1973.  He was the elder over buildings and grounds, so he was also my boss.  The first time I met him was in the hallway at the church building where he advised me to strip and re-wax the hall floors long before they turned yellow.  He also told me to be sure to leave one fist width between chairs when I set up folding chairs for Sunday night worship in the fellowship hall.  Under his tutelage, I taught my first Sunday school class of 5th grade boys which he and I co-taught.  I learned a lot working along side this man.

But perhaps, John’s greatest influence on my life came as a result of his being my major professor at Harding University graduate school.   When I began graduate studies back in 1977, I had no idea what I wanted to do in professional ministry.  The very first class I had was Dr. Scott’s “Basic Counseling.”  After a few weeks, I knew I wanted to be a counselor.  I went on to complete an M.A. in religion majoring in counseling, and John was my adviser throughout.  He was tough, but he was also kind and very compassionate.  Most of all, John was an encourager.  His hand-written notes on my class papers included a balance of criticism and encouragement.  I still have them all.

In recent years, John and I were able to reconnect when our family moved back to Memphis and I began work at White Station as Family Life Director.  He let me know how glad he was that I was back (after 21 years away), and I received several letters and notes of encouragement.  I was proud to co-teach a pre-marriage series with John a few years ago.  I remember him telling the class how proud he was of me. 

John was way ahead of his time.  A sermon he preached in the shadow of Dr. Martin Luther King’s murder in Memphis in 1968 drove more than a few members away from White Station.  But he was right and was not afraid to voice his views on that national travesty.  He held two Ph.Ds…one in Old Testament and one in hypnotherapy, the latter bringing him much criticism from uninformed area church leaders.  John had  a very successful counseling practices in the city for many years.  Among other accomplishments, he boasted one of the most effective addiction recovery programs in the country.  His counsel and teaching have greatly influenced many of my political and social views.  John was one of the first to study the psychology of worship, insisting that lighting and room arrangement are important factors in effective worship. 

He and his wife of 61 years, Jo, spent the past 10 years or so traveling with Sojourners, a group of RV owners who volunteer to help small congregations in whatever way they are needed.  He was a man of many talents—pilot, ventriloquist, teacher, preacher, writer, musician and more.  But I’ll remember him most because he was an encourager.  I’ll miss John Scott.

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Snow, ice and Verla

February 3, 2007 at 9:50 am · Filed under Verla Howard, persistence, volunteers

I had my first experience with driving my truck on ice and snow this week. The Midsouth got several inches of snow Thursday night which left a beautiful impression on the landscape Friday morning. I left home at 5:00 AM to takes loads to a mall in east Memphis, then on to Jonesboro, AR, about 70 miles northwest. Heeding advice from the radio traffic reports, I stayed off the interstate and took local streets to my first stop at the mall. Few people were on the streets and the drive wasn’t bad.

The drive to Jonesboro was a different story. CBers reported that a truck had jackknifed on I-40 around Forest City, AR which closed that interstate. Conditions on I-55 toward Jonesboro were not much better. Once on I-55, traffic flowed much better, although I noticed that no one was driving very fast. I soon discovered why. The first sign of trouble was the fishtailing truck in front of me. I then realized that the roadway was a sheet of ice. My truck, going about 25 mph, began to take on a life of its own; I had no control. It began to drift toward the shoulder. I remembered my training and didn’t use the breaks. I let off the accelerator and turned my wheel toward the direction of the skid. Once I reached the shoulder, things got better. The grooves on the shoulder that warn sleepy drivers provided nice traction and as long as I kept my right wheels in the grooves, I was fine. But the trip to Jonesboro, which normally takes a little over an hour, took two and a half.

I hope this is the last of the winter weather; but I don’t think so.
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Lynn and I went to see Freedom Writers yesterday. Have you seen it? Great movie for all to see.
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The deaths of sports, entertainment and political figures get lots of attention. The death of saints hardly gets any notice. This week, the world lost a saint when Verla Howard died.

Verla was a 96-year old lady who inspired everyone who knew her to never give up working for God. Her story is a grand tale of persistence and courage. As a young woman she moved to Memphis to get a better job after completing courses at a business school in her little rural town. In her first few hours in town, Verla went door-to-door looking for a job. She said she would not quit until she had a job, and by jingle, she had one with a law firm by the time the sun went down that day. She married, had three children and decided to stay at home while her children were young. But her husband died, and Verla was forced to return to the work force.

She was a church secretary, secretary to the first director of the Christian Student Center at Memphis State, secretary to the head of the chemistry department at MSU, and an administrator for the Girl Scouts of America. When her age kept her from working full time for pay, she began to volunteer. Her last volunteer gig was with HopeWorks (which I directed for 3 years). She was the most faithful volunteer, working 3 days a week for about 3 hours a day. And she never missed a day. When the weather allowed, she drove to work. When the weather wouldn’t allow, she would walk! This was when Verla was in her 90s!

Throughout her life, Verla considered Sundays sacred. She missed worship and Bible class only when sickness kept her away. And she always attended the Ladies Bible class on Tuesdays.

Verla Howard loved her Lord, her family and her work. I’ll really miss her. God’s got one good volunteer on hand now that Verla is home.

Do you know anyone like Verla? Would you tell us about him/her?

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