Finding Organic Church

FINDING ORGANIC CHURCH is a comprehensive practical guide that follows all of Frank Viola’s other books on the church. It answers the following questions and more:

* Where do I find the kind of church life you describe in your other books — namely, Pagan Christianity, Reimagining Church, From Eternity to Here, and The Untold Story of the New Testament Church?

* How does one plant an organic church — a Christ-centered community that expresses God’s kingdom and fufills God’s eternal purpose and grand mission? * How are organic churches nurtured and sustained?

* In an organic church, how are children, giving (money), Bible study, evangelism, prayer, etc. all handled?

* What are the stages of development that an organic church passes through?

* What are the diseases, preventions, and treatments for organic churches?

* What are the bibilcal principles for organic church planting?

* If I’m a leader in an institutional church and I want to transition to an organic church, how do I go about doing that?

Early review:
The author of “Pagan Christianity?” (with George Barna), “Reimagining Church,” and the bestselling “From Eternity to Here” has written a detailed manual on how to start and sustain an organic church. Everything from what to do with the children, to the developmental stages of church growth, to the diseases of an organic church and their cures are all covered in this comprehensive volume. Church planting principles for organic styled churches are packed together with the author’s practical experience of living in and starting such churches. Each chapter is full of advice, outlining the unique problems that such churches will face and their solutions. Church planters of all types will benefit from this book as well as those wishing to explore an alternative way of church gathering. — Christian Book Reviews, 2009

I highly encourage to check Finding Organic Church and his other books out.

Some Helpful Advice If You’re Just Leaving The Institutional Church

I became a Facebook Fan of The Free Believers. Within their area there is this post. I thought I would share this with you all.

By Mike Myers

1. Leave graciously, not in pride or with a condescending attitude. Remember, there are many still in the IC that can teach you a thing or two. Just because you can see some things that they can’t doesn’t mean you have the monopoly on the Christian experience. Sometimes you being teachable is the best way to share something with others.

2. Leave on good terms with the members and staff as much as it is in your power to do so. Many free believers have left the IC due to outright abusive spiritual manipulation. Some people may never see their wrong doing, but that doesn’t mean we can’t forgive them still. If you are absolutely guiltless and never said a crossword to anyone, then be free in the Lord! But if you also contributed in the carnality that went on, you do need to go to those people and ask for their forgiveness. That’s absolutely necessary for you to walk free as a free believer. They are still our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Don’t leave any room for the enemy to plant bitterness in your heart.

3. Leave quietly! Never ever under any circumstances should we ever try and turn others against the IC they’re attending or the staff of that IC. We are not called to start a coo to dismantle the IC. Jesus said He would send the Holy Spirit and >>>HE<<< would convict the world of sin. The Holy Spirit was able to speak to your heart, don’t you think He’s also capable to speak to others? If someone calls you and asks why you’re not going anymore, that’s different. But you shouldn’t be calling others to spread your dissatisfaction with the IC. And trust me, that never goes well anyway.

4. Find other free believers near you. Facebook is a great place to start! God did give us the body of Christ to edify us and strengthen us. You should be free in Christ, but not alone in Christ. You will be so healed when you find other believers who are “on the same page” as you! This will be the fellowship you always dreamed of!

5. Question everything! It’s OK to question all of the things you were taught to believe were essential to your Christian experience. But we don’t need to throw out the baby with the bath water. Take what is good and discard what isn’t needed. This process is sometimes called “detoxing”. You need to purge out all of the junk that the IC gave you that’s hindering your relationship with Christ. Be willing to let go of your misconceptions of God! This is the most exciting part about leaving the IC and being free in the wild!

6. You still need to be discerning. Just as there’s good and bad teachings within the IC, the same is true outside of it. Do your homework about the people you’re listening to. If they’re teaching polygamy and that Jesus is coming in 2012, they’re probably going to be toxic for your faith. Just because your belief system used to be rigid in the IC doesn’t mean you should do the exact opposite and accept anything from anyone. If it’s true, it’s not new. If it’s new, it’s not true.

7. Keep it to yourself. I know this sounds counterintuitive, but you’re not going to “win” anyone over with your words if they’re not looking for it. I know that you want to tell everyone, don’t you? Again, this is where the Holy Spirit is the only one who can reveal this stuff to them. You’ll find that you’re going to loose a lot of friends that you had in the IC. It may seem that the two of you don’t even worship the same God anymore. You’ll need to grieve the loss of those relationships and just pray that in time they’ll be open to the work of the Spirit in their lives. Let people come to you and ask you if they want to know. Just love people.

8. Get your hands on the “good stuff”! There are so many excellent resources out there for free believers. Thank God for the advent of the internet to find these invaluable books and teachings. You can find many books on Amazon, or if you’re an audible learner as I am, you can find most of the same books on iTunes and Audible.com. And most audio books are about $6! And you’ll find many podcasts to be just as rich with content as many books. And podcasts are free! You’ll find that your mind and heart will be like a sponge taking in your new-found freedom in Christ! Buckle up… this is an exciting ride!

Every list needs 10 things, but I think I’ll leave 9 and 10 up to you guys. What other advice would you give someone just leaving the IC?

Be free!
Mike

What About the Pastor? Part 2

Hierarchies did exist prior to Jesus and exist yet today.  The difference between hierarchies we understand today (in the West) and hierarchies amongst the first century church is the way it is structured.  Today it is title driven (positional mindset), one over another, in the first century church it was functional, tasks and services; your unique giftings.  “Reimagining Church” explains it best:  “Positional thinking is hung up on nouns, while functional thinking stresses verbs”.  “Whenever the New Testament describes people who are chiefly responsible for spiritual oversight, it does so by mentioning the work they do.  Functional language dominates.  Verbs are prominent”.

My concern with pastors (not the person but the system) of a traditional church is how people treat them.  They do put them up on a pedastal.  They leave it up to the pastors to teach them on a weekly basis.  What typically is the end result?  Passivity, spiritual immaturity, and being disengaged.  Yes that is ultimately an individual decision, but the question is how to break this cycle?

Now think about today’s traditional pastor.

• We go Sunday morning to hear pastor‘s message.
• When we are in crisis, we call pastor to comfort us and give us spiritual guidance.
• We rely on pastor to lead us in the direction that God is telling him.

Now let’s replace pastor with Jesus.  Can it be that simple?

What Do You For Church, Now That You Don’t Go To Church?

The assumption is that if you do not attend the Sunday morning service, you have to replace it with something else.  I’m not looking to replace it with the same thing at home.

I believe following Jesus is a lifestyle, not something you do only on Sunday mornings for about an hour or hour and a half.  Now don’t misread me, there is nothing wrong with going to a Sunday morning service for some good solid teaching.  I know of someone who does just that.  His wife still wants to go to Sunday morning services.  So they do both; go on Sunday mornings for teaching and meet with a group of people looking to be the church.  That works well for them; for us, it is just better to stop altogether and begin to deprogram what we have known our whole life.

We’re not exactly sure what we are going to do and are traveling on new territory.  We’re not going to force anything or try to make something happen that isn’t there.  The only thing we have planned right now is what we are calling “Sunday Supper”.  We’ll pray together for our up-coming evening, make the meal together on Sunday evening and invite some like-minded people.  No agenda, nothing pre-arranged, just have a good time together getting to know one another and see where it goes from there.

Matthew 18:20
For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.

Being that Kelley and I will be coming together in Jesus’ name, Jesus will be there with us!

Final thoughts.  What I have experienced since our decision to leave is an increased desire to pray, study the scriptures, and talk boldly about Jesus.  Now that’s not so bad, now is it.

Shouldn’t You be Going to Church!

Today, I am continuing the series of answering the questions given to me.  Today’s question/concern, which is a common one, is:

The Bible talks of going to church, “Do not forsake the assembly”.  Shouldn’t you be going to church?

Hebrews 10:25
25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

This verse is often quoted and referred to “going to the local church”.  So by not going to that church building for Sunday morning service, you are somewhat guilted or are committing some sort of sin.

I believe that verse is talking about the principle of coming together as the church body, which does not necessarily mean to a physical church building.  It could be at home or some other location, even a Starbucks for all that matter.  It does not give a set time either, like once a week, twice a week, or twice a month, just to meet.  The purpose of meeting or the coming together can be found in the preceding verse

Hebrews 10:24
24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

In other words, for edification, encouraging and building one another up.

I think informal locations are more conducive to that, rather than sitting in an hour to hour and half program looking at the backs of heads.  Then afterwards you maybe have 5-10 minutes where you can talk to one another before everyone leaves to go home.  I like coming together in small groups where everyone participates, you can laugh, you can cry, no set agenda, more informal, and can have intimate conversation.  For me, I can really get to know someone better in those types of environments.

I’d like to hear your thoughts on this subject!

Is the “Home Church” Concept Biblical?

Our decision to leave the institutional church (the Sunday morning pastor led church service) has been somewhat liberating for us.  To others, there is a degree of concern.  So, I have decided to do a blog series answering the questions that I have received via email, facebook, or through conversation.  I figure if I have been asked those questions, surely there are others with the same questions/concerns.

I am not an expert, we have only just begun this journey.  I will just share how we came to the conclusion that we did.  What I would like, however, is encourage readers to make comments on each question/concern I bring up.  I will answer one question per day, scripture verses where applicable, and will keep it brief.

I would love to read your comments regarding your experiences or to give another viewpoint.  I would like this to be a participatory as possible.

Today’s question/concern is:

I have never been able to Biblically support the “Home Church” concept.

I was actually pretty surprised by that comment (which I got via email), since the individual who stated it is well-versed with the Scriptures.  I’m not sure if I misread that or not, because the next sentence was “Being part of a local expression of the Body of Christ is simply part of God’s design” which will be answered in another post.

I know there are numerous verses that mention the church meeting in homes.  I have listed only 3 verses, but those are ones I came across initially.  Please share the ones you know.

1 Corinthians 16:19
The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.

Acts 20:20 (Paul speaking)
You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.

Romans 16:5a
Greet also the church that meets at their house.

Again, please participate.  I, and others, have a lot we can learn and understand from everyone.

Look forward to hearing from you!

Skydiving

Below is a post my wife, Kelley, wrote regarding our recent decision to leave the institutional church (the typical church building with weekly services being led by a licensed minister).

I’ll post, in a future soon-to-be-released series, as to the “why”, the “are you nuts”, the “how we came to this conclusion”, the “what about this”, and the “what about that” questions.  In addition, if you leave comments I will be happy to answer those questions and incorporate them in my future posts.

To a large amount of people this is new so there will be numerous questions, you are not alone.  I did when I first looked into this.

Thank you for taking the time and following along!

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We’re taking the plunge.  Perry wrote our Pastor a letter a couple of days ago letting him know that our family was going to leave our institutional church to embark upon an organic journey in 2009.  I’ve known this was coming for quite some time now, as Perry has scoured book after book on the subject – paralleling his studies with an open Bible by his side.  He has acquired quite an extensive network of friends who are involved, to varying degrees, in the organic church ideology.  I say “ideology” for lack of a better description.  I don’t think the return to a more organic way of doing “church” is a movement or trend, as those terms feel subject to expiration.  Though in its infancy, I really believe that the organic way of communing with God and His people will endure and grow as time goes on.  It is not a fad.

Yet, I’m scared.  I’m scared to have to stand on my own two feet – just Perry and I – and not have the institutional church as backup to our efforts in raising our three teenagers to love God and want to serve Him.  I feel vulnerable.

I’ve talked to the kids about the idea of organic church and have asked them what it is that makes Jesus – and/or serving Him – most “real” or “alive” for them.  Nicole, our eldest, is an adult, and has chosen to continue attending an institutional church with her boyfriend of two years.  Melanie, age 17, feels most connected when she is connected with other believers, but has struggled in finding that “right fit” for awhile now.  She wants to try to make some new connections in a youth group she’s had her eye on (not our former church), while studying the Word individually and with her dad and I.  And Jon, age 14, told me he feels most excited about his Christianity through acts of service.  He likes the idea of “being the church” instead of just attending church programs.  He wants to serve meals at the Salvation Army and be on the lookout for a variety of ways to actively contribute through various projects.

I think my feelings of vulnerability are, in fact, one of my biggest spiritual problems – and something God will deal with me on through this whole endeavor.  I have to learn to trust HIM with my family.

Still, I can’t quite shake the feeling that I’m free falling.  My heart is pounding, my breathing’s labored and my hands are clammy.  But I’ve already jumped.  So my only choice now is whether to close my eyes and hold my breath in fear, or open them and focus on the beauty of the descent.  It’s a choice only I can make.  So I’m making a concerted effort to trust that He’ll direct the wind to land my feet exactly where He wants them.  I’m believing He’ll put me – and my family – on solid ground.