A Kingdom, A People & A River
A New Paradigm For the Post Modern House Church Movement

Subscribe

Every week we send out our "Parousia Weekly E-Letter." These letters are intended to keep you updated regarding our various on-going ministry activities, to provide you with insights for what it means to be a counter-cultural witness to a Post-Christian culture, and articles designed to encourage you to become the Church that meets in your house.

To subscribe you can click on the RSS button below, or the one above on the right side of the URL Address. Save the bookmark to your toolbar and each week's e-letter will be listed as the first item in the list.

The Parousia Network of House Churches

Our you can type SUBSCRIBE in the subject line of a blank e-mail and send it to newsletter@parousianetwork.org

Back Issues

Click here to explore back Issues of The Parousia Network Weekly E-Letter Update
Parousia Weekly Update Letter For The Week of April 11, 2007
 
"When a prophet is accepted and deified, his message is lost. The prophet is only useful so long as he is stoned as a public nuisance calling us to repentance, disturbing our comfortable routines, breaking our respectable idols, shattering our sacred conventions" (A. G. Gardiner as quoted by Arthur Wallis, "In The Day of Thy Power").
 
In This Issue:
 
And Then Came Pentecost
House Church House Keeping: The Parousia Podcasting Project & Website Update
Upcoming Conference
"A Gathering Of Angels . . . And A Time To Dance" (Join Us This Coming Saturday)
Dear Friends,
 
Long letter, so you'll need a deeper cup of whatever that is you're drinking! 
 
Blessings,
 
Maurice

And Then Came Pentecost

Easter is over and most churches have returned to "life as usual." Indeed most churches go to great length to celebrate Easter, the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it is good that we should celebrate this glorious event. But Easter was not the end of the story. It was only the beginning, the prologue if you will, for what was to come. Luke tells us as much in Acts Chapter 1, declaring that his previous work (the Gospel of Luke) was "about all that Jesus began to do and teach" (Acts 1:1). What came next? Pentecost - the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit to empower the Church for the task of proclaiming the good news of Jesus' victory over death and the promise of salvation to all who believe to "the remotest part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

God is shaking His church today in ways not imagined a few years ago. He is shaking existing structures and paradigms and raising up new ones. The rise of the modern house church movement is just one example of the shaking currently underway. More is coming. Prepare to have your paradigm shaken. Some 100 years ago a powerful movement of the Spirit of God swept around the world, shaking old paradigms and raising up new ones. This worldwide movement of the Spirit between 1904 to 1907 gave birth to a new paradigm that found expression in the Welsh Revival of 1904 and which gave birth to the modern day Pentecostal movement. Then, it was a new paradigm for a new day. But people and movements eventually get trapped and become the prisoners of their paradigms. The paradigms become institutionalized, trapping its members inside and fending off outsiders who might bring change. When that happens it isn't long (and 100 years isn't long in God's sight!) before God moves in a fresh way, challenging and shattering "once new/now old" paradigms, whether Evangelical or Pentecostal, and bringing in new paradigms for a new day. What does it mean? It means that God isn't done yet. It means He has more to teach us. And it means that He fully intends to accomplish His original stated goal of empowering and equipping His Church to be His witnesses "even to the remotest part of the earth."

I believe that house churches represent one of God's new paradigms for this time. And I believe the River of Ezekiel 47, the River of the Water of Life, is another of God's new-but-old paradigms for His people. The paradigm itself is not new, just as "Pentecostalism" was not unknown before Azusa Street (April, 1906). Evan Roberts, one of the instruments of the Welsh Revival of 1904, told his biographer (D.M.Phillips) that he had prayed for 13 years for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Roberts experienced his personal baptism on Thursday, September 29th, 1904 at a little after 9:00 AM in the morning (but that's another story!). I believe that God is about to bring these two "new" paradigms together in these last days in a way that is more powerful than we, our fathers or our grand-fathers ever imagined. While there is increasing turmoil in the world around us, and while men's hearts fail them for fear, I believe that the River of Ezekiel 47, the River of the Water of Life is about to flow in unprecedented power through a new paradigm of networking house churches, resulting in renewal, revival, awakening, empowerment and a great harvest. The issues will not be baptism, tongues, healings or any one experience or gifting. The question of the day will be, "Are you standing in the River?" Everything else - empowering, gifts, evangelism, etc. - is a by-product of The River. As the Church of God prepares to celebrate the Liturgical Season of Pentecost, culminating in Pentecost Sunday (May 27th), it is a good time to reconsider the River of Ezekiel 47 and to pray that it will begin to flow through your home and the church that meets in your house! You can learn more about Pentecost at http://www.kencollins.com/holy-06.aspx.

 

House Church House Keeping: Website Update & The Parousia Podcasting Project

Website Update - Our current website is about to go "bye-bye," hopefully by the end of this month. In its place will be a new website, the goal of which is to create a more user friendly on-line community. When complete it will be a radical departure from what we have done before, but we hope it will become a step toward building a sense of "community" within the house church movement (or at least among that small corner of it which we represent). You can preview the new home page (links won't work) here: http://www.parousianetwork.org/Cyber_Cafe/Parousia_Network_Cyber_Cafe2.htm. Take a look and tell us what you think.

House Church FAQs - As regular subscribers to this e-letter already know I have been pursuing the  Parousia Podcasting Project as a way of helping to network house churches by sharing both information about house church AND stories about what God is doing in our movement. These podcasts will include both individual interviews and group discussions on topics ranging from frequently asked house church questions to individuals sharing stories of how God is moving in their particular house church. The audio files will be available for free download from the new website, but they would also be available through podcast aggregators such as iTunes, Podcast Alley, etc. Over the past several weeks I have asked our readers and various House Church leaders to submit a list of their "Frequently Asked Questions". I have begun compiling these questions into a "master list" of questions which will eventually form the basis for upcoming podcasts. My genuine, heart-felt thanks to those of you who rose to the challenge by submitting your questions

Now, I need your help again. This e-letter contains the "current crop" of suggested House Church FAQs. I need your help. First, are there other questions (not included here) that you think need to be asked & answered. Second, is there a "nuance" or "subordinate" question you think should be included under one of the existing questions. Third, do you have a BRIEF (like, one or two paragraphs?) answer or response to one of these questions that you would like to offer? If so, you can simply use the REPLY function of your browser to edit the list and send it back to me. I will update the list and responses and make it available to everyone. Eventually, I plan to contact those of you who are genuinely interested in being a part of the conversation and see about including you in a "house church round table discussion" regarding these questions!

Thanks for your help & I look forward to hearing from you soon. Here Are The House Church FAQs:

1) I Can’t Help But Believe That There’s More To "Church" Than What I’ve Experienced So Far. Why Do I Feel This Way And What Can I Do About It?
 
2) How Do We Get Out Of The Spiritual Wilderness We’ve Been In?
-Understanding where you are on Wolfgang Simson’s "5 Steps of Apostolic Migration" (the Wilderness is Step 3)
-Identifying God’s purpose for why He’s placed you in the wilderness
-Detoxing in the wilderness
-The importance of a profound "death to self" before emerging from the wilderness
 
3) O.K., So What Is Simple Church/Ekklesia?
- What constitutes New Testament "ekklesia"?
- What is simple church and how is it different from other forms of Church?
- Is this biblical?
- Is this forsaking the assembly?
- Shouldn't you join a local church?
- Isn't it just a social club?
- How is it different from small groups (cell groups, Bible studies, home groups)?
 
4) Can Anyone Start A Simple Church Or A House Church?
 
5) How Do I know If God Is Calling Me To Start A House Church?
 
6) O.K., How Do We Get Started Doing "Simple Church"?
- How do I start a house church or simple church? A gathering of simple church folk
- How do you get the word out (how do people find you)?
 
7) So, What Exactly Do You Do When You Get Together?
 
- Food & Fellowship
- Worship
- Open Participation
- Bible Study
- Prayer & Personal Ministry
- Simplicity (people will model what they see and experience)
 
8) Who Gets To Participate In The Meeting?
- Importance of 1 Corinthians 14
9) Who Facilitates Or Leads The Meeting?
10) How Do You Handle Communion?
 
11) What Do You Do About Music?
 
12) How Do You Handle The Gifts Of The Spirit?
-The same way the early church did in 1 Corinthians 12-14
 
13) How Do You Handle Money, Tithing & Giving In House Church?
- How to deal with finances... how to use the money
 
14) Is All This Legal?
- Should we get "organized" (incorporate, etc.)
- Are we required to file for 501C(3) approval with the IRS
 
 
15) Who Interprets Scripture & Doctrine & Prevents "Heresies"
- What do you do about heresy that sneaks in?
- Who interprets Scripture?
 
16) What Do You Do With Da Kids?
 
17) What About Church "Leadership"?
- What constitutes biblical leadership in the ekklesia?
- Do you have a pastor/leadership?
- What about elders?
- Who's qualified to lead?
- Are women allowed to teach/lead?
- Releasing women into ministry - fully
- Who are the leaders?
- Are they accountable?
- Moms and dads as leaders raising spiritual sons and daughters
 
18) What About Spiritual Authority? Who's Accountable To Who? 
- Shouldn’t we be under someone’s authority or "covering"?
- Accountability to authority, a proper understanding
 
19) How Do We Reach Out To The Lost In Our Neighborhood & Our Community
 
20) How Do You Build A Strong Sense Of Community & Intimacy
- Listening to God and each other
- daring to be real, daring to go deep, speaking into one another's lives
- how to share lives, how to keep appropriate boundaries
 
21) How Do You Handle Ceremonial Events & Licensing
-Who performs weddings & funerals?
-Who performs baptisms (& where)
-Should/Can House Churches License or Ordain people for ministry?
-How do you deal with governmental agencies, ministries or other organizations which require officially licensed or ordained people (‘clergy"), or letters of recommendation signed by "clergy," in order to work or minister there (jails, prisons, missions, chaplains, etc.).
22) How Do You Solve Problems & Deal With "Problem People"?
- How do we handle the "baggage" (both personal and religious) that people bring with them to House Church?
- Healing within the Body (from past, unresolved junk)
- Overcoming bitterness against the IC
- Forgiveness in general
- Conflict Resolution - "hearing one another's hearts"
- Relationship healing -- in marriage (including sexuality), in families
23) How Do House Churches Grow & Multiply?
24) How Do Individual House Churches In A Given Area Stay Connected With Each Other?
-Should all the churches in an area be meeting in a large group regularly?
 
25) How Can I Find A House Church In My Area?
-This is the number one question I am asked from various parts of the world.
 
26) How Do I Find Others In My Area Who Are Interested In House Church?
 
27) How Does A House Church Network Operate?
-Don’t know! Does anybody actually have a functioning network out there with a dozen or more active fellowships?
 
28) We Have Been Trying To Start A Network Of House Churches. Why Is It Going So Slow?
- The problem of "lone wolves" and "free range chickens" in House Church
- Nobody else does it right (i.e., the way WE do).
 
29) Why Did Our First House Church Blow Up? (Or Why Did My First House Church Shrink?)
 
30) I Am Transitioning From A Position In A Traditional Church To Planting House Churches. Any Ideas As To How I Might Survive Financially?
 
31) How Do We Respond To People Who Are Just Asking For "More Information" About House Church?
 
32) How Do I Go About Facilitating A Participatory House Church Gathering?
 
33) How Can House Church Help Me Live Missionally and ‘Be’ The Church 24/7?
- We don’t "go to church"; we ARE the church, wherever we happen to be meeting.
 
34) Should all the churches in an area be meeting in a large group regularly?
- Different house church networks handle this different ways. Here are a few options:
1) Meet together monthly as a large group. (Consider and discuss your reasons for having this gathering.)
2) Meet periodically when someone with apostolic or prophetic gifting comes through town, and meet in house churches the rest of the time.
3) Develop a series of mini-celebrations around the city, with groups of churches getting together.

Upcoming House Church Conference In Salem, Oregon

Last Chance! Nate Krupp and his hearty band of house church pioneers is sponsoring a House Church Conference in Salem, Oregon (hour south of Portland) the weekend of April 20-22, 2007. Gale & I were very blessed by last year's conference and we're looking forward to being there among old and new friends. I hope you'll make plans to come. For details click here: http://www.parousianetwork.org/Upcoming_Conferences.htm

 "A Gathering Of Angels . . . And A Time To Dance" (Join Us This Coming Saturday)
 
It's difficult to describe what is currently happening at our weekly gathering. The Presence of God has been intense and growing, and people are coming with a sense of expectancy. And to answer your unasked question, yes, they were there, too (don't ask me why, 'cause I don't know. I guess they liked the worship). So, take note that our next gathering is scheduled for this coming SATURDAY evening, April 14, at 7:00 PM. Call for directions, (509) 926-7743. In an attempt to keep you better informed, we have created a link on our website home page (www.parousianetwork.org) to information &  directions for our weekly gatherings. We will update this weekly with current info, such as any schedule changes, cancellations due to weather, sickness, etc., and things like our potluck schedule. Please check this page before coming for any last minute happenings and updates!
 
© 2007 THE PAROUSIA NETWORK of House and Cell Churches (www.parousianetwork.org)