House Church Talk - I'm Disappointed

[Gary]

Dear Dan,

This may well be the case, and I will certainly be sure to consider what you
say. There are parallels between my own actions and ministry in the past few
months and that which I have heard described in various HC websites and
authors. Particularly about the laity-clergy distinction and how the actual
NT makes no mention or projects no provision for such a practice.

May I offer a word of suggestive encouragement? In Ephesians 4:11-13 we read
the following -

11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as
evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the
saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13
until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to
the fullness of Christ.

May I suggest that you take a more proactive view of your position as the
head of your family in regard to what the Lord teaches you about it. You
are, by default a pastor and teacher to your own, so teaching from and in
agreement with the Word is not trying to replace or reduce it's
effectiveness. We are saved by the foolishness of preaching. How can we hear
unless there is one who proclaims the facts of the Gospel? Not all things in
th WOrd are equally clear, and God gives those pastors and teachers for that
purpose, Your presence and work is not as worthless and meandering as you
may believe!

May the LORD bless and keep you.

Earnestly contending,

Gary

(Written using WindowEyes, the premier screenreading program from GW Micro
that makes PCs accessible to the blind and visually impaired.  Contact:
www.gwmicro.com)

"Preach not only so that the people can understand, but so that they cannot
misunderstand if they wish."  CH.Spurgeon

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the
full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the
schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist
in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm."  Ephesians
6:10-13
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "DanG" <dan.dgordon at gmail.com>
To: <House Church Talk  at housechurch.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2004 4:27 PM
Subject: Re: House Church Talk -  I'm Disappointed


> Gary wrote:
> > I am in the process of studying the house church concept. I have no
desire
> > to rebound into something else without being as cerrtain as I can about
it's
> > Biblicity. This is not to say that I am suspicious, only cautious.
> >
> > I had moved out to the midwest eight years ago to go to seminary and
prepare
> > for what I now understand to be a conventional, or civil, or "habitual"
> > pastorate. I love the Word of the Lord and believe the doctrines of
grace as
> > coming from that Word. I would ask your prayers for my study and the
health
> > of my family as we get back into the Bible. I'll tell you, seminary is
the
> > worst place to learn more of the Bible - I never studied it less than
during
> > my two years there.
> >
> > Earnestly contending,
> >
> > Gary
>
> Sounds as if you are already a house church in reality.  This is in
> concept not another denomination, another seeker assembly.  It is
> however, sensitive to what God has for you and those with you.  For
> instance, I have written above about the profound disappointment my
> sons express about life.  We do not attend a meeting, seeker or
> otherwise just for the sake of warming a bench and satisfying a
> theological goal of "assembling" together.  Instead, we sit together
> on sunday morning and read the Bible together.  We do this every
> morning - a few of our family.  But on sunday, we all 8 of us sit
> together and I read outloud.  I read the Bible and let it speak.
> Could I add to these words?  Yes, but I don't, nor does anyone else.
> If it is worth anything, let the Word be something, not my worthless
> meandering "teachings" about what the Bible can say perfectly clearly.
>
> Contending also,
> DanG ChicagoArea
>
>
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